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1848 ‘Starvation Fever of 1847’ article by Dr. Daniel Donovan of Skibbereen was published in the Dublin Medical Press on 1 March, 1848.
Read the history of the song Skibbereen, and how it led to emigration from Ireland. Plus links to four great videos of the song.
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1883 Jimmy Elliott died on this day in 1883 after being shot over a gambling dispute in Chicago. Elliott was born in Athlone, Ireland before moving to America.
He was physically strong and took up boxing to make money. He became World Heavyweight champion in 1865. However, Elliott mixed with some dangerous people and took part in numerous crimes. He was sent to prison for his part in an armed robbery before being released in 1879.
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1900 Nano Reid, who is considered to be amongst the greatest artists ever to come from Ireland, was born on this day in Donegal in 1900. She was a skilled painter of Irish landscapes and portraits. Her work can be viewed now in California and New York as well various galleries in Ireland.
Below is her painting View of Drogheda.
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1952 On this day in 1952, Martin O’Neill was born in Kilrea, Northern Ireland. O’Neill is one of the most respected figures in Irish and British football. He played for the legendary manager Brian Clough at Nottingham Forest in the 1970s and 80s, and won the English title as well as the European Cup two years running.
As a manager, O’Neill has achieved success at Leicester City during the 1990s, where he gained promotion to the English Premier League and also won two League Cups. He won three Scottish premier Leagues in charge of Celtic and led them to the final of the UEFA Cup.
In November 2013, O’Neill took over as the manager of the Republic of Ireland national team, and immediately installed another Irish football legend, Roy Keane as his assistant.
Video of O’Neill’s and Keane’s reaction to the Ireland Job (ITV).
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1965 On this day, 1 March 1965 Roger Casement‘s body was re-interred in Glasnevin Cemetery, Dublin.
He was given a state funeral with full military honours. He had lain in state at Arbour Hill for the previous five days, and half a million people filed past his coffin.
30,000 people attended his funeral, including Éamon de Valera (against his doctor’s advice) – he was 82 and the last surviving leader of the Easter Rising.
In 1916, Roger Casement had been buried in quicklime in the cemetery at Pentonville Prison, where he was executed. He had been found guilty of treason for his part in the Easter Rising of 1916, when he attempted gain arms for the Irish nationalists.
Glasnevin Cemetery is the resting place for numerous people from Irish history, and is a major tourist attraction in Dublin.
Click here to read more about the Easter Rising
Click here to read more about Glasnevin Cemetery
The Wolfe Tones Banna Strand. The last verse was written by Derek Warfield of the Wolfe Tones in 1965 when Roger Casement’s remains were finally returned to Ireland. See the lyrics and another version of the song here
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1981 Bobby Sands, a member of the Provisional IRA, began his hunger strike in Long Kesh prison on this day in 1981. Sands was protesting that he and his fellow IRA prisoners were treated like criminals, – he believed they were political prisoners.
The IRA had a list of five demands which included the right not to wear a prisoners’ uniform and carry out prisoners’ work. The British authorities refused to give in to these demands, and 66 days after he started his hunger strike, Sands died of starvation in Maze prison hospital.
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2003 On this day in 2003, it was announced that Dublin is among the safest ‘big cities’ in the world, with crime rates far lower than those in other capital cities.
More about Dublin and its attractions.
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