May 2014
History Selection |
![]() Crowningof Lambert Simnel
May 1487 |
![]() Battleof Bantry Bay
May 1689 |
![]() PhoenixPark Murders
May 1882 |
![]() Easter rebelsexecuted
May 1916 |
![]() CustomHouse Fire
May 1921 |
![]() Hunger strike deaths
May 1981 |
Ireland in 1960 |
January 10th: Birth of Brian Cowen, Taoiseach. January 13th: The Broadcasting Authority Bill proposed to establish an authority to provide a national television service. January 16th: The last regular ship on the Cork–Glasgow crossing ran. The service had been going for 103 years. January 26th: The first staging of Sam Thompson's play Over the Bridge, took place in Belfast, at the Empire Theatre. January: Miss Elizabeth Synnott’s employment agency advertised in the Irish Times for specifically Protestant staff. | ![]() Over the Bridge |
![]() Frederick Henry Boland |
January: Taoiseach Seán Lemass defended the sending of horses to foreign abattoirs for use in horse meat. February 3rd: Irish candidate Frederick Henry Boland received the support of the United States for the presidency of the General Assembly of the United Nations. February 5th: The film Mise Éire premiered at the Regal Cinema in Dublin. February 17th: The Television Bill passed its final stage in Seanad Éireann. March 13th: Birth of Adam Clayton, U2 star. |
March 16th: The P & O liner Canberra was launched in Belfast. April 6th: The Short SC.1 VTOL research aircraft made its first transition from vertical to horizontal flight and back, flying from Belfast Harbour Airport. April 13th: MV Arlanza became the last passenger liner launched by Harland and Wolff in Belfast (for Royal Mail Line). May 10th: Birth of Bono, lead singer with U2. May 27th: The last barge on the Grand Canal left Dublin carrying Guinness to Limerick. The service had been going for 156 years. |
![]() Bono as a baby |
![]() Edna O'Brien |
June 1st: Radio Éireann was transferred from direct control of the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs to a separate public authority. June 5th: Birth of singer Dominic Kirwan. June 12th: Edna O'Brien's The Country Girls was banned in Ireland. July 6th: The first Late Late Show was broadcast. August 23rd: Samuel Beckett's play The Old Tune was first broadcast, by the BBC. |
September 4th: Down beat Kerry in the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final. September 20th: Frederick H. Boland became president of the United Nations Assembly October 25th: Death of Harry Ferguson, inventor of the modern tractor. November 8th: Nine Irish soldiers serving with the United Nations were killed in the Niemba Ambush in the Congo. November 8th: Irishwoman Irene Ruth Kane came runner up in the Miss World pageant. |
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![]() Kenneth Branagh (right) with his brother |
November 18th: The first Aer Lingus Boeing jet Padraig arrived at Dublin Airport. November 30th: Birth of athlete Catherina McKiernan. December 10th: Birth of actor Kenneth Branagh in Belfast. December 12th: Birth of singer Daniel O'Donnell in Donegal. December 13th: Aer Lingus’ first jet, the Boeing 707 ‘St. Patrick’ made its inaugural flight. |
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The Course of Irish History Publisher: Mercier Press Date published: 2001 [1967] ![]() One of the definitive introductions to Irish history, Moody and Martin's work, first published in 1967, begins its narrative in pre-history and takes the reader on a richly-illustrated journey to the present, with additional chapters covering the political and economic developments of the twentieth century's final decades. Topics include the ancient Celts, the arrival of Christianity, the coming of the Vikings and Normans, and relations between the English, the Anglo-Irish and the Irish from the twelfth century to current times, including the Statutes of Kilkenny, conflict in the Tudor era, the Ulster Plantation, the arrival of Cromwell, the Famine, Irish nationalism and the partition of North and South. Five chapters are given to the divided Ireland. This book's origins lie in a twenty-one part television series broadcast on RTÉ, then a young station experimenting with new genres. Moody and Martin's series was shown in 1966, the year of the fiftieth anniversary of the Easter Rising. A companion volume involving 21 individual contributors accompanied the series. Its aim was to 'present a survey of Irish history that would be balanced and fair-minded'. Demand continued until the present day; the book is both a useful reference guide and a snapshot of how Irish history was evaluated during the 1960s. |
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