1.
1912 in Ireland
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Events from the year 1912 in Ireland. 8 February – First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill addresses a pro Home Rule meeting in Belfast despite Ulster Unionist attempts to prevent him speaking, Churchill shares the platform with John Redmond the leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party. 11 April – Prime Minister of the United Kingdom H. H. Asquith introduces the 3rd Home Rule Bill in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom,12 April – a convention of Sinn Féin delegates led by Arthur Griffith opposes the Home Rule Bill. 14 April – RMS Titanic, the largest vessel in the world, built in Belfast and making her last call at Queenstown, collides with an iceberg and sinks within a few hours. 22 April – Englishman Denys Corbett Wilson completes the first aeroplane crossing of the Irish Sea,26 April – English-born Vivian Hewitt makes an aeroplane crossing of the Irish Sea from Holyhead to Phoenix Park, Dublin. 30 April – Winston Churchill moves the second reading of the Home Rule Bill at Westminster,9 May – the second reading of the Home Rule Bill is accepted in the British House of Commons. A Unionist amendment rejecting the Bill is defeated,10 May – at the Royal Albert Hall in London, Bonar Law speaks of Conservative Opposition to the Home Rule Bill. Elsewhere Edward Carson also voices his opposition,1 July – a serious outbreak of foot and mouth disease occurs in Counties Dublin, Meath, Kildare and Wicklow. July – Prime Minister of the United Kingdom H. H. Asquith travels to Dublin to make a speech,18 July – suffragettes attempt an arson attack on the Theatre Royal, Dublin, during Asquiths visit. 28 September – Ulster Day – Ulster Covenant to resist Home Rule is signed by almost 250,000 men throughout Ulster,229,000 women sign a parallel declaration. 23 October – large numbers of cattle are slaughtered in Mullingar due to the outbreak of foot, the golden eagle becomes extinct in Ireland. 11 April – Lennox Robinsons play Patriots is first performed, at the Abbey Theatre,20 April – Bram Stoker, author of Dracula and theatrical manager, dies in London. November – Lord Dunsanys short story collection The Book of Wonder is published, peadar Kearney and Patrick Heeneys A Soldiers Song is first published in Irish Freedom by Bulmer Hobson. Eleanor Hull publishes The Poem-Book of the Gael, translations from Irish Gaelic poetry into English prose and verse, forrest Reids coming-of-age novel Following Darkness is published. James Stephens novel The Crock of Gold is published, tritonville, another Dublin side, joins the League, but lasts just one season. Ken McArthur, born in Dervock, County Antrim, wins the race at the 1912 Summer Olympics for South Africa. 8 January – James Brophy, cricketer,5 February – Desmond Surfleet, cricketer. 14 February – Joseph Brennan, Fianna Fáil TD, Cabinet Minister,22 March – Wilfrid Brambell, actor
2.
1911 in Ireland
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Events from the year 1911 in Ireland. 5 January – Protestant church leaders condemn the Ne Temere Papal decree on mixed marriages,2 April – the national census is taken. 16 May – Cunarder SS Ivernia strikes a rock on entering Queenstown harbour,27 May – the first issue of the Irish Worker is published. The paper is the organ of the Irish Transport and General Workers Union and is edited by James Larkin. 31 May – the RMS Titanics hull is launched at the Harland & Wolff shipyard in Belfast and it is the largest ship afloat. Her sister RMS Olympic sails for Liverpool the same day to take up transatlantic service,22 June – as George V is crowned in London a Sinn Féin meeting at the Customs House in Dublin condemns Irish participation in the coronation ceremonies. 8–12 July – George V and Queen Mary make a 5-day royal visit to Dublin which will be the last to the city this century, on 8 July they officially open the College of Science in Merrion Square and on 10 July they visit St Patricks College, Maynooth. 9 August – a statue of Charles Stewart Parnell is hoisted onto its pedestal in Sackville Street,17 August – Dublin County Council votes in favour of using Greenwich Mean Time. The councillors hear that Irish time, being 25 minutes behind Greenwich, is a handicap for trade. 18 August – the Parliament Act removes the House of Lords power regarding budgets and restricts their power over other bills to a two-year suspensive veto and this makes Irish Home Rule a possibility in the future. 21 August – Irish Womens Suffrage Federation founded,26 August – Wexford foundry workers locked out for attempting to join the I. T. G. W. U. The lockout continues until February 1912,23 September –70,000 unionists and Orangemen march from Belfast to Craigavon House to protest against Home Rule. 1 October – the monument to Parnell is officially unveiled in Upper Sackville Street, full date unknown Strike of women workers at Jacobs biscuit factory in Dublin organised by Rosie Hackett. Royal Arch Purple is formed, the organisation is separate but closely linked to the Orange Institution, bellevue Pleasure Gardens, a public park and recreational area, is opened on the slopes of Cavehill, Belfast. 16 April – St. John Greer Ervines Mixed Marriage premieres at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin. 16 December – the Imperial Copyright Act confirms the library of Trinity College, Dublin, the Kalem Company of New York shoots a film based on the play The Colleen Bawn on location in Ireland with Canadian Irish director Sidney Olcott. Publication of Patrick MacGills Songs of a Navvy, publication of Adam Lynns Ulster Scots dialect Random Rhymes frae Cullybackey. Publication of W. F. Marshalls poems Ulster Sails West, publication of Ave, the first of novelist George Moores three-volume autobiographical Hail and Farewell in the same year that he leaves Dublin to settle in London
3.
1910 in Ireland
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Events from the year 1910 in Ireland. 8 January - Sinéad Flanagan marries Éamon de Valera in Dublin,21 February - Irish Unionist members of the Westminster Parliament elect Sir Edward Carson as party leader, replacing Walter Long. 23 February - St Patricks College, Maynooth, becomes a college of the National University of Ireland. June - Bridget Dowling elopes to London with Alois Hitler, Jr. a kitchen porter at the Shelbourne Hotel, Dublin, August - First passenger flight in Ulster, Harry Ferguson pilots Miss Rita Marr. 29 August - The Aero Club of Ireland holds its inaugural meeting at Leopardstown Racecourse. 11 September - English-born actor-aviator Robert Loraine makes a flight from Wales across the Irish Sea. 20 October - RMS Olympic is launched at the Harland & Wolff shipyard in Belfast, at 45,324 gross tons, she is the largest ship afloat. Her sister ship RMS Titanic will be launched in sixteen months time, November - Reconstruction of the original city bridge over the River Suir in Waterford begins, it will be opened by John Redmond in 1913. 3 December - Sir Edward Carson and James Campbell are re-elected unopposed as Unionist Members of Parliament for Trinity College Dublin, non-subscribing Presbyterian Church of Ireland created by merger of the Presbytery of Antrim and Remonstrant Synod of Ulster. Lilian Bland builds and flies her own glider, the first built in Ireland, from Carnmoney Hill, soon afterwards fitting an engine. 13 January - Deirdre of the Sorrows by J. M. Synge is performed for the first time at the Abbey Theatre,5 May - Padraic Colums play Thomas Muskerry is premiered at the Abbey Theatre. 7 May - Annie Horniman withdraws financial support from the Abbey Theatre in protest at its refusal to close on the death of Edward VII the previous day and this is the first production by an American film studio to be shot outside the United States. September - Lord Dunsanys short story collection A Dreamers Tales is published,3 November - Foundation of The Kilfenora Céilí Band in Kilfenora, County Clare, the oldest céilí band in Ireland. Terence MacSwineys first play, The Last Warriors of Coole, is produced, ella Youngs first book of stories, Celtic Wonder Tales, is published with illustrations by Maud Gonne. 4 July - George Otto Simms, Church of Ireland Archbishop of Dublin,1 August - Cathal Gannon, harpsichord maker and fortepiano restorer. 8 August - Bobby Kirk, ice hockey player,14 August - Eddie Ingram, cricketer. 1 November - Michael Lyons, Fine Gael TD and Senator,15 November - Geoffrey Toone, actor. 19 November - Manliff Barrington, motorcycle racer,26 November - Cyril Cusack, actor
4.
1909 in Ireland
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Events from the year 1909 in Ireland. 31 October - The Royal University of Ireland is dissolved,14 December - In the large hall of the National University in Dublin, Ernest Shackleton delivers a lecture entitled Nearest the South Pole. 31 December - Harry Ferguson becomes the first person to fly an aircraft in Ireland, mater Infirmorum Hospital in Belfast is officially recognised as a university teaching hospital. Commencement of fieldwork for the multidisciplinary Clare Island Survey, under the direction of Robert Lloyd Praeger,24 March - J. M. Synge, author and playwright, dies in Dublin aged 38 of Hodgkins disease. His only comedy The Tinkers Wedding has its première on 11 November at His Majestys Theatre in London,1 April - Lennox Robinsons first play, The Cross Roads, is performed at the Abbey Theatre of which he becomes manager later in the year. 22 July - Widowed Irish-born painter John Lavery marries Irish American painter Hazel Martyn,20 August - The famous tenor Enrico Caruso performs at the Theatre Royal in Dublin. 20 December - The first dedicated cinema in Ireland, the Volta Cinematograph, herbert Hughes collection of folk songs, Irish Country Songs, including She Moved Through the Fair with words largely composed by Padraic Colum, is published. Ella Youngs first work of Irish folklore, The Coming of Lugh, is published,30 January - George Crothers, cricketer. 1 February - Timothy McAuliffe, Labour Party politician,8 March - Francis MacManus, novelist. 3 April - Knox Cunningham, barrister, businessman and Ulster Unionist politician,19 April - Conel Hugh ODonel Alexander, cryptanalyst, chess player and chess writer. 24 April - Robert Farren, poet,30 April - F. E. McWilliam, sculptor. 4 June - Robert Dudley Edwards, historian,24 July - Geoffrey Bing, lawyer and Labour politician in UK.31 July - Martin White, Kilkenny hurler. 1 August - W. R. Rodgers, poet, essayist, book reviewer, radio broadcaster, scriptwriter, lecturer, teacher,4 October - Paddy Moore, soccer player. 7 October - Michael ONeill, nationalist politician and MP.20 October - James Patrick Scully,28 October - Francis Bacon, painter. 4 November - Sir Basil Goulding, 3rd Baronet, cricketer, squash player, jack Stanley Gibson, surgeon and writer. Gabriel Hayes, sculptor, designer of Irish coins, W. R. Rodgers, poet and writer. Cecilia Thackaberry, Presentation Sisters nun, killed in Nigeria performing relief work,10 January - John Conness, United States Senator from California from 1863 till 1869. 4 February - James Lynam Molloy, poet, songwriter and composer,24 March - William Lundon, Irish Parliamentary Party MP.24 March - John Millington Synge, dramatist, poet and writer
5.
1908 in Ireland
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Events from the year 1908 in Ireland. 17 February - Statue of Queen Victoria unveiled at Leinster House,19 April - The Guildhall, Londonderry, is largely destroyed by fire. 19 May - Work begins on a monument to Charles Stewart Parnell in Upper Sackville Street,31 July - Irish Universities Act receives Royal Assent in the Parliament of the UK. This ultimately leads to the establishment of the National University of Ireland,8 September - Padraic Pearse opens Scoil Eanna school for boys in Cullenswood House, Ranelagh. It would be moved to the Hermitage, Rathfarnham. 11 November - Irish Womens Franchise League is formed with Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington as secretary,29 December - Irish Transport Workers Union is formed with James Larkin as general secretary. January - Hugh Lane founds the Dublin City Gallery in Harcourt Street, yeats, produces its first publication, Poetry and Ireland, essays by W. B. Yeats and Lionel Johnson, the siblings sister Lily runs a workshop as part of Cuala Industries. Murray, Con OLeary and Daniel Corkery found the Cork Dramatic Society J. M. Synges only comedic play,1908 Summer Olympics, Ireland competes as a separate country in field hockey and polo, winning silver medals in both. 10 March - Patrick Shanahan, Fianna Fáil TD.27 April - Patrick Shea,10 June - Gerard Sweetman, Fine Gael TD and Cabinet Minister. 20 July - Mad Dog Coll, born Uinseann Ó Colla,24 July - Roger McHugh, professor, author and playwright. 18 August - Sam English, soccer player,26 September - Hugh Delargy, Labour Party politician and MP.6 December - Con Cremin, diplomat. Niall Ó Dónaill, Irish language lexicographer and writer,17 January - Eyre Massey Shaw, Superintendent of the Metropolitan Fire Brigade. 3 February - Thomas Mellon, entrepreneur, lawyer, and judge,23 March - Frederick Falkiner, lawyer, judge and author. 10 June - John F. Finerty, U. S,6 July - Thomas William Moffett, scholar, educationalist and President of Queens College Galway. 5 August - Caesar Litton Falkiner, Irish Unionist Party politician, barrister, writer and historian
6.
Ireland
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Ireland is an island in the North Atlantic. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, Ireland is the second-largest island of the British Isles, the third-largest in Europe, and the twentieth-largest on Earth. Politically, Ireland is divided between the Republic of Ireland, which covers five-sixths of the island, and Northern Ireland, in 2011, the population of Ireland was about 6.4 million, ranking it the second-most populous island in Europe after Great Britain. Just under 4.6 million live in the Republic of Ireland, the islands geography comprises relatively low-lying mountains surrounding a central plain, with several navigable rivers extending inland. The island has lush vegetation, a product of its mild, thick woodlands covered the island until the Middle Ages. As of 2013, the amount of land that is wooded in Ireland is about 11% of the total, there are twenty-six extant mammal species native to Ireland. The Irish climate is moderate and classified as oceanic. As a result, winters are milder than expected for such a northerly area, however, summers are cooler than those in Continental Europe. Rainfall and cloud cover are abundant, the earliest evidence of human presence in Ireland is dated at 10,500 BC. Gaelic Ireland had emerged by the 1st century CE, the island was Christianised from the 5th century onward. Following the Norman invasion in the 12th century, England claimed sovereignty over Ireland, however, English rule did not extend over the whole island until the 16th–17th century Tudor conquest, which led to colonisation by settlers from Britain. In the 1690s, a system of Protestant English rule was designed to materially disadvantage the Catholic majority and Protestant dissenters, with the Acts of Union in 1801, Ireland became a part of the United Kingdom. Northern Ireland saw much civil unrest from the late 1960s until the 1990s and this subsided following a political agreement in 1998. In 1973 the Republic of Ireland joined the European Economic Community while the United Kingdom, Irish culture has had a significant influence on other cultures, especially in the fields of literature. Alongside mainstream Western culture, an indigenous culture exists, as expressed through Gaelic games, Irish music. The culture of the island shares many features with that of Great Britain, including the English language, and sports such as association football, rugby, horse racing. The name Ireland derives from Old Irish Eriu and this in turn derives from Proto-Celtic *Iveriu, which is also the source of Latin Hibernia. Iveriu derives from a root meaning fat, prosperous, during the last glacial period, and up until about 9000 years ago, most of Ireland was covered with ice, most of the time
7.
1914 in Ireland
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Events from the year 1914 in Ireland. 17 January – Edward Carson inspects a parade of the East Belfast Regiment of the Ulster Volunteers,20 February – the Fethard-on-Sea life-boat capsizes on service off the County Wexford coast, nine crew are lost. 26 February – HMHS Britannic, designed as the third and largest Olympic-class ocean liner, is launched at the Harland & Wolff shipyards in Belfast,1 March – three outbreaks of foot and mouth disease are confirmed in County Cork. 9 March – the British Prime Minister proposes to allow the Ulster counties to hold a vote on whether or not to join a Home Rule parliament in Dublin, the government backs down and they are reinstated. 2 April – Cumann na mBan, the Irish republican womens paramilitary organisation, is formed in Dublin as an auxiliary of the Irish Volunteers,6 April – the second reading of the Home Rule Bill is carried in Westminster. 25 May – the House of Commons of the United Kingdom passes the Irish Home Rule Bill,23 June–14 July – the Government of Ireland Bill passes through the House of Lords. It allows Ulster counties to vote on whether or not they want to come under Dublins jurisdiction, the wishes of Fermanagh and Tyrone are eventually ignored. 10 July – the Provisional Government of Ulster meets for the first time in the Ulster Hall and it vows to keep Ulster in trust for the King and the British constitution. 21 July – a conference is opened at Buckingham Palace by the King and it is hoped that unionists and nationalists attending will break the impasse over Home Rule. 24 July – the Buckingham Palace conference ends in failure, nationalists and Unionists present cannot agree in principle or detail. 26 July – Howth gun-running, Erskine Childers and his wife Molly sail into Howth in his yacht Asgard,4 August – World War I, Declaration of war by the United Kingdom on the German Empire. September – Ulster Division formed as a division of the British New Army from Ulster Volunteers,20 September – in a speech at Woodenbridge, County Wicklow, John Redmond calls on members of the Irish Volunteers to go wherever the firing line extends. The majority do so, fighting in the 10th and 16th Division alongside their counterparts from the 36th Division. 18 October – the British Royal Navys Grand Fleet takes shelter in Lough Swilly while Scapa Flow is secured against submarine attack. 27 October – World War I, Royal Navy super-dreadnought battleship HMS Audacious, is sunk off Tory Island, north-west of Ireland,5 December – the Irish Volunteers appoint a headquarters staff, with Eoin MacNeill as chief of staff. Welsh evangelist George Jeffreys establishes his first church in Belfast, predecessor of the Elim Pentecostal Church, February James Joyces semi-autobiographical novel A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man commences serialization in The Egoist. Lord Dunsanys collection Five Plays is published in London,4 February – a staging of George A. Birminghams comedy General John Regan at Westport Town Hall provokes a riot. June – James Joyces Dubliners, a collection of fifteen short stories depicting the Irish middle classes in, Terence MacSwineys contemporary play The Revolutionist is published
8.
1915 in Ireland
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March – construction of St Colmans Cathedral, Cobh, concludes with completion of the spire. 4 April –25,000 National Volunteers assemble at the Phoenix Park, John Redmond takes the salute from under the statue of Charles Stewart Parnell on Sackville Street. In Dublin the Irish Parliamentary Party approves John Redmonds decision not to join,29 July – Republicans, led by Patrick Pearse, take over the Gaelic League at its Dundalk conference. Douglas Hyde resigns as its President,1 August – ODonovan Rossa is buried at Glasnevin Cemetery in Dublin, and Pearse delivers the graveside oration. 26 December – the Irish Republican Brotherhood Military Council decides to stage an Easter Rising in 1916, the Elim Pentecostal Church is founded in Monaghan by Welsh evangelist George Jeffreys. 1 February – Helen Waddells first play, The Spoiled Buddha, is premiered at the Opera House, Belfast, francis Ledwidges poems Songs of the Fields published. James Stephens poems The Adventures of Seumas Beg, the Rocky Road to Dublin, the first dramatic film made in Ireland, Fun at Finglas Fair, is directed by F. J. McCormick. It is never released as all prints are destroyed in the Easter Rising of April 1916, Irish League Winners, Belfast Celtic Irish Cup Winners, Linfield 1–0 Belfast Celtic 11 January – Paddy Mayne, international rugby union footballer and decorated soldier. 13 January – Kit Ahern, Fianna Fáil TD.21 January – Andy OBrien,25 January – Liam Cunningham, Fianna Fáil TD.7 February – Mark Clinton, Fine Gael TD, Minister for Agriculture and MEP.15 February – Sam Kydd, actor. 15 March – Micho Russell, tin whistle player and collector of traditional music,9 April – Leonard Wibberley, author. 3 May – Walter Macken, novelist, dramatist and actor,17 May – Oisín Kelly, sculptor. 6 August – Tom OReilly, Cavan gaelic footballer and independent TD for Cavan 1944–194828 August – Patrick Hennessy,16 September – Eddie Filgate, Fianna Fáil TD.18 September – James Tully, Labour Party TD and Cabinet Minister. 7 November – Bill Hayes, soccer player,20 December – Noel Browne, politician, Cabinet Minister. Full date unknown John Graham, Irish Republican Army activist in the 1940s, George Harrison, member of the Provisional Irish Republican Army and alleged gun-runner. 20 January – Arthur Guinness, 1st Baron Ardilaun, businessman, politician,26 January – Michael Sullivan, physician, professor and politician in Canada. 28 January – David Dickson Rogers, politician in Ontario,14 February – Cornelius Coughlan, soldier, recipient of the Victoria Cross for gallantry in 1857 at Delhi, India. 24 April – Frederick William Hall, soldier, posthumous recipient of the Victoria Cross for gallantry in 1915 during the Second Battle of Ypres in Belgium,7 May – on board RMS Lusitania OBrien Butler, composer. Hugh Lane, established Dublins Municipal Gallery of Modern Art,29 June – Jeremiah ODonovan Rossa, Fenian leader
9.
1916 in Ireland
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Events from the year 1916 in Ireland. 14 January – Michael Collins resigns his job in London and returns to Ireland,14 February – John Redmond is re-elected Chairman of the Irish Parliamentary Party in Dublin. 29 February – the week-long Derry Feis opens in the city,21 March – a crowd attacks Sinn Féins Tullamore headquarters, three police are injured. 21 April – Roger Casement and two others are arrested at Banna Strand, County Kerry, for attempting to land arms,22 April – Eoin MacNeill, Chief of Staff of the Irish Volunteers cancels all manoeuvres of Volunteers planned for the following day. 23 April – Easter Sunday, the council of the Irish Republican Brotherhood meets at Liberty Hall. The Proclamation of the Republic is signed by the seven leaders in the name of the Provisional Government of the Irish Republic, Volunteers from Belfast and County Cork begin manoeuvres but return home. 24 April – the Easter Rising begins in Dublin, at noon Patrick Pearse reads the proclamation on the steps of the General Post Office, Dublin. Liam Mellows leads a rising of Volunteers in County Galway,25 April – martial law is declared in Dublin by the British authorities for a period of one month. 26 April Francis Sheehy-Skeffington, Thomas Dickson and Patrick McIntyre are summarily executed at Portobello Barracks, dublin-built HMS Helga shells Liberty Hall from the Liffey. 27 April Major-General Sir John Maxwell arrives in Dublin to take command of the British Army,12,000 of whose troops are now in the city, the centre is cordoned off. 29 April – at 3. 45pm, Patrick Pearse, James Connolly,1 May – the Easter Rising collapses. Sir John Maxwell, Commander-in-Chief of the British forces announces that all involved in the insurrection have surrendered,3 May – following their courts martial, Patrick Pearse, Thomas MacDonagh and Thomas J. Clarke are executed at Kilmainham Gaol. 4 May – the executions continue, Joseph Plunkett, Michael OHanrahan, Edward Daly and Willie Pearse are executed for their part in the Rising. The Chief Secretary of Ireland, Augustine Birrell, resigns,5 May – John MacBride, another leader of the Rising, is executed today. W. T. Cosgrave is sentenced to death, however,8 May – another four leaders of the Easter Rising are executed. They are Éamonn Ceannt, Conn Colbert, Michael Mallin and Seán Heuston,12 May – two more leaders, Seán Mac Diarmada and James Connolly are executed. Connolly, who was wounded in the fighting, is strapped to a chair, meanwhile, Prime Minister H. H. Asquith arrives in Dublin for a week-long visit. 15 May – the trial of Roger Casement begins in London and he is charged with high treason for his part in the Easter Rising
