Sean MacBride Awarded Nobel Peace Prize On this day in 1974 Sean MacBride was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts on behalf of human rights, among other things as one of the founders of Amnesty International. In 1974 he was also Chairman of the International Peace Bureau and Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations, and had recently been elected UN Commissioner for Namibia. A prestigious award for MacBri...

Sunnigndale Agreement Signed 09.December.1973 On this day in 1973 the Sunnigndale Agreement was signed. Following the inability of the Northern Ireland government under Brian Faulkner to stop paramilitary violence and the reaction of the Catholic population to internment led the British government to suspend the Northern Ireland government and impose direct rule from Westminister in March 1972. William Whitelaw, the first ...

On this day in 1933 the Irish government declared the Army Comrades Association (ACA), later the League of Youth, but better known as the ‘Blueshirts, illegal. Led by Eoin O’Duffy, a veteran of the Irish War of Independence, the leader of Fianna Fáil, Eamon de Valera believed that the Blueshirts were a Fascist movement and were intent on the over through of the government. O’Duffy born in Monaghan in 1892, supported t...

Charles Haughey Elected Leader On this day in 1979 Charles Haughey was elected leader of the Fianna Fáil political party succeeding Jack Lynch and seeing off his rival, the then Tánaiste, George Colley. Following the resignation of Lynch, then Taoiseach, the leadership race became heated with both Haughey and Colley battling for supremacy. Haughey’s election, and subsequent appointment as Taoiseach four days later, mark...

Anglo Irish Treaty 06.December.1921 On this day in 1921 after weeks of intense negotiation, the Anglo Irish Treaty was signed in London. Under the terms of the treaty the Irish Free State, consisting of twenty-six counties would have  dominion status, similar to Canada and Australia. The British government would take control of the so-called treaty ports to safeguard their defence interests and a boundary commission was to...

 Peace Rally was held in Drogheda, county Louth With the troubles raging in Northern Ireland and no end in sight to the tit-for-tat killing, on this day in 1976 a Peace Rally was held in Drogheda, county Louth. Using the symbolic River Boyne as its meeting point, more than 15,000 people marched in bitter cold calling for peace. The chief organisers, Betty Williams, Mairead Corrigan and Ciaran McKeown, were joined by member...

Boundary Commission Final Recommendations 03.December.1925 On this day in 1925 the Boundary Commission issued its final recommendations for the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. After much delay and negotiation following the Anglo-Irish Treaty in 1921, it was not until November 1924 that the commission met for the first time. The committee comprised of Eoin MacNeill (representing the Irish Free St...

Kilmichael Ambush Cork was one of the most active counties in Ireland during the War of Independence, and the scene of the biggest number of casualties inflicted on the British army during the war. On 28 November 1920 an ambush at Kilmichael between Dunmanway and Macroom, seventeen auxiliaries were killed by an IRA flying column led by Tom Barry. Three IRA volunteers - Pat Deasy, Michael McCarthy and Jim Sullivan, were also...

Inaugural Meeting of the Irish Volunteers 25.November.1913 On 25 November 1913 the Irish Volunteers were formed in Dublin, a significant moment in the story of the Irish revolution of 1912 to 1923. Newspaper reports estimated the crowd to be in excess of 7,000 at the Rotunda meeting where speakers included Eoin MacNeill, Patrick Pearse, and the veteran Irish nationalist Michael Davitt. The genesis of the meeting was the pu...

Death by firing squad of Erskine Childers The death by firing squad of Erskine Childers on 24 November 1922 was one of the most high-profile and controversial executions of the Irish Civil War. The Free State government executed 77 anti-Treaty prisoners during the Civil War in a vicious and escalating campaign of reprisal killings. Childers, the man responsible for bringing the weapons to Ireland during the summer of 1914 f...