1.
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
2.
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
3.
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
4.
1913 in Ireland
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Events from the year 1913 in Ireland. 13 January – Edward Carson founds the Ulster Volunteer Force by unifying several existing loyalist militias,30 January – at Westminster the House of Lords rejects the 3rd Home Rule Bill by 326 to 69. 10 February – John Redmond opens the replacement city bridge over the River Suir in Waterford that will be named after him,7 July – the Home Rule Bill is once again carried in the House of Commons, despite attempts by Bonar Law to obstruct it. 31 August – Dublin Lock-out, the Dublin Metropolitan Police kill one demonstrator,1 September – protest by locked-out workers lead to serious riots in Dublin. Shops are looted and attempts made to tear up tram lines,3 September – a meeting of 400 employers with William Martin Murphy pledges not to employ any persons who continue to be members of the Irish Transport & General Workers Union. 7 September – a large meeting in Sackville Street asserts the right of speech, trade union representation. 17 September In Newry, Edward Carson says that a Provisional Government will be established in Ulster if Home Rule is introduced, in Dublin, labour unrest grows with a march 5,000 through the city. 27 September –12,000 Ulster Volunteers parade at the Royal Ulster Agricultural Societys show grounds at Balmoral in protest at the Home Rule Bill,27 September – in Dublin the food ship, The Hare, arrives bringing forty tons of food raised by British trade unionists. 6 October – an official report on the lockout suggests that workers should be reinstated without having to give a not to join the ITGWU. 16 October –4,000 men and women march through Dublin in support of James Larkin,27 October – James Larkin of the ITGWU is sentenced to seven months in prison for seditious language. 1 November Kingstown trade unionist James Byrne, arrested for his part in the lockout,10 November – the Dublin Volunteer Corps enrolls over 2,000 men. They declare they will preserve the civil and religious liberties of Protestants outside Ulster in the event of Irish Home Rule,19 November – the Irish Citizen Army is founded by James Connolly to protect workers in the general lockout. 25 November – the pro-Home Rule Irish Volunteers are formed at a meeting attended by 4,000 men in Dublins Rotunda Rink. 28 November – Andrew Bonar Law addresses a huge unionist rally in the Theatre Royal in Dublin, declaring that if Home Rule is introduced Ulster will resist, george A. Birminghams comedy General John Regan is premièred in London and New York City. Winifred Mary Letts publishes Songs from Leinster, conal Holmes OConnell ORiordan produces his play Rope Enough. Pádraig Ó Siochfhradhas story An Baile S’Againne is published, katharine Tynans Irish Poems is published. Yeats poem September 1913 is published in The Irish Times during the Dublin Lock-out and his Poems Written in Discouragement is also published this year. English music hall comedian Arthur Lucan meets and marries 16-year-old actress Kitty McShane in Dublin,19 January – Matt OMahoney, international soccer player
5.
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
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.
1918 in Ireland
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Events from the year 1918 in Ireland. 18 January – Count Plunkett, Seán T. OKelly and others protest at the feeding of Sinn Féin prisoners in Mountjoy Prison. 5 February – SS Tuscania is torpedoed off the Irish coast, it is the first ship carrying United States troops to Europe to be torpedoed,1 March – Imperial German Navy U-boat SM U-19 sinks HMS Calgarian off Rathlin Island. 2 March – In Skibbereen, County Cork, Ernest Blythe is arrested for non-compliance with a military rule directing him to reside in Ulster. 6 March – in the British House of Commons, tributes are paid to John Redmond, Irish Nationalist leader,18 April – the Military Service Bill, which includes conscription in Ireland, becomes law. A conference of nationalist parties, Sinn Féin and labour movements meets in Dublin to organise an all-Ireland opposition to conscription,20 April – the Irish Parliamentary Party holds a meeting in Dublin to oppose conscription. 23 April – General Strike in opposition to conscription,5 May –15,000 people attend an anti-conscription meeting in County Roscommon. John Dillon, leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party and Éamon de Valera of Sinn Féin share the platform in a united cause,20 May – a special anti-conscription convention is held in Dublin. It condemns the arrest and deportation of Sinn Féin members consequent to the German Plot,20 June – Arthur Griffith of Sinn Féin wins a by-election in East Cavan. It is Sinn Féins first victory of the year after three successive by-election defeats,3 July – the Lord Lieutenant issues a proclamation banning Sinn Féin, the Irish Volunteers, the Gaelic League and Cumann na mBan. 17 July – RMS Carpathia is torpedoed and sunk off the east coast of Ireland by Imperial German Navy U-boat SM U-55,218 of the 223 on board are rescued. 10 October – the Irish mail boat RMS Leinster is sunk in the Irish Sea by Imperial German Navy U-boat SM UB-123 with the loss of over 500 lives,11 November – at 5. 00am an armistice dictated by the Allies is signed by the Germans. Six hours later World War I officially ends, well over 206,000 Irishmen have served and over 35,000 been killed during the war, there is no Irish parish without a loss. 22 December – Ireland voices a united invitation to President of the United States Woodrow Wilson to visit,28 December – Sinn Féin have a landslide victory in the general election, winning 73 of the 105 seats in Ireland. The Irish Parliamentary Party is nearly wiped out, in accordance with their manifesto, Sinn Féin members will not take their seats in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom but will form the First Dáil. Countess Constance Markievicz, while detained in Holloway Prison, becomes the first woman elected to the Palace of Westminster, on 30 December the Irish Independent strongly criticises her. March – the Telemachus episode of James Joyces Ulysses is published in the American journal The Little Review,25 May – James Joyces Exiles, a play in three acts is published in London. August – Anglo-Welsh composer Philip Heseltine concludes a years stay in Ireland with the writing of a number of songs which will be published under the pseudonym Peter Warlock, francis Ledwidges poems Last Songs are published posthumously, edited by Lord Dunsany
8.
1919 in Ireland
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Events from the year 1919 in Ireland. 21 January – Dáil Éireann meets for the very first time in the Round Room of the Mansion House, in the first shots of the Irish War of Independence, two Royal Irish Constabulary men are killed by members of the Third Tipperary Brigade in the Soloheadbeg Ambush in Tipperary. 27 January – general strike call in Belfast and Glasgow,1 April – fifty-two members of Sinn Féin attend the second meeting of Dáil Éireann. Seán T. OKelly is elected Ceann Comhairle and Éamon de Valera is elected President of Dáil Éireann,2 April – Constance Markievicz is appointed Minister for Labour, becoming the first Irish female Cabinet Minister and the first in Western Europe. 18 April –1,000 delegates from all over Ireland attend the Sinn Féin Ard-Fheis in Dublin, Éamon de Valera is elected President of the organisation. 19 April – Sinn Féin proposes an Executive Council of the Irish National Alliance to challenge the right of any foreign parliament to make laws for Ireland,17 May – the first Republican law court is set up, at Ballinrobe, County Mayo. 14 June – Captain Alcock and Lieutenant Brown arrive in Clifden,18 June – Dáil establishes the National Arbitration Courts. 12 August – St Colmans Cathedral, Cobh, is consecrated,8 September – The sack of Fermoy, drunken British forces rampage through Fermoy following an inquest on the previous death of a British soldier which fails to find for murder. 12 September – Dáil Éireann is declared illegal by the British authorities, there are raids on Sinn Féin centres and Ernest Blythe is arrested. 19 December – volunteers from Dublin and Tipperary under the leadership of Paddy Daly undertook an ambush on Lord Frenchs motorcade of three cars at Ashtown Road in Dublin, Lord French was the British Viceroy, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland and Supreme Commander of the British Army in Ireland. While three of Frenchs party, two RIC and a driver, were wounded French got through unharmed, volunteer Martin Savage was killed and Dan Breen wounded. Yitzhak HaLevi Herzog, previously Chief Rabbi of Belfast, is appointed to serve in Dublin, Yeats travels to the United States and begins a lecture tour lasting until May 1920. In this year also Yeats publishes a major revision of The Wild Swans at Coole, Two Plays for Dancers, harry Clarkes illustrations to an edition of Tales of Mystery & Imagination are published. Francis Ledwidges Complete Poems are published posthumously, edited by Lord Dunsany, C. S. Lewis, writing as Clive Hamilton, publishes Spirits in Bondage, a cycle of lyrics, his first published work, in London. An Seabhac s semi-autobiographical comic story Jimín Mháire Thaidhg is published,30 January – Robert Lowry, Baron Lowry, Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland. 23 February – Johnny Carey, soccer player and manager,18 March – G. E. M. Anscombe, analytic philosopher. 3 April – Myles McKeon, former Roman Catholic Bishop of Bunbury,3 April – Eoghan Ó Tuairisc, poet and writer. 9 April – Gordon Lambert, art collector, member of the Seanad,1 May – Dan OHerlihy, actor
9.
1920 in Ireland
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Events from the year 1920 in Ireland. 2 January – Irish Republican Army volunteers of the 1st Cork Brigade capture Carrigtwohill Royal Irish Constabulary barracks,27 February – the text of the Home Rule Bill to be introduced in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom is published. It provides for the establishment of a 128-member parliament in Dublin,10 March – the Ulster Unionist Council accepts the Governments plan for a Parliament of Northern Ireland. 20 March – the Sinn Féin Lord Mayor of Cork, Tomás Mac Curtain, is murdered by armed and disguised RIC men who break into his home,22 March – thousands gather to pay their respects to the murdered Tomás Mac Curtain. Over 8,000 IRA Volunteers line the route to St. Finbarrs Cemetery and he is succeeded as Lord Mayor by Terence MacSwiney. 25 March – British recruits to the RIC begin to arrive in Ireland and they become known from their improvised uniforms as the Black and Tans. 2 April – Canadian-born lawyer Sir Hamar Greenwood, Bt, PC, KC,5 April – IRA prisoners began a hunger strike in Mountjoy Prison, Dublin, demanding prisoner of war status. 15 April –8 June, Arthur Griffith establishes a Republican legal system in areas under IRA control, the traditional Summer Assizes become virtually unworkable. 2 May – Viscount Fitzalan is sworn in as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland,10 May – forty Irish republican prisoners on hunger strike at Wormwood Scrubs are released. 17 May – Sinn Féin supporters and Unionists engage in pitched battles in Derry. 20 May – Dublin dock workers refuse to handle British military material,22 May – in Rome, Pope Benedict XV beatifies Oliver Plunkett. 4 June – the IRA orders a boycott of the RIC,17 June – The Listowel Mutiny, RIC constables based at Listowel refuse orders to assist the British Army. The RIC is ordered to shoot armed IRA men who do not surrender when challenged,20 June – five die in severe rioting in Ulster. 24 June – troops are sent to reinforce the Derry garrison,29 June – Dáil Courts established to hear civil cases. 23 July – fourteen die and one hundred are injured in rioting in Belfast. 27 July – the first recruits – former British Army officers – join the RICs Auxiliary Division,31 July – Bishop Daniel Mannix is detained onboard ship off Queenstown and prevented from landing in Ireland. August – the Kingstown Urban District Council reverts to the historic name of Dún Laoghaire. 3 August – Catholic riots in Belfast in protest at the continuing British Army presence,13 August – the Restoration of Order in Ireland Act receives Royal Assent, providing for Irish Republican Army activists to be tried by court-martial rather than by jury in criminal courts
