On This Day...

[Groundhog]

Dec 19th

1154

Henry II was crowned king of England. He was also the first Norman king of Ireland from 1170.

1562

The French Wars of Religion between the Huguenots and the Catholics began with the Battle of Dreux.

1843

Charles Dickens published A Christmas Carol. He wrote the story in a few weeks because his family was in need of money.

1940

The SS Isolda was sunk with the loss of 6 lives by German aircraft. She was a lighthouse tender owned by the Commissioners of Irish Lights. She sank en route to the Coninbeg light-vessel. Her Captain was Alan Bestic who had been Third Officer on the Lusitania when she was struck by a torpedo off Kinsale in 1915.

1946

War broke out in Indochina as Ho Chi Minh attacked the French in Hanoi.

1973

The Supreme Court decided by a majority of four to one that a ban on contraceptives is unconstitutional

1974

Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh was inaugurated as the fifth president of the Irish Republic following the death of Erskine Childers.

1989

The US invaded Panama. This recent invasion led to a boom in the sale of tee-shirts bearing the legend “Visit America before America visits you”.

1999

Macao spent its last day as a Portuguese colony, stretching back 442 years.

Died

1916

29434 Pte Daniel Sullivan, 2nd Reserve Cavalry Regt. He died in East Africa. From Waterford.

1917

7565 Pte Mark Wall, 5th Bn Royal Irish Regt. Died at home. From Waterford.

1920

Killed by the security forces

Adjt Lawrence Looby, IRA. Killed at Ballysheehan, Co. Tipperary.

Vol Patrick O’Connor, IRA. Killed at Clonbully.

1922

Volunteer Joseph O'Connor, IRA, from Bansha, Co. Tipperary. He was Executed in the Curragh Internment Camp.

1940

Died in the sinking of the SS Isolda

Patrick Dunne.
Patrick Farrell.
James Hayden.
W. Holland.
William Rushby.
Patrick Shortt.

all from Dun Laoghaire

[Groundhog]

Dec 20th

1688

William of Orange’s troops entered London.

1892

Phileas Fogg completed his 80 day round-world trip.

1909

The Volta, Ireland’s first cinema, opened in Dublin. One James Joyce was the manager.

1944

The Germans surrounded the 101st Airborne Div at Bastogne.

1957

Elvis Presley was drafted.

1961

Robert McGladdery became the last person judicially executed in Ireland. He was hanged in Belfast for murder.

1983

Yasser Arafat and 4,000 PLO evacuated Lebanon.

Died

1914

52641 Gnr John O'Shea, Royal Field Artillery. Died of wounds on the Western Front. He was from Waterford.

1915

4932 Pte James Hurley, 4th Bn Royal Irish Regt. Died at home. He was from Waterford.

[Groundhog]

Dec 21st

1117

Thomas Becket , Archbishop of Canterbury, was born. He was murdered in Canterbury Cathedral in 1170.

1620

The Mayflower reached Plymouth, Massachucetts.

1804

Benjamin Disraeli Jewish Prime Minister of Great Britain in 1868 and from 1874-80, was born.

1940


The MV Innisfallen, a ship of the City of Cork Steam Packet Company was sunk at 3:20pm by a magnetic mine near New Brighton Tower as she departed Liverpool for Cork. Four men died. She had 157 passengers and 63 crew on board. Her Captain was George Firth from Clontarf, Dublin.

1945

Gen. George S. Patton died at the age of 60 in Heidelberg, Germany, of injuries from a car accident.

1948

The Republic of Ireland Act was passed by Dáil Eireann.

1958

Charles de Gaulle was elected to a seven-year term as the first president of the French Fifth Republic.

1988

Pan Am Flight 103 was downed over Lockerbie, Scotland by a terrorist bomb. 270 people were killed.

1989

Nicolae Ceausescu delivered his final public speech. The hard-line Romanian Communist ruler was stunned as his listeners began booing. He was executed four days later.

Died

1914

1021 Pte James Power, 1st Bn Manchester Regt. Died on the Western Front. He was from Fethard, Co. Tipperary.

8352 Pte William Ryan, 2nd Bn Royal Munster Fusiliers. Killed in action on the Western Front. He was from Cappoquin, Co. Waterford.

1916

6917 Pte Francis Tobin, 1st Bn Royal Munster Fusiliers. Died of wounds on the Western Front. He was from Kilrossanty, Co. Waterford.

1920

Volunteer W Slattery, IRA. Killed in action at Emly, Co. Tipperary.

1940

Died in the sinking of the MV Innisfallen

W Doyle. Dublin.
Daniel Geary. Kinsale.
J Porter. Dublin.
J Rickard. Howth.

[Groundhog]

Dec 22nd

1691

Patrick Sarsfield and The Wild Geese sailed for France.

1894

Capt Alfred Dreyfus was fraudulently convicted of treason in a court passing secret French military documents to the German embassy in Paris. Dreyfus was vindicated after 12 years on Devil’s Island.

1984

Bernhard Goetz shot at four black teens who attempted to rob him in a New York subway. He claimed self-defence and was acquitted of attempted murder in 1987.

1989

Samuel Beckett died. Famous for writing plays that nobody understands, he also fought in the French Resistance in WW2.

Died

1915

Killed in action in Gallipoli serving in 1st Bn Royal Dublin Fusiliers

21863 Pte Stephen Garrey. Waterford City.

20163 Pte James Lacey. Dungarvan, Co. Waterford.

23096 Pte Patrick Power. Tramore, Co. Waterford.

1916

5406 Pte Thomas Shaw, 4th Bn Royal Irish Regt. Died at home. He was from Waterford City.

[Groundhog]

Dec 23rd

1920

The Government of Ireland Act split the six Northern Irish counties from the rest of Ireland.

Died

1915

71039 Pte William Kiely, Royal Army Service Corps. Died in Egypt. He was from Waterford City.

1916

41411 Gunner George McLean, Royal Field Artillery. Died on the Western Front. He was from Salterbridge, Co. Waterford.

11370 Pte Patrick Travers, Depot Royal Irish Regt. He died in Clonmel, Co. Tipperary.

1917

11316 Pte John Barry, 12th Bn Lancashire Fusiliers. Died of wounds in Salonica. He was from Waterford City.

[Groundhog]

Dec 24th

1601

The Battle of Kinsale was fought ending in victory for the English. Hugh O'Neill, Red Hugh O'Donnell and the Spaniards of Don Juan de l'Aquila were defeated by Mountjoy.

1889

Captain William O'Shea filed for divorce, citing Parnell as his wife Kitty's lover.

1895

The 15-man crew of the Dun Laoghaire No 2 lifeboat was lost in a gale while attempting to rescue the crew of the stricken Finnish vessel SS Palmeoff Blackrock. The No 1 boat also capsized but with no loss of life. The 20 man crew of the Finnish ship was rescued next day by the []SS Tearaght[/I], commanded by Captain Thomas McCombie.

One of the lost life boatmen was Frank Saunders. In 1918 his wife Fanny sailed on the RMS Leinster to visit their daughter in Liverpool. She died when the Leinster was sunk by a U Boat.

Other members of the life boat crew were Henry Williams, Alexander Williams and Henry Underhill.

Joshua might be able to come up with the other 11 names.

Died

1919

68983 Constable William Murtagh, RIC. Died in Clonoulty, Co. Tipperary.

1960

Cpl Liam Kelly died in the Congo.

1978

Cpl Thomas Reynolds died in Lebanon.

[Groundhog]

Dec 25th

Died

1916

3280 Gunner Patrick Fitzpatrick, Royal Garrison Artillery. Died on the Western Front. He was from Kill, Co. Waterford.

[Groundhog]

Dec 26th

1998

Cathal Goulding died in Dublin. He was a former IRA Chief of Staff.

Died

1915

21869 Gnr Albert Baker, Royal Artillery. Died on the Western Front. He was born in Co. Tipperary.

1920

Capt James Hickey, IRA. Killed in Custody in the military barracks in Tipperary Town.

Constable W Murphy, RIC. Died in Clonoulty, Co. Tipperary.

Patrick O'Brien, a Civilian was killed by the Security Forces in Bansha, Co. Tipperary.

1922

Pte Michael McDonnell, Free State Army was killed in action. He was from Thurles, Co. Tipperary.

[Groundhog]

Dec 27th

1917

Pte James Duffy, 6th Bn Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers earned a Victoria Cross at Kereina Peak, Palestine. While his company was holding a very exposed position, Private Duffy and another stretcher-bearer went out to bring in a seriously wounded soldier. His buddy was immediately wounded so Duffy returned to get another man, who was killed almost immediately. Duffy then went forward alone and, under very heavy fire, succeeded in getting both wounded men under cover and attended to their injuries.

1969

Dan Breen died.

1997

Billy Wright, was shot dead in the Maze prison by the INLA.

Died

1915

G/14624 Pte John Power, 4th Bn Royal Fusiliers. Killed in on the Western Front. He was from Waterford City.

1916

Captain Patrick Lynch, 2nd Bn Leinster Regt. Died on the Western Front. He was from Waterford City.

4/7334 Pte Francis Coreri, 4th Bn Royal Munster Fusiliers, from Waterford City. He died in Tipperary Town.

1917

9574 Pte Thomas Brahan, 1st Bn Leinster Regt. Died in Egypt. He was from Cashel, Co. Tipperary.

[Groundhog]

Dec 28th

Died

1917

7325 L/Cpl Thomas Canty, 1st Bn Royal Irish Regt. Killed in action in Palestine. He was from Waterford.

1961

Cpl John Geoghegan died in the Congo.

[Groundhog]

Dec 29th

1877

Major Hans Moore of the 88th Foot (Connaught Rangers), was awarded the VC during the Ninth Cape Frontier War. Near Komgha, South Africa, in action against Gaika warriors, Major Moore attempted to rescue a private of the Frontier Mounted Police who was unable to mount his horse. Despite his efforts, the man was killed. Major Moore received an assegai wound in the arm. Hans Moore was born in Dublin and died in Co. Tipperary in 1889. He is buried in Mount St Jerome Cemetery, Dublin.

2001

Daniel O'Donnell was awarded an honorary MBE. His mammy was thrilled.

Died

1914

8848 Pte John Kirwan, 2nd Bn the Welsh Reg. From Tramore, Co Waterford, he was KIA on the Western Front.

[Groundhog]

Dec 30th

1460

The Duke of York was killed by Lancastrians at the Battle of Wakefield.

1691

Robert Boyle, chemist and physicist died.

1865

Rudyard Kipling, author and poet, was born in Bombay, India. He won the Nobel prize for literature in 1907. He wrote the "Jungle Book" and many stories and poems about soldiers.

1990

Iraq’s information minister, Latif Nussayif Jassim, said President Bush “must have been drunk” when he suggested Iraq might withdraw from Kuwait, and added: “We will show the world America is a paper tiger.”

1997

Files from the Department of Defence, the Department of Justice and the Office of the Attorney General relating to the Arms Crisis of 1970 were discovered to be missing from the State archives.

Died

1917

Died at sea

11879 Pte Jeremiah FitzGerald, 2nd Bn Royal Irish Regt. Clonmel, Co. Tipperary.

4606 Pte J Hackett, 4th Bn Leinster Regt. Husband of Kate Hackett 4, Thomas St, Clonmel, Co. Tipperary.

9808 Pte Albert Thompson. 1st Bn Royal Irish Regt. Clonmel, Co. Tipperary.

5604 Pte Alan Turner. 1st Bn Royal Irish Regt. Carrick on Suir, Co. Tipperary.

[Goldie fish]

Dec 30th

1997

Files from the Department of Defence, the Department of Justice and the Office of the Attorney General relating to the Arms Crisis of 1970 were discovered to be missing from the State archives.

That was the year Fianna Fail came to power,wasn't it? What an interesting coincidence...

[Groundhog]

In fairness I would imagine they disppeared when Haughey was in charge. After all he featured large in the files.

[Groundhog]

Dec 31st

1600

Queen Elizabeth I incorporated the Honourable East India Company.

1602

Following the Battle of Kinsale, Dónal Cam O’Sullivan and 1,000 men, women and children leave Castletownbere and began the long march to Leitrim, where they hope to find shelter with the O'Rourkes.

1711

The Duke of Marlborough was fired as English army commander.

1720

Charles Edward Stuart, Bonnie Prince Charlie, was born.

1857

Capt Dighton MacNaghton Probyn, an officer of Irish descent, serving in the 2nd Punjab Cavalry won a VC for his bravery at the Battle of Agra in the Indian Mutiny. He went on to a Knighthood and the rank of General as well as Keeper of the Queen's Purse and Secretary to the Prince of Wales.

1930

Mayo County Council was dissolved by ministerial order because of it's refusalto recognise the appointment of the new Mayo County Librarian. The reason. She was a Protestant by the name of Letitia Dunbar-Harrison.

1991

The USSR ceased to exist at midnight.