Chronology of Dublin, 1900-2000

**1900

**State entry of Queen Victoria into Dublin on April 4 1900 on the occasion of her visit to Ireland. Address of welcome presented, by the Lord Mayor at the city boundary, Leeson Street Bridge.

The first ordination at Blackrock College, Dublin, was on 22 April 1900. Mgr Emile Allgeyer, the first Blackrock man to be raised to the episcopate, ordained Joseph Shanahan.

Oscar (Fingal Wills O’Flaherty) Wilde, 46, Irish wit, writer and homosexual, died in exile in Paris, under the pseudonym Sebastian Melmoth, on 30 November 1900. He had lived in Paris since his release from prison in 1897. The cause of death was given as ‘cerebral meningitis’, most likely caused by a failed ear operation earlier in the month. There are two options for his dying words, either “I am dying as I lived - beyond my means” or “Either this wallpaper goes, or I do”.

The Dublin Boundaries Act received the Royal Assent on August 6 1900. By this Act the Urban districts of Clontarf, Drumcondra and Glasnevin and new Kilmainham, and portions, of the county of Dublin, were included within the city boundary.

Census of the population of Dublin taken on March 31 1901. Number of inhabitants within the Municipal Area, 289,108, inhabiting 32,000 houses.

New branch line of railway from Kingsbridge completed on April 1 1901. Glasnevin and Drumcondra stations opened for traffic.

Patrick A. McHugh, M.P., was given the Freedom of the City of Dublin on 30 October 1901.

The first Nobel Prizes were awarded on 10 December 1901, fifth anniversary of the death of Alfred Nobel. W. B. Yeats received the Nobel Prize for Literature in Stockholm on 10 December 1923. The first ever Peace Prize went, jointly, to Jean Henri Dunant, founder of the Red Cross, and Frederic Passey, founder of the French Society of the Friends of Peace.

Eamon De Valera attended the Ireland V. Wales rugby international at Lansdowne Road, Dublin, on 8 March 1902. The ticket had been given to him by two students he was tutoring, Florie Green and Patrick Donegan, in preparation for their Solicitors Apprentice Exams. Admission to the covered stand was four shillings.

‘Cathleen Ni Houlihan’ by W.B. Yeats was first performed on April 2 1902.

‘Deirdre’ by AE (George Russell) was first performed on April 2 1902.

The first semi-official celebrations of St. Patrick’s Day in Ireland were in 1903. The Times of London noted that public houses were closed and ‘The day was accordingly distinguished by a very welcome, very general, and most unusual sobriety’.

An elephant named Sita killed her keeper, McNally, while he was tending her sore foot in Dublin Zoo on June 17 1903. She was later put down by members of the Royal Irish Constabulary.

One of the greatest motoring events ever held in Ireland was the Gordon Bennett race which took place on 2 July 1903. Three years earlier James Gordon Bennett, owner of the New York Herald, had presented a trophy to the Automobile Club de France for an annual international automobile contest. Four nations competed - Britain, France, Germany and the U.S. The race started at Ballyshannon crossroads, Kildare, and passed through Kilcullen, Kildare town, Monasterevan, Portlaoise (Maryborough), Stradbally, Athy, Carlow, Castledermot and back to Kilcullen. The race was won by Camille Jenatzy, nicknamed the Red Devil, who averaged 49.3mph in a 60 hp Mercedes. He completed the course in six hours 39 minutes. James Joyce reported the race for a French newspaper.

**‘Bloomsday’ - **James Joyce met his future wife, Nora Barnacle, on June 16 1904 - he later used it as the date of “Ulysses”.

The Abbey Theatre, Dublin, opened on December 27 1904.

Over three inches of rain fell in Dublin on 26 August 1905. North County Wicklow fared even worse with 5.5 ins, causing serious flooding in Bray.

Dublin-born** Thomas Barnardo**, 60, founder of the homes for orphaned and destitute children, died on September 19 1905.

Sinn Fein was founded in Dublin by Arthur Griffith on November 28 1905.

An Craoibhín Aoibheann (later President Douglas Hyde) was given the Freedom of the city of Dublin on 29 June 1906.

The Playboy of the Western World by J. M. Synge was first performed at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin, on 26 January 1907 and caused riots because of its ‘foul language’. The performance was stopped on the first night and was marred by disturbances during the first week.

The Poorhouse by Lady Gregory and Douglas Hyde was first performed at the Abbey Theatre on 3 April 1907.

Richard “Boss” Croker was given the Freedom of the city of Dublin on 1 July 1907.

Spencer Harty, C.E., Borough Surveyor of Dublin, was given the Freedom of the City of Dublin on 2 September 1907.

The Irish Crown Jewels, then valued at £50,000, were discovered to be missing from the safe in which they were kept in Dublin Castle on 6 July 1907. The stolen jewels, including the Star and Badge of the Order of St. Patrick, were never recovered, nor was anyone convicted of the theft. The King, head of the Order, was due to visit Ireland for three days, starting on the 10th, and the jewels would have been worn by the Lord Lieutenant at a variety of functions over the three days. The Order of the Knights of St. Patrick dated back to 1783 and the insignia had come into existence in 1829 on the order of King George IV. By statutes of 1905 it had been ordered that the insignia, collars and badges be kept in the strong-room in the Office of Arms. There were seven keys to the room, held by Sir Arthur Vicars (the Ulster King of Arms), Mr. Burtchaell the Secretary, Stivey, a messenger, Mr. O’Mahoney, the office-cleaner Mrs. Farrell, Kerr the castle detective and O’Keefe a servant of the Board of Works. The loss was discovered by Stivey at around 2.15pm who had been asked by Sir Arthur to deposit a box containing a gold collar in the safe. The safe had not been picked, nor in the opinion of locksmiths, could a duplicate key have been used. Although a £1,000 reward was offered, no concrete evidence of the identity of the thief was ever found.

The Lord Lieutenant ordered a Commission of Inquiry on January 6, 1908, into the theft of the Irish Crown Jewels from a safe in Dublin Castle six months earlier. The terms of reference were “to investigate the circumstances of the loss of the Regalia of the Order of St. Patrick, and to inquire whether Sir Arthur Vicars exercised due vigilance and proper care as the custodian thereof”.

The results of a Commission of Inquiry into the theft of the Irish Crown Jewels from a safe in Dublin Castle six months earlier were made public on February 1 1908. The Commission found that the Ulster King of Arms, Sir Arthur Vicars, did not show proper care of the safe keys and should have kept them “in a strong-room at his bankers” taking the keys only when necessary. The Government announced at the same time that Sir Arthur had been removed from the position. The Commission, oddly, had not investigated the theft itself, but had concentrated on whether Sir Arthur had taken proper care of the jewels.

The Dublin Municipal Art Gallery, Parnell Square, opened to the public on 20 January 1908.

Hugh Lane was given the freedom of the city of Dublin on February 10 1908.

Padraig Pearse founded St. Enda’s School for boys at Cullenswood House, Ranelagh, on September 8 1908.

E. O’Meagher Condon was given the Freedom of the City of Dublin on 28 September 1909.

The first custom-built cinema in Ireland, The Volta, opened in Dublin on December 20 1909 - the manager was James Joyce.

**1910

**Eamon De Valera and Sinéad Ní Fhlannagáin were married on January 8 1910.

His Grace, the Archbishop of Dublin, Dr. William J. Walsh wrote, on August 19 1910, to the Lord Mayor of the city complaining about plans to show a film of the ‘brutalising’ world heavyweight title fight between Johnson and Jeffries during Horse Show Week. “Things being as they are, the cinematograph display will be attended by a crowded audience. That, unfortunately, we cannot help. But we can at all events register a protest about it”, he wrote. The show went ahead.

He never made it to land but the flight is recognised as the first successful aeroplane flight across the Irish Sea. Robert Loraine flew from Holyhead to Howth on September 11 1910 - his engine cut out six times during the crossing and he landed in the sea a few hundred metres short of the Irish coast.

Sir Chas. A. Cameron, C.B., Executive Sanitary Officer, was given the Freedom of the City of Dublin on 30 September 1910.

The Titanic was launched in Belfast on 1 April 1911.

Dr. Kuno Meyer and An Canonach Peader Ua Laoghaire were given the Freedom of the city of Dublin on 18 July 1911.

The Titanic,** **46,324 gross tons, departed on 11 April 1912 from Cobh (then Queenstown) her final port of call before heading on her maiden voyage to New York.She struck an iceberg at 11.40pm on April 14 1912, sustaining a 300-foot gash in her hull. The Titanic went to the bottom of the ocean at 2.20am on April 15 1912. Of the 2,201 people on board only 711 were saved. Edith Haisman, 15 at the time, recalled how her father, who died, stood on deck with a cigar in one hand and a brandy in the other, saying ‘I’ll see you in New York’. Recalling, in 1996, the events of the night she said “at first there was no panic because everybody was so stunned by what had happened. They didn’t realise the Titanic was sinking. Nobody did. Most of the men jumped overboard into the sea. Those who could swim swam and those who could not swim sank. There was no hope for anyone.” Edith, 100, died in January 1997.

The author of Dracula, Bram Stoker, died in London on 20 April 1912.

A rally on April 16 1912 in Dublin against British legislation attracted 20,000 people.

The first flying race in Ireland was on September 7 1912 from Dublin to Belfast and back.

Speaking at Enniskillen Carson launched his campaign against Home Rule on 18 September 1912.

Dockers in Dublin Port went on strike on October 12 1912.

There was only one contestant in the 1913 Daily Mail Hydro-Aeroplane Trial for seaplanes - the aim being to fly 1,540 miles around the U.K. The sole entrant was Harry Hawker and he crashed near Dublin. He received a consolation prize of £1,000.

The Home Rule Bill for Ireland was carried (367-257) in the House of Commons on 16 January 1913. On 30 January it was defeated (326-69) in the House of Lords.

‘Big’ Jim Larkin, addressed a crowd in O’Connell Street from the balcony of the Imperial Hotel on August 31 1913. His arrest sparked rioting and a baton-charge by the D.M.P. in which several hundred people were injured.

The Archbishop of Dublin denounced Jim Larkin’s plans to send hungry children of locked-out workers to England on October 21 1913.

The GAA acquired Croke Park from former GAA President and Secretary, Frank B. Dineen, on December 18 1913 for £1,500 in cash and the acceptance of a bank liability of £2,000. Dineen had bought the James’ Road grounds in 1908 for £,250, when the City and Suburban Racecourse and Amusement Group Ltd. was wound up. The money came from financially successful inter-county hurling and football competitions which funded a memorial in Thurles to Archbishop Croke, first patron of the Association, with enough left over to purchase the grounds.

57 out of 70 officers stationed at the Curragh, Co. Kildare, announced on January 20 1914 that they would resign their commissions before enforcing Home Rule. The order was never issued.

Asquith offered a compromise on Home Rule on March 9 1914 - electors in Ulster could vote to be excluded from an independent Ireland for six years.

George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion had a triumphant opening in London on 12 April 1914.

Cumann na mBan, the women’s auxiliary to the Irish Volunteers, was founded on April 2 1914.

The Irish Home Rule Bill got its third reading in the British House of Commons on 25 May 1914. It provided for a separate parliament in Ireland with some representation in Britain. It was shelved on 30 July.

James Joyce’s Dubliners was first published on June 15 1914.

The Kelpie landed guns for the Irish Volunteers at Kilcoole, Co. Wicklow on August 1 1914.

Patrick Pearse, speaking at the funeral of Jeremiah O’Donovan Rossa on August 1 1915, told mourners in Glasnevin “They have left us our Fenian dead, and while Ireland holds these graves, Ireland unfree shall never be at peace.”

The Easter Rising began in Dublin on April 24 1916 when a number of strategic sites, including the General Post Office on O’Connell Street (then Sackville Street) were occupied by volunteer troops opposed to British rule.

The Commandant General of the Army of the Republic, James Connolly, was twice wounded on April 27 1916 as battle raged around the GPO in Dublin during the Easter Rising. He was wounded in the arm while supervising the erection of a barricade in Princess Street in the morning and, in the evening, while returning from Abbey Street, had his ankle shattered by shrapnel.

In eight hours from noon on April 26 1916, 17 men deployed by Eamon de Valera, held off a battalion of Sherwood Foresters at Mount Street Bridge, killing or wounding 230 soldiers. Vol. John Kelly, Athlone, F Co. 1st Batt., was killed in Grand Canal Street, Dublin, while carrying dispatches to Bolands Mills. The gunboat Helga shelled the centre of Dublin having sailed up the Liffey. Liberty Hall and the top three floors of the G.P.O. were demolished. Francis Sheehy-Skeffington and two journalists, Thomas Dickson and Patrick McIntyre, in army custody, were shot dead by Capt. J. C. Bowen Colthurst - later found guilty but insane.

Brig. Gen. Lowe took command of troops in Dublin and proclaimed martial law on April 25 1916.

Clarke, McDonagh and Pearse were executed by the British on May 3 1916.

Plunkett, Daly, O’Hanrahan and William Pearse, were executed by the British on May 4 1916.

Major John McBride, husband of Maud Gonne, was executed by the British on May 5 1916.

Thomas Ceannt was executed by the British on May 9 1916.

James Connolly and Sean Mac Diarmada were executed by the British on May 12 1916. Connolly, injured during Easter Week fighting, was taken on a stretcher to face the firing squad.

Sir Roger Casement was found guilty of treason in a Dublin court and sentenced to death on June 29 1916.

Sir Roger Casement, British diplomat and Irish nationalist was hanged for high treason at Pentonville Prison, London, on August 3 1916.

A letter written by Eamon De Valera on 9 August 1916 from Kilmainham Jail to his friend Frank Hughes, his best man in 1910, reads: “My dear Frank, Just a line to say a last good-bye. I am to be shot for my part in the Rebellion. If you can given any advice to Sinéad and the little ones I know you’ll try. Remember me to your wife, Mother, Aunt Stan etc. Pray for my soul. Dev.”

A letter to another friend, Mike Ryan, read: “Just a line to say I played my last match last and lost. I am to be shot, an old sport who unselfishly played the game. … Tell Colgan we will never have another game of nap together or beat Rice’s bog or the Wood. Farewell old friend, you are in my last thoughts.”

Kevin Barry, executed four years later for the murder of a British soldier, enrolled in Belvedere College, Dublin, on September 1 1916.

Thomas Ashe died in Mountjoy Jail on September 25 1917.

Irish painter Nathaniel Hone died on October 14 1917. His widow presented 500 of his oils and over 900 water colours to the National Gallery.

A Convention of the Irish Volunteers on October 27 1917 agreed to re-organise. Eamonn De Valera was elected president and Cathal Brugha became Chief of Staff.

The first performance of Oliver St. John Gogarty’s “Blight” took place at the Abbey Theatre on 11 December 1917.

The Representation of the People Act, giving the vote to British and Irish men over 21 and most women over the age of 30, came into force on 6 February 1918.

The Redistribution of Seats (Ireland) Act came into force in 1918, it made constituencies approximately equal in size of electorate.

John Redmond, Chairman of the Irish Parliamentary Party, died on March 6 1918.

British authorities announced the discover of the ‘German Plot’ in Ireland on May 17 1918. Sinn Féin leaders and members were arrested and imprisoned.

The steam packet Leinster was torpedoed on October 10 1918 by a German submarine one hour after leaving Dun Laoghaire - 501 people died.

The Countess Markievicz was elected as member of Parliament for St. Patrick’s, Dublin, on December 28 1918 - becoming the first woman elected. She never took her seat.

Twenty-six elected Sinn Fein representatives, meeting in the Mansion House, Dublin, on 7 January 1919 arranged to convene the first Dáil Éireann on 21 January as an independent constituent assembly of the Irish nation.

The first meeting of Dail Eireann was held in the Mansion House, Dublin, on 21 January 1919. Cathal Brugha was elected President until the release of Eamon de Valera from Lincoln Jail.

Turnstiles were removed from the Ha’Penny Bridge, Dublin, on 25 March 1919 - tolls had been charged since 1816.

Sinn Féin prisoners were released from English jails on March 6 1919, among them 31 members of Dáil Éireann.

Prof. John Pentland Mahaffy, Provost of Trinity College Dublin since 1914, died on April 30 1919.

On June 14 1919, at 14.13 GMT, Captain John Alcock and Lt Arthur Whitten-Brown took off from Newfoundland on the first successful non-stop transatlantic flight to Galway, Ireland, in a Vickers Vimy. They landed near Clifden, Co. Galway, after 15 hours and 57 minutes (average speed 115mph). As the two stepped stiffly out of the aircraft one noted “that is the way to fly the Atlantic”, the other expressed a wish for a bath and a shave.

Dáil Eireann was suppressed as a ‘dangerous association’ by the British government on September 11 1919 and membership was deemed to be a crime. In continued to meet, infrequently and in secrecy, until the Truce in July 1921.

The first edition of the ‘Irish Bulletin’, the official organ of Dáil Éireann, was published on November 11 1919.

Lady Astor, Britain’s first woman M.P., took her seat in the House of Commons on 1 December 1919. The previous year the Countess Markievicz, Dublin, had been elected but didn’t take her seat. However, even she couldn’t really claim to be the first British woman to sit in the House of Commons since she was actually born in America.

1920

The Dublin offices of Sinn Féin and Dáil Éireann were closed and boarded up from 3-8 January 1920 by police and Royal Fusiliers.

In the borough and urban council elections of 1920 Sinn Féin won control of 172 out of 206 councils.

The Dublin Metropolitan District came under curfew (midnight to 5am) on 23 February 1920.

The Government of Ireland Bill was introduced to the House of Commons on 25 February 1920.

The ‘Black and Tans’ arrived in Ireland on 26 March 1920.

The British Parliament passed the Irish ‘Home Rule’ Bill on 31 March 1920.

Sir Arthur Vicars, Ulster King of Arms and the man responsible for the safety of the Irish Crown Jewels when they were stolen in 1907, was shot dead by the IRA at his home, Kilmorna Castle, Co. Kerry, on April 14 1920. A card was tied around the body with the words “Spy. Informers beware. The IRA never forgets”.

In the County Council, Rural Districts and Poor Law Guardians elections June 8 1920 Sinn Féin won control of 29 of 33 County Councils. Sinn Féin majorities were also returned in most of the other local councils and boards.

‘B’ and ‘C’ companies of the Connaught Rangers mutinied in the Punjab on June 28 1920 on hearing of British atrocities in Ireland. Private James Daly was executed and others were sentenced to penal servitude.

The Most Rev. Daniel Mannix, D.D., Archbishop of Melbourne, was given the Freedom of the city of Dublin on 5 August 1920.

Kevin Barry, 18, IRA member and medical student, was executed on November 1 1920 for the murder of a British soldier on 20 September 1919 during a raid on the North Dublin Union Bakery, Church Street, Dublin.

Arthur Griffith, acting President of the Irish Republic, Prof. Eoin MacNeill and Eamonn Duggan were arrested on November 27 1920.

An IRA squad, organised by Michael Collins, killed 14 British secret agents (some sources say 19) during ‘Bloody Sunday’, November 21 1920. Earlier in the year the British had stepped up their intelligence efforts, placing Col. Ormonde d’Epee Winter (nicknamed ‘Holy Terror) in charge of intelligence in Dublin. He, in turn, employed ‘The Cairo Gang’, a group of agent-runners brought in from Britain. Collins, however, obtained a list of the lodging houses where they lived and, just after 9am, gunmen entered eight houses. Among those killed was Capt. Bagelly - his assassin, Sean Lemass, later became Taoiseach of the Irish Republic. That afternoon British auxiliaries closed Croke Park stadium, searching, they claimed, for snipers on the roof. The troops opened fire on the crowd, killing 13 spectators and a player. Auxiliaries also tortured and killed three prisoners in Dublin Castle. The Times of London, commented: ‘an army already perilously indisciplined and a police force avowedly beyond control have defiled by heinous acts the reputation of England’.

Martial law was declared in Ireland on December 11 1920. After an IRA ambush the Black and Tans set fire to part of Cork City. By the end of the day 14 people had been killed by the Black and Tans.

The Government of Ireland Act received royal assent on December 23 1920. It proposed that Ireland would have separate parliaments in the North and South (coming into effect on 19 April 1921).

Katherine O’Shea Parnell, 75, mistress and wife of C. S. Parnell, died on 5 February 1921.

On May 13 1921 it was nomination day for candidates in general elections for the two Irish Parliaments established under the Government of Ireland Act. Sinn Féin members were returned unopposed for the ‘Southern Parliament’ (25 counties).

The IRA attacked and set fire to the Custom House, Dublin, on May 25 1921. During the five-day blaze many local government records were destroyed.

Elections for the first Northern Parliament (six counties), under the Government of Ireland Act, were held on May 24 1921. Candidates returned: Unionist 40, Sinn Féin 6, Nationalists 6.

The first Northern Ireland Parliament sat on 5 June 1921.

King George V, speaking in Belfast at the official opening of the Northern Parliament on 22 June 1921 appealed “to all Irishmen to pause, to stretch out the hand of forbearance and conciliation, to forgive and forget … The future lies in the hands of my Irish people themselves.”

Volunteer James McIntosh, a native of Athlone, wounded in action at the Royal Marine Hotel, Dun Laoghaire, died in St. Michael’s Hospital on 22 June 1921. He is buried in the Republican Plot, Deansgrange Cemetery.

On June 30 1921 Arthur Griffith and other members of Dáil Éireann were released from prison.

A truce came into effect between the IRA and British troops on 11 July 1921 during the War of Independence.

Eamonn De Valera lead a Dáil delegation to London on July 12 1921 for peace discussions.

Eamon de Valera and an Irish negotiating team met Lloyd George and Sir James Craig in Downing Street on 14 July 1921. It became clear during the meeting that Craig had already determined on partition for Northern Ireland.

The first Dáil was dissolved and the second Dáil met on August 16 1921.

Eamon de Valera was re-elected President of Dail Eireann on 26 August 1921. He was proposed and seconded by Commandant Sean MacEoin and General Richard Mulcahy - both of whom later fought against him in the Civil War.

Frank Duff founded the Association of Our Lady of Mercy (later the Legion of Mary) on September 7 1921.

Negotiations began on 11 October 1921 between Irish and British delegations at 10 Downing Street to settle a treaty at the end of the Irish War of Independence.

General Sir Nevil Macready, Commander in Chief of British forces in Ireland, wrote to the Secretary of State for War, Sir Laming Worthington, on October 12 1921, that if negotiations with Irish nationalist leaders, Arthur Griffith and Michael Collins, failed, “I am convinced that the only chance of avoiding a serious setback will be to strike at once with all means at my disposal”.

British War Office paper dated October 21 1921 detailed how Lloyd George’s Government could have tackled the Irish nationalist movement. Prepared just weeks before the Treaty which established the Irish Free State it proposed ‘immediate and drastic action’ if talks with Irish leaders failed, including martial law, death sentences for weapons possession, blockading Southern Ireland, suppressing the Dáil, Press censorship, closing civil courts, internment of 20,000 ‘rebels’ and a closure of Irish industry. In addition, 50,000 British troops would have to be sent. They would not have applied to Northern Ireland. The measures, approved by the Secretary of State for War, Sir Laming Worthington, following the Irish delegation’s rejection of British control of certain Irish ports.

Speaking at the Sinn Fein Ard Fheis in the Mansion House, Dublin, on 28 October 1921, Eamon de Valera, leader of the party, told delegates “Ireland’s representatives will never call upon the people to swear allegiance to the English King … As sure as the nation is divided the nation will be tricked.”

The Irish Free State (Saorstat Eireann) came into being on December 6 1921. The first postage stamp of the new state was issued on the same day, a 2d 15x14 perforation, white map of Ireland on a green background.

The Dail, adjourned since December 22, reconvened on January 3, 1922 - it had before it a motion for acceptance of the Treaty with Britain.

Eamonn de Valera offered to resign as president of the Dail on January 6 1922 because the Cabinet was sharply divided over acceptance of the Treaty with Britain - he withdrew his offer on condition that the motion to approve it would be taken within 24-hours. The vote, taken the following day, 64 for - 57 against, recommended that the Irish people accept the Treaty with Britain.

Eamon De Valera resigned the Presidency of Dail Eireann (President of the Republic), in protest over the signing of the Treaty with Britain, on 9 January 1922. On a vote he was replaced by Arthur Griffith on 10 January. De Valera walked out with his followers after the vote.

The Southern Parliament, summoned by Arthur Griffith, met for the first and only time on January 14 1922. It ratified the Treaty with Britain and established the Provisional Government. No anti-Treaty deputies attended.

Michael Collins, Chairman of the Provisional Government in Ireland, took formal control of Dublin Castle from Lord Lieutenant FitzAlan on 16 January 1922.

The Dublin Gazette, first published in 1705, was last issued on Friday, January 27, 1922. On the following Tuesday it was replaced by Iris Oifigiuil, the official organ of the Irish government.

The Irish Free State Army took formal control of the Beggar’s Bush Barracks, Dublin, on 31 January 1922.

James Joyce was superstitous about many things and especially about publication dates. He had advance copies of Ulysses and  Finnegans Wake made up so that he could have them for his birthday celebration. The first edition of Ulysses (1,000 numbered copies under the imprint of Shakespeare and Co., Paris) has the date therefore of February 1922. The Egoist Press printed an edition in 1923 (500 copies with 499 destroyed by the censors). The first unlimited edition was January 1924 by Shakespeare and Co. This would be the edition that was smuggled into England and the United States in fairly large quantities. The most reliable text is still the Odyssey Press edition of 1932. [Information supplied by Bob Williams.]

The Irish Free State Bill received the Royal Assent on March 31 1922.

The bombardment of the Four Courts, starting the Civil War in Ireland, began at 4am on 28 June 1922.

The Four Courts, Dublin, was abandoned by Anti-Treaty forces after a two day bombardment, on 30 June 1922. The Public Records office was blown up before the surrender, 1,000 prisoners were taken.

Comdt Reginald Dunne, London, and Vol. Joseph O’Sullivan, London, were executed in Wandsworth Prison and buried in the prison yard on August 10 1922. Both bodies were reinterred in Deansgrange Cemetery, Dublin, in May 1967.

Vol. James Hudson, Dun Laoghaire, was killed in action in Glasthule on 10 August 1922. He is buried in the Republican Plot, Deansgrange Cemetery.

The Dáil approved the Constitution of the Irish Free State on October 25 1922.

Vol. Francis Power, 4th Batt. Dublin Brigade, was killed in action at Portobello on 11 November 1922.

The first executions of Republican prisoners during the Civil War took place in Kilmainham Jail on November 17 1922. ‘Irregulars’ James Fisher, Peter Cassidy, John F. Gaffney and Richard Twohig were shot.

Erskine Childers, author of ‘The Riddle of the Sands’, found in possession of a revolver (ironically given to him by Michael Collins) was executed on November 24 1922.

William T. Cosgrave was elected first president of the Irish Free State parliament on 7 December 1922.

Rory O’Connor, Liam Mellows and others were executed on 8 December 1922 for the assassination of pro-treaty deputy, Sean Hales, the previous day.

Five Irish Free State soldiers were executed for ‘treachery’ against the state on 8 January 1923.

Senator Oliver St. John Gogarty, author of ‘As I Was Walking Down Sackville Street’, escaped from his IRA captors by swimming the Liffey on 12 January 1923.

James Joyce started work on Finnegan’s Wake on 20 March 1923.

James Larkin and his brother Peter formed the Workers’ Union of Ireland on June 15 1923.

The Civic Guard was renamed the **Garda Siochana **on 8 August 1923.

Irish tenor John ‘Count’ McCormack was given the Freedom of the City of Dublin on September 3 1923.

The Irish Free State was admitted to the League of Nations on 10 September 1923.

W. B. Yeats won the Nobel Prize for Literature on 14 November 1923.

The Irish Free State Aer Corps was established on 1 July 1924.

The Irish Free State government declared an amnesty for offences committed between 6 December 1921 and 12 May 1923, on 8 November 1924.

The Dublin Metropolitan Police Force (DMP) was amalgamated with the Garda Siochana on 2 April 1925.

Matt Talbot, 69, died in Dublin on 7 June 1925.

Miss Oonagh Keogh, 22, became the first female member of a stock exchange when she was admitted to the floor of the Dublin Stock Exchange on July 9 1925.

Radio 2RN, the Free State broadcasting station (later Radio Eireann) was opened by Dr. Douglas Hyde on 1 January 1926.

Tempers ran high in the Abbey Theatre on 11 February 1926, during the performance of “The Plough and the Stars” by Sean O’Casey. Members of the audience took exception to the Irish flag being brought onstage to a pub setting. As actors and the public fought, William Butler Yeats, theatre director, called the police and then mounted the stage to berate the audience for their behaviour.

Eamon de Valera resigned as leader of Sinn Fein on March 11 1926.

Six people died on March 31 1926 in one of the most famous Irish murder cases of the 20th century. As La Mancha, Malahide, blazed the fire brigade removed six bodies from the house onto the front lawn. The dead were Peter, 51, and Joseph McDonnell, 55 (the owners), their sisters Annie, 56, and Alice, 47, and two servants, retainer James Clarke, 41, and cook/housekeeper Mary McGowan, 50. The family, originally from Galway, were retired shopkeepers. The family’s gardener, Henry McCabe, was charged with the murders and found guilty in November of that year. He was executed in Mountjoy Prison on December 9.

Eamonn de Valera inaugurated Fianna Fail at the La Scala Theatre, Dublin, on 16 May 1926.

The R.D.S. hosted its first international horse-jumping competition on 4 August 1926.

George Bernard Shaw was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature on 11 November 1926.

The first Fianna Fail Ard Fheis was held on November 24 1926.

Cairbre, a lion born in Dublin Zoo on 20 March 1927, was used to introduce Metro-Goldwyn-Meyer films.

Shamrock Rovers player Bob Fulham scored Ireland’s first international goal, against Italy, on April 23 1927.

The opening hours of Irish public houses were restricted by the Intoxicating Liquor Act of May 20 1927.

It was estimated that over 100,000 people filed past the coffin of the Countess Markievicz as it lay in the Pillar Room of the Rotunda, Dublin, in June 1927. Constance Georgina Markievicz had fought during the Easter Rebellion and was the first woman elected to the British Parliament (1918) but did not take her seat.

Kevin O’Higgins, Minister for Justice, was assassinated by Republicans in Monkstown, Co. Dublin, on 10 July 1927. The Blackrock College journal noted: ’ At 11.45pm this peaceful neighbourhood was startled by the sound of shots and almost immediately the report was spread that Mr. Kevin O’Higgins, Minister for Justice and External Affairs, had been shot down in a most brutal and cowardly manner on his way to 12.00 Mass in the Parish Church of Booterstown. At about 5pm he passed away having died a glorious and happy death’.

The Currency Act of 20 August 1927 established a separate currency for the Irish Free State.

William O’Brien, editor of the United Ireland newspaper and author of the ‘No Rent’ manifesto which caused the British to outlaw The Land League, died on 25 February 1928. When imprisoned in Tullamore Jail in 1866 he refused to wear prison uniform and remained naked until supporters smuggled in a suit of Blarney tweed.

Sean Lemass described Fianna Fail as ‘a slightly constitutional party’ during a speech in Dail Eireann on 21 March 1928.

The first east-west transatlantic crossing began on April 12 1928 from Baldonnell, Dublin, to Greenly Island, Newfoundland. The ‘Bremen’, crewed by Col. James C. Fitzmaurice, Capt. Koehl and Baron von Hunefeld, completed the 2,300-mile flight in 36.5 hours.

Ehrenfried Gunther Baron Von Hunefeld, Captain Hermann Koehl and Major James Fitzmaurice were given the Freedom of the city of Dublin on 30 June 1928.

Irish Press Ltd. was formally incorporated in Dublin as a limited liability company on September 4 1928.

The Irish Manuscripts Commission was established on October 1 1928.

Shamrock Rovers beat Bray Unknowns 11-0 in a League of Ireland match played on October 28 1928 at Milltown.

Shamrock Rovers player John Joe Flood scored three of Ireland’s four goals against Belgium on April 20 1929 - Ireland’s first international hat-trick. The same match saw Tony Farquharson become the first Irish goalkeeper to keep a clean sheet.

The Savoy Cinema, Dublin, was opened by W. T. Cosgrave on 29 November 1929. The first showing was ‘Ireland’, a government documentary.

**1930

**On September 29 1930 George Bernard Shaw turned down a peerage.

The first Irish Hospital Sweepstakes draw, held on the Manchester November Handicap, tool place at the Mansion House, Dublin on November 17 1930. The first winners, of £208,792.16s., were Prescott, Tormey and Ward, Belfast. The total prizemoney for the first ‘Sweep’ was £409,233.

Timothy Healy, former Home Rule politician and first Free State Governor- General, died on March 26 1931.

The first AGM of the Irish hostelling movement was held in Newman House, Stephen’s Green, Dublin, on 7 May 1931. The meeting, organised by Terry Trench, agreed on a name for the new movement, An Oige. Thirty-seven people attended and about half paid a subscription of five shillings to become the first members of An Oige.

Muintir na Tire, the Irish rural self-help organisation was founded by Canon John Hayes, Co. Tipperary,** **on 17 May 1931.

The Irish Press, founded by Eamon DeValera, rolled off the presses for the first time on 5 September 1931. Margaret Pearse, mother of Padraig and Willie, pressed the button to start the presses rolling.

Eamonn de Valera was elected President of the Executive Council of Ireland on March 9 1932.

Eamonn DeValera was elected President of Ireland, 9 May 1932.

The Dublin Bill, abolishing the loyal oath to the British Crown, became law on May 19 1932.

Augusta, Lady Gregory, Irish poet, playwright and co-founder of the Abbey Theatre died on May 22 1932.

Butt Bridge, Dublin, was opened on June 7 1932.

The 31st Eucharistic Congress opened in Dublin on 22 June 1932. It included a commemoration of the 1,500th anniversary of St. Patrick’s arrival in Ireland.

His Eminence Lorenzo Cardinal Lauri, Papal Legate to the 31st International Eucharistic Congress was given the Freedom of the city of Dublin on 27 June 1932.

Dr. Pat O’Callaghan won his second Olympic medal at Los Angeles in the hammer event on 1 August 1932. Bob Tisdall picked up a gold in the 400 metres hurdles.

The Irish General Election of 24 January 1933 saw Fianna Fail take 77 seats, Cumann na nGaedheal (48), National Centre Party (11), Labour (8), Independent (8), and Independent Labour (1).

General Eoin O’Duffy was removed from his position as Commissioner of the Gardaí on 22 February 1933. An offer of another position by de Valera was turned down

The Irish Association of the Order of Malta was instituted on April 13 1934.

The premier showing of ‘Man of Aran’ at the Grafton Cinema, Dublin, was attended by President De Valera and members of the Free State Executive Council on May 6 1934.

A tram and omnibus strike started in Dublin on 3 March 1935 (ended 17 May). The army were called in to provide public transport from 20 March.

Sir John Lavery, RA, RHA, was given the Freedom of the city of Dublin on June 17 1935.

The Pearse Regiment was added to the Irish Army on November 4 1935.

Edward Ball, 19, murdered his mother, Lavinia (Vera), at their home in Booterstown, on February 17 1936. Her body was never found (her car was recovered at the coast in Shankill, Dublin). Ball, who pleaded ‘not guilty’ at his trial, said that he had returned home to find that his mother had committed suicide by cutting her own throat with an open razor. He had decided to hide the suicide by disposing of the body in the sea. Evidence, however, pointed towards a struggle although he had worked hard the night of the murder to destroy it. He was found guilty, but insane.

The first Aer Lingus (then named Irish Seaways) flight took place on 27 May 1936. The five-seater Iolar flew from Baldonnel to Bristol, piloted by Capt. Armstrong.

Sir John Purser Griffith, MAI, M.Inst.C.E., was given the Freedom of the city of Dublin on 8 June 1936.

General Eoin O’Duffy set off with his Blueshirt followers to support Franco in the Spanish Civil War on November 20 1936.

In the wake of the abdication of Edward VIII the Dail passed legislation on 11 December 1936 removing the King from the Irish Constitution and abolishing the position of Governor General. Meanwhile, back in Britain, Mrs. Alice Keppel, one-time mistress of Edward VII, noted “Things were done better in my day”. King George VI acceded to the throne.

The Irish Meteorological Services was established on April 1 1937.

The constitution of the Republic of Ireland was approved by a plebiscite on July 1 1937.

The first traffic lights in the Republic were installed at the junction of Merrion Square and Clare Street on August 27 1937.

Dr. Douglas Hyde, elected unopposed, was inaugurated as first President of Ireland on 25 June 1938.

On May 16 1938 the Department of Justice banned the magazine Photography. “When recommending that the periodical should be banned the Censorship Board requested the Minister to inform the proprietors of Photography that it is with the greatest reluctance that the Board recommended this publication for prohibition. The Board recognised the artistic and technical excellence of Photography but were of opinion that the space and attention given to the female nude was altogether out of proportion to the position which this branch of photography occupies.”

The last English garrison left the Irish Free State at 8.00pm on July 11 1938, aboard the MV Innisfallen, from Cork Harbour. The Cork Examiner reported that ‘40,000 people, gathered in vantage points all round Cork Harbour last night, saw Mr. de Valera, as head of the Irish Government, hoist the tricolour for the first time over Spike Island.’

On November 16 1938, England scored 7 goals against Ireland at Old Trafford in a full international match. Three of the goals were scored within 3.5 minutes - by the same player. Willie Hall (Spurs) scored his initial goal from a pass from Stanley Matthews. Moments after the kick-off, Hall scored again. The goalkeeper, showing more enthusiasm than wisdom, charged Hall on the kick-off, leaving his goal wide open for the third. Hall scored twice more during the game to bring his tally to five.

At Swim Two Birds by Flann O’Brien was published on 13 March 1939. “The Pooka MacPhillimey, a member of the devil class, sat in his hut in the middle of a firewood meditating on the nature of the numerals and segregating in his mind the odd ones from the even.”

The longest strike in Ireland began in Downey’s pub, George’s Street, Dun Laoghaire, on March 5 1939 and ended on 5 December 1954 on the death of the pub owner. The building was later pulled down but the taps can still be seen in the Stillorgan Orchard pub.

Dail Eireann introduced internment without trial on June 23 1939 after a series of bombings by the IRA in England.

Mrs. Kathleen Clarke, widow of Tom Clarke who was executed in 1916, was elected Lord Mayor of Dublin, on 27 June 1939.

Irishman William Joyce, nicknamed Lord Haw-Haw, made his first Nazi propaganda broadcast to Britain on September 18 1939.

IRA members looted the Army Magazine Fort in the Phoenix Park, Dublin, escaping with over 1m rounds of ammunition on 23 December 1939 - most was later recovered.

**1940

**Bombing of Belfast on the night of 16 April 1940 killed 745, injured 1,500 and destroyed 1,600 houses. 13 fire engines from Dublin, Dun Laoghaire, Drogheda and Dundalk were sent to help.

The first soldier to enlist during the ‘Emergency’ as a ‘durationist’ or ‘E’ man was Brendan Aherne who joined up on June 7 1940. He was discharged in November 1945.

The last tram to Donnybrook, Dublin, ran on June 22 1940.

The Picture Post magazine was banned in Ireland on July 17 1940 after a campaign by the Irish Catholic which objected to the “vulgarity and suggestiveness of the illustrations” and articles by H. G. Wells which were critical of the Catholic Church and Ireland. The 13 July issue of the Post carried a feature headed “We Are Banned In Ireland” and noted “that the Eire authorities should now ban Picture Post without having the courage to admit the true reason for the ban seems to us the heaviest blow they could strike at their own country.” At the time the magazine was selling 26,000 copies weekly in Ireland.

‘A’ Group of the Local Security Force (an auxiliary to the Army) was handed over in 1941 to the command and control of the Irish Army and was re-named ‘The Local Defence Force’ (LDF). It was intended as an auxiliary police service - by 16 June of the same year 44,870 members were enrolled, a number which rose to 148,306 in August.

The Irish author of “Ulysses”, James (Augustine Aloysius) Joyce, died on 13 January 1941 after surgery in Zurich. He is buried in Fluntern Cemetery. On April 29 the Irish Independent noted: “He died in Zurich early this year, having in the time between reviled the religion in which he had been brought up and fouled the nest which was his native city.”

The Federated Union of Employers (FUE, Ireland), was registered as a trade union in 1942.

“The Great Hunger” by Patrick Kavanagh and “The Tailor and Ansty” by Eric Cross were both published on 2 December 1942 - both were promptly banned in the Republic.

The Irish Central Bank came into being on 1 February 1943.

William T. Cosgrave resigned from the leadership of Fine Gael on 18 January 1944. He was succeeded by Richard Mulcahy (26 January).

The Irish Children’s Allowances Act, passed on 23 February 1944, provided for the payment of 2s 6d per week for third and subsequent children.

Britain banned all travel to and from Ireland, including Northern Ireland, on 12 March 1944 in an effort to prevent German spies, operating in neutral Eire, from learning of the Allied preparations taking place in Britain for the invasion of France.

Edel Quinn, 37, Legion of Mary missionary, died in Nairobi, of T.B., on 12 May 1944.

Irish Taoiseach Eamon de Valera gave his condolences to the German Ambassador, Edouard Hempel, on the death of Adolf Hitler, on 2 May 1945.

Count John McCormack, Irish-born US tenor, died on September 16 1945.

Demobilisation of the Irish Army began on November 1 1945.

The ‘Emergency’ in Ireland ended on 2 September 1946.

Bread rationing was introduced in Ireland on 18 January 1947.

The Irish Department of Health was established on 22 January 1947.

James ‘Big Jim’ Larkin, founder of the Labour Party, the Irish Transport and General Workers’ Union and the Workers’ Union of Ireland, died, aged 71, on 30 January 1947.

John A. Costello (Fine Gael), formed Ireland’s first coalition government on 18 February 1948 following the defeat of Fianna Dail, under Eamonn DeValera, in the general election.

Eire left the Commonwealth to become the Republic of Ireland on 18 April 1949.

The last tram left from Nelson’s Pillar to Dalkey, Co. Dublin, on 10 July 1949.

Most Rev. Richard J. Cushing, D.D., Archbishop of Boston, and Paul Dever, Governor of Massachusetts, U.S.A., were given the Freedom of the City of Dublin on 16 September 1949.

**1950

**A four-engined Avro Tudor, chartered by rugby enthusiasts, crashed at Llandow Airport, Wales, en route to Dublin, on 12 March 1950. Eighty people were killed, three survived.

George Bernard Shaw, 94, playwright, author and critic, died on 2 November 1950 after breaking his leg while cutting a branch off a tree in his garden.

An Irish Bank strike which began on 23 December 1950, last until mid-February.

James Stephens, Irish poet and novelist (The Crock of Gold) died on December 26 1950.

Dr. Noel Browne resigned on 11 April 1951 over the controversy surrounding his Mother and Child Scheme.

The Abbey Theatre in Dublin burned down on July 17 1951. The play that evening closed with soldiers on stage singing, ‘Keep the Home Fires Burning’. The theatre was founded in 1907 by W. B. Yeats and Lady Augusta Gregory.

Prof. E. T. S. Walton, Trinity College, Dublin, shared the Nobel Prize for Physics with Sir John Cockroft, England, on 15 November 1951.

His Excellency Sean T. O Ceallaigh, Uachtarán na hEireann, was given the Freedom of the city of Dublin on 2 June 1953. Also receiving the Freedom on the same day was His Eminence John Cardinal D’Alton, D.D., Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland.

Busarus, Dublin, was officially opened on October 19 1953.

Michael Manning was the last man to be lawfully executed in Ireland. He went to the gallows in Mountjoy Jail, Dublin, on 20 April 1954.

His Excellency Gerald P. O’Hara, D.D., Archbishop of Savannah, Georgia, USA, and Papal Nuncio to Ireland was given the Freedom of the City of Dublin on 27 July 1954.

Robert Marie Smyllie, 60, former editor of the Irish Times, died on 11 September 1954.

The longest strike in Ireland began in a Dun Laoghaire pub on 6 March 1939. It ended on 5 December 1954.

Ireland joined the United Nations on December 14 1955.

The Irish Army Apprentice School was established on August 16 1956.

The Dublin International Theatre Festival was inaugurated on May 13 1957.

On September 26 1957 Shamrock Rovers became the first League of Ireland team to play in the European Cup - they lost 6-0 to Manchester United.

Ireland’s first participation in UN operations was on 28 June 1958 in the Lebanon.

Eamon de Valera became President of Ireland on June 17 1959.

The first bangharda, Mary Margaret Browne from Castlerea, Co. Roscommon, joined the force on 9 July 1959.

**1960

**The last Guinness barge to travel the Grand Canal left James’ Street Harbour, Dublin, with a cargo for Limerick, on 27 May 1960.

The Irish 32 Bn left for the Congo on July 27 1960.

Nine Irish soldiers from 33 Inf. Bn on U.N. duty died in an ambush at Niemba, Congo, by Baluba tribesmen, on 8 November 1960. Many of the soldiers in the patrol were unarmed as they repaired a bridge. The attack by the tribesmen was completely unexpected as, previously, they had helped keep the makeshift bridge in operation. The Military Medal for Gallantry, the highest Army honour, was awarded posthumously to Trooper Anthony Browne, for exceptional gallantry during the engagement. Browne, provided covering fire which allowed the sole survivor of the ambush to escape. His body was not recovered for a year.

RTE began television broadcasts on 31 December 1960.

Irish actor of stage and screen Barry Fitzgerald, 72, died in Dublin, on January 4, 1961. He had received the 1944 Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role in ‘Going My Way’.

Guinness formally adopted the harp as its symbol on April 5 1962.

Gay Byrne hosted his first Late Late Show on 6 July 1962.

His Eminence Michael Cardinal Browne, O.P., was given the Freedom of the City of Dublin on 23 August 1962.

President Kennedy, visiting Berlin on June 26 1963, made his famous “Ich bin ein Berliner” speech. Later in the day he arrived to a tumultuous welcome in Dublin. On June 28 he was given the Freedom of the city of Dublin. Speaking to the Dail he stressed the major role played in U.S. history by citizens of Irish ancestry.

President Kennedy conferred with Taoiseach Sean Lemass on 27 June 1963, before visiting County Wexford, ancestral home of the Kennedy family.

Brendan Behan, author of Borstal Boy, died on 20 March 1964.

Irish playwright Sean O’Casey, 80, author of the Playboy of the Western World, died, in Devon, on September 18 1964.

Actor and comedian Jimmy O’Dea died on 7 January 1965.

The remains of Roger Casement were removed from Pentonville Prison to be reburied in Ireland on March 3 1965.

The top of Nelson’s Pillar, O’Connell Street, Dublin, was blown up by the I.R.A. just before 2am on March 8 1966. Irish poet Padraig Colum had once suggested that the statue of the British naval hero be given another arm “and call him by another name - Robert Emmet perhaps.” The 134’ 5” column had dominated O’Connell Street for 157 years. The battered head of Lord Nelson can be seen in the Civic Museum.

Irish novelist, wit and columnist Flann O’Brien died on 1 April 1966.

A bank strike in Ireland started on 6 May 1966. It lasted until 5 August.

Eamon de Valera, 83, became President of Ireland for a second time, on June 2 1966.

The amalgamation of the Munster and Leinster Bank, Provincial Bank and the Royal Bank on 22 August 1966, created Allied Irish Banks.

Three people died when an Aer Lingus Viscount crashed near Ashbourne, Co. Meath, on 22 June 1967.

The Peacock Theatre, Dublin, opened to the public on July 23 1967. The first play was an adaptation of “An Beal Bocht” by Flann O’Brien.

Irish Poet Patrick Kavanagh died on November 30 1967.

Taoiseach Jack Lynch and Ulster Unionist leader Capt. Terence O’Neill met on January 8 1968 for talks in Dublin.

The first ever Honorary Citizen of Ireland, Sir Alfred Chester Beatty, died in Monte Carlo on 20 January 1968. His body was brought to Dublin for a state funeral.

All 60 aboard died when an Aer Lingus Viscount, St. Phelim, crashed into the sea near Tuskar Rock, Co. Wexford, on 24 March 1968.

Maynooth College admitted the first lay students to degree courses from September 14 1968.

Traffic wardens, twenty of them, appeared on Dublin streets for the first time on 8 October 1968. The price of parking for one hour was a shilling (5p).

The Brian Boru harp was stolen from Trinity College on March 24 1969.

**‘The Ginger Man’ **by J. P. Dunleavy was banned by the Irish Censorship Board on 22 April 1969. Originally banned in 1956 it had been on sale in the Republic for three months prior to the second banning.

‘Strumpet City’ by James Plunkett was published on April 28 1969.

On May 17 1969 Tom McClean from Dublin completed a crossing from Newfoundland to Blacksod Bay, Co. Mayo, completing the first transatlantic solo crossing in a rowing boat.

Irish nationalist Robert Briscoe, 74, died in Dublin on May 30 1969.

The Irish Finance Act of July 29 1969 exempted people considered (by the Revenue Commissioners) to have written works of cultural or artistic merit from income tax on money earned by the works.

From 1 August 1969 ha’pennies and farthings were no longer legal tender in Ireland.

Irish Army troops were moved to the border with Northern Ireland on August 13 1969

• field hospitals and refugee centres were set up.

Taoiseach Jack Lynch mobilised the Army’s first line reserve as refugees from Derry streamed south into the Republic on 15 August 1969.

**1970

**A tribunal of enquiry into the ‘7 Days’ programme on illegal money-lending began on January 6 1970, in the Four Courts, Dublin. It lasted until 8 April.

The first parking meter installed in Dublin was on Wellington Quay On January 14 1970.

The Irish Censorship Board lifted the ban on Brendan Behan’s “Borstal Boy” on 17 February 1970. The book had been banned since its publication in 1958.

50p coins were introduced in the Republic of Ireland on 17 February 1970.

In the Arms Crisis Taoiseach Jack Lynch dismissed the Finance and Agriculture Minister, Haughey and Blaney, on 6 May 1970. Kevin Boland, Local Government Minister, also announced his resignation.

Former minister Charles Haughey and Neil Blaney were arrested and charged with conspiring to import arms, on 28 May 1970.

The Catholic hierarchy’s ban on Catholic attendance at Trinity College, Dublin, was lifted on 25 June 1970.

Irish Catholic bishops announced on 2 July 1970 that it was no longer obligatory to abstain from eating meat on Friday.

James ‘Frank’ Roche threw two C.S. gas containers from Strangers’ Gallery, forcing the evacuation of the House of Commons, on 23 July 1970. ‘That’s what it’s like, you bastards’, he shouted. He got an 18 month sentence. Roche had left his university studies in the 1960s to become involved in the struggle for Civil Rights in Northern Ireland.

The 86th Congress of the GAA deleted Rule 27 from the official GAA Guide on April 11 1971. The 66-year-old rule banned the playing or promotion of foreign games. The deletion, supported by 27 counties, was proposed by Armagh and seconded by Dublin.

Irish statesman and former Taoiseach Sean Lemass died on May 11 1971.

Irish writer Padraic Colum, 90, died in Connecticut on January 11 1972. He was later buried in St. Fintan’s cemetery, Sutton.

On January 14 1972 Gardai removed squatters from Frascati House, Blackrock (the former home of Lord Edward Fitzgerald). They had been protesting against the demolition of the building.

Irish Taoiseach Jack Lynch signed the Treaty of Rome on 22 January 1972.

Gardai baton-charged a demonstration outside the British Embassy, Merrion Square, Dublin, on 16 August 1969.

The British Embassy in Merrion Square, Dublin, was burned down by demonstrators on 2 February 1972. They were protesting the killing of 13 people, 17 others were wounded, in Derry by British paratroopers on ‘Bloody Sunday’ two days earlier. Among those protesting was my mother who is not normally given to public rioting - to this day she denies starting the fire!

Eight people died in a fire at Noyek’s timber-merchants, Parnell Street, Dublin, on 27 March 1972.

The Special Criminal Court was established in the Ireland on 26 May 1972.

The L.E. Deirdre, Ireland’s first native-built naval craft, was commissioned on 19 June 1972.

The handicapped Dublin writer, Christy Brown, married Mary Carr on 5 October 1972.

Sean MacStiofain, Chief-of-Staff of the Provisional IRA, was arrested in Dublin on November 19 1972. After a failed prison break he went on hunger strike.

The RTE Authority was dismissed by the Government on November 24 1972 after the transmission of a report of an interview given by the Provisional IRA leader, Sean MacStiofáin. A year earlier, Gerry Collins TD, then Minister for Posts and Telegraphs, had issued an Order under Section 31 of the Broadcasting Authority Act 1970, telling the Authority to ‘refrain from boradcasting any matter of the following class, i.e. any matter that could be calculated to promote the aims or activities of any organisation which engages in, promotes, encourages or advocates the attaining of any particular objectives by violent means’. The Order had been issued following a Seven Days broadcast with the leaders of the Official and Provisional IRAs in September 1971.

Value Added Tax (VAT) was introduced in Ireland on 1 November 1972. It replaced turnover tax and wholesale tax.

Archbishop Dermot Ryan, attended a November 5 1972 service in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, was the first Roman Catholic Archbishop to do so since the Reformation.

Two people died in Dublin bomb explosions on 1 December 1972, leading Fine Gael to drop its opposition to the Offences Against The State (Amendment) Bill which allowed the opinion of the Garda Siochana to be accepted evidence of IRA membership.

One person died and 13 were injured in central Dublin when a car bomb exploded on 20 January 1973.

Jack Lynch’s Fianna Fail Government was defeated in a general election by a coalition led by Liam Cosgrave, 28 February 1973.

The gun-running ship, Claudia, was arrested off Waterford. Six people, including Joe Cahill of the Provisional IRA, were arrested on 28 March 1973.

Erskine Childers was elected President of Ireland on 31 May 1973.

Hilton Edwards and Dr. Micheál Mac Liammóir were given the Freedom of the city of Dublin on 22 June 1973.

Eamon de Valera, 90, retired from the Presidency of Ireland and from public life on 24 June 1973. His final official act was to attend a ceremony at Boland’s Mills, Dublin, where he had fought in 1916.

Erskine Childers became President of Ireland in succession to Eamon de Valera on 25 June 1973.

From 31 July 1973 the Irish Civil Service abolished the bar against the continued employment of women who married.

RTE began broadcasting from the new Radio Centre in Donnybrook, Dublin, on September 24 1973.

Three provisional IRA leaders were dramatically snatched from Mountjoy prison by a hijacked helicopter on 31 October 1973.

The most destructive storm in 70 years hit Ireland’s east coast on January 12 1974. Two died, 30,000 homes were without electricity and 10,000 telephones were cut off.

The Littlejohn brothers, Keith and Kenneth, escaped from Mountjoy on March 11 1974

• Keith was immediately recaptured. The two had been jailed for their part in a bank raid which Kenneth claimed had been carried out on the orders of the British Department of Defence.

Irish poet and writer Austin Clarke died on March 20 1974.

Merrion Square was formally handed over to Dublin Corporation by the Archbishop of Dublin to became a public park on April 5 1974.

After a three-day public hearing in 1974 it was ordered on April 17 the New Central Bank, Dame Street, Dublin, be reduced by 30ft.

Charles Haughey bought Inishvickillane on April 19 1974 for use as a summer retreat.

The first official strike in the 215 years of brewing by Guinness in Dublin started on 24 May 1974 when 1,200 general workers served notice.

Three car bombs in the centre of Dublin on 17 May 1974 killed 26 people; a bomb in Monaghan killed seven. No-one was ever charged in connection with the explosions.

Lord and Lady Donoughmore, kidnapped in Tipperary two days before, were released on June 9 1974 in the Phoenix Park. They said that they had been held in the sitting-room of a modern bungalow and had been given a fried breakfast and chops and steaks for their dinner.

The first Soviet Ambassador to Ireland, Anatoli Kaplan, presented his credentials on June 14 1974.

Cornelius Ryan, the Dublin-born author of A Bridge Too Far and The Longest Day, died in New York on November 23 1974, aged 54.

Cearbhall O’Dalaigh became the fifth President of Ireland on 29 November 1974, following the sudden death of Erskine Childers.

Erskine Childers, 68, President of Ireland, died on November 17 1974. He was the fourth President of the country and the first Protestant to hold the office.

Eighty Gardai and 150 fans were injured when rioting broke out on 22 April 1975 at the Star Cinema, Dublin, during a performance by the Bay City Rollers.

Eamon de Valera, three times Irish Prime Minister and President from 1959-73, died on August 29 1975.

John A. Costello, 84, leader of two inter-party Irish governments, died on January 5, 1976. In 1949 he had led Ireland out of the British Commonwealth.

Eight SAS men were charged on May 6 1976 in the Special Criminal Court with having firearms in the Republic.

The British Ambassador to Ireland, Christopher Ewart-Biggs, was murdered in a landmine explosion in Leopardstown, Dublin, on 21 July 1976. He had been in Dublin just two weeks.

Seamus Costello, leader of the IRSP and INLA, was shot dead in Dublin on 10 October 1977.

Irish (English actually) actor and director Micheál MacLiammóir died in 1978.

The Dáil decided on December 15 1978 to join the European Monetary System (EMS) and to link the Irish punt to the deutschmark.

Dublin Corporation JCB’s moved onto Wood Quay on March 7 1979.

Irish pianist Peggy Dell died on April 30 1979.

The memorial to James Larkin on O’Connell Street, Dublin, was unveiled on June 15 1979.

The FCA was separated from the Permanent Defence Force on September 26 1979.

Pope John Paul II arrived in Dublin for the first ever papal visit to Ireland on 29 September 1979. He breakfasted on the Aer Lingus plane - rashers, sausages, black and white pudding. In Drogheda he appealed for an end to violence in the country.

1980

Thomas Dudley, known to Dubliners as “Bang! Bang!” died on January 6 1980. He got his nickname through his habit of pursuing trams and buses, armed with a brass door-key, with which he “shot” them.

The Irish Army Ranger Wing was established on March 16 1980.

Bob Marley started a tour in Dublin on July 10 1980.

Forty-eight young people died and many more suffered serious injury in the Stardust disaster on Valentine’s night 1981. In the following Tribunal the owner, Eamonn Butterly, admitted in evidence that exit doors were kept locked and chains were hung on the panic bolts because it was “easier” that way. Michael Norton, a forensic expret with the Deparment of Justice, gave evidence to the Tribunal that “wall carpet tiles in the Stardust gave off noxious fumes and were crucial in the rapid spread of the fire and preventing people from escaping.”

Christy Brown, the handicapped Dublin author, who learned to type with his left foot, died on 6 September 1981. His 1970 novel ‘Down All The Days’ was an international best-seller.

Malcolm MacArthur was arrested in the home of the Irish Attorney General, Patrick Connolly, on 13 August 1982. He was later found guilty of the murder of nurse Bridie Gargan.

Charlie McCreevy’s no confidence challenge to Charles Haughey’s leadership ended in victory for Haughey on October 6 1982.

On January 12 1983 Malcolm MacArthur was sentenced to penal servitude for life for the murder of nurse Bridie Gargan, 27, in the Phoenix Park, Dublin. As he pleaded guilty none of the extraordinary circumstances surrounding the murder were made public.

The first meeting of the New Ireland Forum was on May 30 1983.

Thin Lizzy split on August 1 1983 after 13 turbulent years which saw them hailed as one of the world’s greatest rock bands.

Irish historian F.S. L. Lyons, author of Ireland Since the Famine, died on September 21 1983.

A Garda and a soldier died during the rescue on 16 December 1983 of Quinnsworth executive Don Tidey from his IRA kidnappers who had been seeking a £5M ransom.

An Post, marking the 200th anniversary of the post office, undertook to deliver any hand-addressed letter or postcard for one penny to any part of the Republic on January 12 1984.

Luke Kelly of The Dubliners was admitted to the Richmond Hospital, Dublin, on January 28 1984 for emergency treatment of a brain tumour. He died during the night.

The Royal Hibernian Hotel, Dawson St., Dublin, which had opened in 1751, closed in 1984.

Charles Russell Murphy, high-living Irish accountant who left a lot unexplained and missing, died on April 12 1984. Those who would like to have their money back include Hugh Leonard and Gay Byrne.

Kathleen Behan, mother of Brendan, died on April 26 1984.

The Dublin Area Rapid Transit (DART) service, linking Bray and Howth, was officially opened on 23 July 1984.

Actor Noel Purcell, 84, died in Dublin on 4 March 1985. His film appearances included Moby Dick and Mutiny on the Bounty.

Phil Lynott, lead singer with “Thin Lizzy” died, aged 35, on 4 January 1986.

The Progressive Democrats held their first public meeting in Dublin on January 8 1986.

The Self Aid concert took place in Dublin, 17 May 1986.

The Stormont Assembly was dissolved on 23 June 1986 - police stormed the building to evict the Loyalist members after a 10-hour sit-in.

‘Hurricane Charlie’ hit Ireland on August 25 1986. 8” of rain was recorded at Kippure, the Dodder and Dargle Rivers overflowed their banks, flooding over 400 businesses and homes. 81 years before, in 1905, over 1,000 people were evacuated from their Bray homes after severe flooding.

Sinn Fein voted to end abstentionism and take seats in the Dail on 2 November 1986.

Steven Roche won the Tour de France on July 26 1987, the first Irishman and only the second cyclist not from continental Europe to win.

The Good Conduct Medal was instituted in the Irish Defence Forces on September 16 1987 - it is limited to 60 in any one year, may only be awarded once to an individual and, recipients must have served 10 consecutive years in the permanent defence force. It applies only to NCOs and privates.

John O’Grady was kidnapped from his Dublin home by INLA members led by Dessie “Border Fox” O’Hare on 14 October 1987.

Ivan Beshoff, Russian mutineer believed to be the last survivor of the crew of the battleship ‘Potemkin’ died on October 25 1987 . Bad food was the main cause of the famous mutiny in 1905. Beshoff came to Ireland where he owned a fish and chip shop, and was once jailed as a suspected IRA spy.

Dublin began to celebrate its “Millennium” on 1 January 1988.

Disabled Dublin author, Christopher Nolan, 22, won the Whitbread Book Prize for his book, Under the Eye of the Clock, on 15 January 1988.

The first Aer Lingus flight with an all-female crew was on 2 August 1988 from Dublin to Shannon. The Shorts 360 commuter aircraft was piloted by Capt. Grainne Cronin and co-piloted by Elaine Egan.

The oldest bakery in Dublin, Johnston, Mooney and O’Brien, announced that it was to close down on 27 January 1989.

Irish Nobel winner Samuel Beckett, 83, died in Paris on December 26 1989.

**1990

Catherine McAuley**, founder of the Mercy Congregation (the Sisters of Mercy), was declared venerable by Pope John Paul II on 9 April 1990.

The Diceman, Thom McGinty, was charged on June 15 1991 in Dublin with breach of the peace and wearing a costume which could offend public decency.

On 16 April 1992 Shay Healy pulled down the shutters on the Nighthawks diner. “I’m all buggered out and it is time that someone else catered to the public’s every whim,” he said.

Donegal, appearing in an All-Ireland football final for the first time, won the Sam Maguire cup on September 21 1992. 64,547 attended the match again Dublin which saw Donegal win 18-14.

The Irish punt was devalued by 10% on January 30 1993.

The last surviving member of the Second (All Ireland) Dail Eireann and the last general officer of the IRA of 1921, Comdt.-General Tom Maguire of Mayo, died on 5 July 1993.

The board of directors of Dunnes Stores resolved by a majority on July 7 1993 that Chairman Ben Dunne, be suspended from executive duties within the company.

Private James Kelly, absent without leave since 8.30am on August 1 1979, surrendered himself at Collins Barracks, Dublin, on January 1 1994. He had been AWOL for 5,267 days.

The Lord Mayor of Dublin, cllr. Brendan Lynch PC, dedicated ‘The Diceman’s Corner’, Meeting House Square, Temple Bar, on February 20 1997, to mark the memory of street performer Thom McGinty.

Home Up to 1699 1700 to 1799 1800 to 1899.