Dublin Diary #OnThisDay
What stories made the news in Dublin over the years during this month?
1 June 1815 – The Molyneux Asylum for Blind Females, Peter Street, Dublin was opened for the reception of destitute blind females.
1 June 1852 – Electric telegraph laid down between Dublin and Holyhead.
1 June 1881 – A 3ft. gauge tramway opened and ran from Conyngham Road to Chapelizod.
1 June 1886 – Meeting in Dublin to establish national organisation of the Irish Protestant Home Rule Association.
1 June 1941 – Three persons killed as two Dublin houses collapse in Old Bride Street. Fifteen others were treated in hospital for their injuries.
1 June 1949 – The Minister for Industry and Commerce, Daniel Morrissey, T.D., with the Lord Mayor of Dublin John Breen, officially opened the new factory premises of Aspro (Ireland) Ltd. at Inchicore, Dublin.
1 June 1950 – The Grand Canal Company was dissolved and vested in Coras Iompair Eireann.
2 June 1723 – Death of Esther Van Homrigh, known as ‘Vanessa’, aged 36. Her remains were interred near those of her father, Bartholomew Van Homrigh in St Andrew’s Church, Suffolk Street, Dublin. He had been Lord Mayor in 1697 and 1714.
2 June 1772 – Dublin Foundling Hospital and Workhouse Act (11 & 12 Geo. III, c.11).
2 June 1774 – ‘Act for paving the streets…of Dublin (13 & 14 Geo. III, c.22), appointing paving board.
2 June 1986 – Six nuns die in fire at Loreto Convent, St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin.
29 May to 2 June 1995 – The 47th meeting of the International Whaling Commission was held in Dublin, and attended by 33 countries.
3 June 1862 – The Dublin Corporation Fire Brigade Act became law. The main provision of the Act was to vest the fire-fighting services for Dublin in the Corporation, thus effectively abolishing the parish fire services, and those supplied from the DMP barracks at Kevin Street. The Act contained 13 clauses and incorporated the Dublin Waterworks Act (1861).
3 June 1873 – St. Kevin’s Roman Catholic church, designed by George Ashlin, facing onto Heytesbury Street, Dublin, was opened for public worship, on the feast of St. Kevin. Cardinal Paul Cullen had dedicated the church on 3 June 1872. The parish of St. Kevin’s was created from St. Catherine’s in 1855. Ashlin also worked churches in Inchicore, Rathfarnham and Tallaght. He was associated with Pugin.
3 June 1922 – The last King’s Review was held in the Phoenix Park, Dublin. General Macready and his officers were received with a general salute and parade.
3 June 1946 – At Dalymount Stadium, Belfast Celtic beat Shamrock Rovers 1 – 0 in the second leg of the Inter City Cup, though Rovers won the match and the Cup (for the second time) 3 –2 on aggregate.
3 – 5 June 1958 – A Bazaar in commemoration of the tenth anniversary of the establishment of the state of Israel was held in the Mansion House courtesy of Lord Mayor Senator James O’Keeffe.
3 June 1966 – The Lord Mayor of Dublin Eugene Timmons welcomed the director of the Arab League, Tahseen Basheer, to the Mansion House. Mr. Basheer was in Dublin to lecture on Arab economics and culture.
3 June 1980 – At the invitation of Dublin City Council a group of Derry City Councillors visited Dublin for two days. Lord Mayor William Cumiskey of Dublin welcomed Lord Mayor of Derry City Pat Devine and his colleagues to a civic reception at the Mansion House. Discussions centred around co-operating on economic, cultural and social issues.
4 June 1879 – The first Irish lawn tennis open championship was held at Fitzwilliam Tennis Club.
4 to 6 June 1928 – The Ireland cricket eleven beat the West Indies by 60 runs at College Park, Dublin.
5 June 1767 – Rotunda Assembly Rooms opened.
5 June 1842 – Death of Dublin-born poet and barrister Thomas Kennedy. He was the eldest son of Macanus John Kennedy of Killester, Co. Dublin, and was admitted to Gray’s Inn in May 1830, aged 23. His poem on Emmet’s grave, ‘The Uninscribed Tomb’ appeared in The Comet early in 1831. He started and contributed to the Irish Monthly Magazine of 1832-4. He died at his residence, 15, Upper Rutland Street, Dublin, aged 39.
5 June 1924 – McClean’s Lane, off Hogan Place, was re-named Meade’s Terrace – after Alderman Joseph Meade, Lord Mayor of Dublin, 1891-92, who had built houses on it.
5 June 1946 – As strong gales and driving rain lashed the capital, and imports of tomatoes came into effect, Dubliners were able for the first time since the Emergency to buy bananas, while imports of foreign strawberries were also available to purchase on the streets of Dublin.
5 June 1974 – Death of Dublin-born landscape and townscape painter Phyllis Eason. She was the daughter of William Waugh Eason, bookseller. She was educated in England and during the War attended the National College of Art, Dublin. She was closely associated with the White Stag group of artists. She held a one-man show at the White Stag Gallery, Merrion Row, Dublin, in 1946. By 1950 she lived at 3 Herbert Street, Dublin. She died in Dublin.
6 June 1980 – Lord Mayor William Cumiskey officially opened the tenth Liberties Festival.
7 June 1647 – The Viceroy, Marquis of Ormonde, handed over Dublin to Parliamentary Commissioners. Colonel Michael Jones was appointed Governor of Dublin.
7 June 1866 – Great fire at the premises of Bennett brush manufacturer, 7 South Great George’s Street, Dublin – six lives lost.
7 June 1880 – Death of John Brougham, dramatist. He wrote libretti for three operas, and many songs. He was born in Dublin on 19 May 1814, and became an actor of note and theatre manager.
7 June 1891 – Charles Stewart Parnell addressed a large crowd at an election meeting on the lawn of Inchicore House.
7 June 1911 – Patrick Geddes’ City and Town Planning Exhibition ends at the Royal Dublin Society, Ballsbridge. Some 160,000 attended.
7 June 1925 – Death of Matt Talbot (69). He was born into poverty in the North Strand. He overcame a long battle with alcoholism and became a devout Catholic, and trade unionist. He died on a Dublin street and was discovered with chains tied to his body. He was buried at Glasnevin Cemetery.
7 June 1932 – The re-constructed Butt Bridge was officially opened by Dr. Edward Byrne, Archbishop of Dublin.
7 to 11 June 1937 – Housing Exhibition at the Mansion House, Dawson Street, Dublin.
7 June 1960 – Some 400 men on two vessels of the German naval fleet, the training frigates Graf Spee and Hipper, arrived in Dublin port on a four-day courtesy visit. The ships had been built in Glasgow and first went to sea under the Royal Navy ensign. The commanding officers paid a courtesy visit to Lord Mayor P.A. Brady at the Mansion House.
8 June 1936 – Sir John Purser Griffith granted Honorary Freedom of the City of Dublin.
8 June 1948 – The Lord Mayor of Dublin, Cllr. P.J. Cahill, received a group of 100 scientists at the Mansion House, Dublin. The scientists were members of the Food Group of the British Society of Chemical Industries.
9 June 1867 – Death of John Martin Anster, aged 73, poet, barrister and essayist. He wrote many pieces for Dublin University Magazine. He graduated B.A., from T.C.D. in 1816.
9 June 1937 – A timber yard belonging to building contractor P.F. Fearon and Company, at Montague Place, Ranelagh, was destroyed by fire – two sections of Dublin Fire Brigade fought the blaze which threatened to engulf adjoining houses.
10 June 1858 – Death of Sir Philip Crampton, Dublin-born surgeon, Surgeon-General to the Forces in Ireland, and president of the Zoological Society.
10 June 1912 – A motion was carried by Dublin City Council to change the name of Johnson’s Court to Parnell Place.
10 June 1917 – Inspector John Mills, DMP 9300, was hit with a stick while making an arrest near Store Street – he died at Jervis Street Hospital on 12 June. He was born at Dysart, Co. Westmeath in 1866 and had over 30 years’ DMP service.
10 June 1949 – The premises of Factor’s Sawmills, Great Strand Street, Dublin, was destroyed by fire, with the loss of 35 jobs. Dublin Fire Brigade attended the fire as 20 families were evacuated from nearby homes.
10 to 16 June 1969 – The Second International James Joyce Symposium was held in Dublin.
11 June 1766 – The Magdalen Asylum, Lower Leeson Street, was opened. It was funded by Lady Arabella Denny, for unfortunate females abandoned by their suitors.
12 June 1792 – The first stone of the Female Orphan House, on Dublin’s north circular road, was laid by Mrs. Elizabeth LaTouche.
13 June 1865 – Birth of William Butler Yeats, poet and dramatist, at Sandymount Avenue, Dublin.
13 June 1934 – The U.S.S. Nantucket, a U.S. Navy training barque, entered Alexandra Basin, Dublin, on a courtesy visit.
14 June 1727 – Dublin bank Mead & Curtis suspends payments.
14 June 1837 – Death of Lieutenant Colonel Augustus Cuyler, chief commissioner of the Dublin Metropolitan Police, aged 40. His remains were interred at St. Paul’s Churchyard, North King Street, Dublin.
15 June 1914 – James Joyce’s collection of short stories Dubliners published in London.
15 to 16 June 1967 – The First International James Joyce Symposium was held in Dublin. The original door of 7 Eccles Street, immortalised in Joyce’s Ulysses, was unveiled at the new Bailey restaurant, Duke Street, Dublin.
15th June 1979 Unveiling in O’Connell Street of Oisín Kelly’s statue of trades unionist and socialist James Larkin.
15 June 1996 – The inaugural IMPAC Dublin Literary Award was made at a gala dinner in Dublin Castle to Australian author David Malouf for his book, Remembering Babylon. Malouf was presented with a cheque for £100,000 and a Waterford Crystal trophy.
16 June 1773 – First stone laid for King’s Hospital in Black Hall Place, Dublin (Blue Coat Hospital) designed by Thomas Ivory.
16 June 1871 – State funeral of Dublin Lord Mayor Patrick Bulfin, who died in office.
16 June 1885 – Inaugural meeting at Trinity College Dublin of Dublin Hermetic Society, chairman William Butler Yeats.
16 June 1904 – The original Bloomsday.
16 June 1919 – Captain John Alcock and Lieutenant Arthur Brown arrive in Dublin by train from Galway after their transAtlantic flight. Dublin University students succeeded in kidnapping Alcock – the flight had been sponsored by press baron Arthur Harmsworth, Lord Northcliffe, who was born in Chapelizod in 1865.
16 June 1937 – Eamon de Valera, and Ministers Sean MacEntee (Finance) and Oscar Traynor (Posts and Telegraphs) address some 10,000 people in O’Connell Street, Dublin as the general election campaign gets under way.
16 June 1954 – 50th Anniversary of Bloomsday – the Dublin Joyce Society is formed.
16 June 1962 – The James Joyce Museum opened at the Martello Tower, Sandycove, by Sylvia Beach of Shakespeare and Company.
16 June 2003 – The James Joyce Bridge was officially opened. Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava Valls designed the four-lane bridge. Harland & Wolff, Belfast, welded high-tension steel hangers, and a glass deck on either side of the bridge provided pedestrian access. Calatrava had, in 1995 designed the Ark at Meeting House Square, Temple Bar.
16 June 1977 – In the general election to the 21st Dáil, there were 13 Dublin constituencies: Dublin Artane, Dublin Ballyfermot, Dublin Cabra, Dublin Clontarf, Dublin Finglas, Dublin North-Central, Dublin Rathmines West, Dublin South Central, Dublin South-East, Dublin Mid-County, Dublin North County, Dublin South County, and Dublin West County.
17 June 1681 – An elephant was burnt in Dublin on ‘Fryday’, part of a scientific anatomical enquiry.
17 June 1729 – Election of John Page as Lord Mayor of Dublin City, following the resignation of Henry Burrowes.
17 June 1817 – The foundation stone of the Wellington monument, Phoenix Park was laid by Lord Lieutenant, Lord Whitworth, on the anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo. The 205ft. high monument was designed by Greek Revival architect Robert Smirke (see also 18 June 1861). It His plan was one of six submitted to the 74-man monument committee. Smirke later designed the British Museum. Interest waivered as money became scarce. On Wellington’s death in 1852 an attempt was made to erect a monument.
17 June 1867 – Dublin Port (Docks) Act (30 Vict., c.lxxxi, 1867) sets up Dublin Port and Dock Board and Commissioners of Irish Lights. The Ballast Office Board was abolished.
17 June 1909 – Death in Dublin of Co. Cork-born writer Denis J. Downing, aged 38. He was a well-known journalist who wrote for the Sport and the Evening Herald, etc., over the signature ‘Dr. Dick.’ He wrote many songs for pantomimes and for the Dublin press, and several are included in the volume Irish Sport and Play (Dublin, 1911).
17 June 1935 – Sir John Lavery, R.A., R.H.A., granted Honorary Freedom of the City of Dublin.
17 June 1938 – In the General Election for the 10th Dail, the Dublin South constituency elected Sean Lemass, James Lynch, Robert Briscoe and Thomas Kelly (Fianna Fail), Myles Keogh, Peadar Doyle and James Beckett (Fine Gael), and Joseph Hannigan (Independent). The total valid poll was 55,082 and the quota was 6,886. Lemass was the poll-topper.
18 June 1819 – Death of painter George Grattan, aged 32. His Beggarwoman and Child hangs in the Royal Dublin Society. His remains were interred at St. Mobhi’s Churchyard, Church Lane, Glasnevin.
18 June 1861 – The Wellington monument in the Phoenix Park was opened to the public without formal ceremony.
18 June 1892 – Lord Ardilaun’s statue in St. Stephen’s Green, from the Farrell studio, was unveiled by Lord Mayor J.M. Meade, P.C.
18 June 1979 – William Cumiskey took office as Lord Mayor of Dublin.
19 June 1933 – The Hugh Lane Municipal Gallery of Modern Art, Parnell Square, Dublin, was opened by Lord Mayor Alfred Byrne. Alderman Thomas Kelly presided. He was chairman of the Lane Bequest Claim Committee. The building contractors were H. & J. Martin of Dublin. The Corporation had acquired the building, formerly known as Charlemont House, in 1927 and City Architect Horace O’Rourke drew up the plans to convert it to a municipal art gallery. The house was sold to the government by the third Earl Charlemont in 1865 and from the early 1870s the house was used as the General Registry Office for births, deaths and marriages. By 1922 the house was vacant and was formally handed over to Dublin Corporation in 1927.
19 June 1941 – Irish government announced that the German government has expressed regret for bombing of Dublin, and promised compensation. The German government paid £327,000 compensation in 1958.
20 June 1775 – The Hibernian Marine Society in Dublin was incorporated by charter, to maintain, educate and apprentice the orphans and children of decayed seaman of the Royal Navy, and the merchant service.
20 June 1876 – Death of Dublin City Council Alderman Philip Redmond, aged 64.
20 June 1980 – Lord Mayor of Dublin William Cumiskey and members of City Council’s Special Committee for the Inner City completed a three-day study tour of Belfast, with a lunch at City Hall hosted by Belfast Lord Mayor Alderman John Carson.
20 June 1986 – A new £300,000 Motor Tax office was officially opened at Nutgrove Shopping Centre, Rathfarnham, Co. Dublin, by Minister for State at the Department of the Environment Fergus O’Brien, T.D.
21 June 1762 – Work started on Poolbeg lighthouse (completed in 1768).
21 June 1884 – Grafton Theatre, also known as the Bijou and finally the Savoy, at South Anne Street, closed. The theatre had flourished during the 1870s.
22 June 1736 – Election of George Forbes as Lord Mayor of Dublin City, following the death of Sir Richard Grattan.
22 June 1791 – The foundation stone for Island or Sarah or Kilmainham Bridge was laid by Sarah Fane, Countess of Westmoreland, wife of the Lord Lieutenant, with a silver trowel presented to her by Sir John Blacquire. The bridge was designed by Scottish engineer Alexander Stevens and cost £6,000.
22 June 1860 – Alexander Farquhar elected Town Clerk of Dublin, until 1864.
22 June 1932 – The 31st Eucharistic Congress opened in Dublin.
22 June 1937 – Strike by 3,000 Dublin clothing trade workers ends after six weeks.
22 June 1984 – Resolution of Dublin City Council grants Honorary Freedom of the City of Dublin to actor Noel Purcell, and to actress Maureen Potter (O’Leary); both signed roll on 28 June 1984.
22 June 2000 – Mary Upton (Labour Party) won the Dublin South Central Dáil constituency by-election. The electorate was 72,154; her first preferences totalled 5,637 votes (28.02%). Upton reached the quota of 10,059 and was elected on the eighth count.
23 June 1780 – John Lambert, jointly with Benjamin Taylor, were appointed Town Clerks of Dublin, until 1784.
23 June 1943 – In the General Election for the 11th Dail, the three-seater Dublin North East constituency elected Oscar Traynor (Fianna Fail), Alfie Byrne (Independent), and James Larkin (Labour). The total valid poll was 39,012 and the quota was 9,754.
23 June 1960 – Local elections held for Dublin Corporation.
23 June 1825 – birth in Dublin of author Annie French. Under the pseudonym Mrs. Alexander, she published over forty novels, and was hugely popular in the UK and America.
24 June 1879 – A marble statue, by Thomas Farrell, of the late Sir John Gray, M.P., was erected in Sackville Street, Dublin.
24 June 1886 – Death of editor and poet Robert Keningale Cook. He was born near Rochdale in 1845 and was at one time proprietor and editor of Dublin University Magazine.
24 June 1949 – Death of Roisin Walsh, chief librarian, Dublin Municipal Libraries. She had been ill for some time and died at her home in Templeogue. After she had spent some time as children’s librarian in Rathmines Public Library, she went to Galway County Library. After two years, she returned to Dublin to initiate and organise the Dublin County Library Service.
24 June 1963 – Sean Moore took office as Lord Mayor of Dublin.
24 June 1973 – Eamon de Valera attended a ceremony at Boland’s Mill, Grand Canal Street, Dublin, to mark his retirement from the Presidency and public life.
25 June 1731 – Royal Dublin Society founded, in the rooms of the Trinity College Dublin Philosophical Society.
25 June 1733 – Burton’s Bank, Dublin, closed.
25 June 1783 – The Bank of Ireland opened for the first time, at St. Mary’s Abbey. The first governors were David La Touche junior and Theophilus Thompson. The premises was previously a synagogue and in 1803 the Bank purchased the vacant Parliament building on College Green.
25 June 1919 – Death of William Martin Murphy, founder of Independent Newspapers, Abbey Street, Dublin.
25 June 1934 – Alderman Alfred Byrne, T.D., elected Lord Mayor of Dublin. He was proposed for the position by Councillor Patrick Belton, T.D., and seconded by Councillor Maud Walsh.
25 June 1962 – James O’Keefe took office as Lord Mayor as Lord Mayor of Dublin.
25 June 1969 – Death of Sean Dunne, 51, Dublin South West Labour T.D, only seven days after being returned to the Dáil at the general election.
26 June 1789 – The Irish Whig Club was formed in Dublin.
26 June 1826 – Sandford Church of Ireland church, Ranelagh was opened.
26 June 1945 – Alderman P.S. Doyle, T.D. (Fine Gael) was elected Lord Mayor of Dublin City.
26 June 1961 – Robert Briscoe took office as Lord Mayor of Dublin.
26 June 1972 – Death of Colm O Lochlainn, proprietor, the Three Candles Press. He was born William Gerard, the son of John O’Loughlin of Kilkenny and Delia Carr of Limerick, on 11 October 1892 in Drumcondra. His papers are in U.C.D. Library.
27 June 1908 – Death of Sir Edmund T. Bewley, author of various legal and antiquarian works. He was born at Moate, Co. Westmeath on 11 January 1837, and was educated at T.C.D. He was called to the Irish Bar in 1862, appointed Q.C. in 1882 and Bencher, King’s Inns 1886. He was Regius Professor of Feudal and English Law at T.C.D. 1884-90 and Judicial Commissioner of the Irish Land Commission 1890-98. He was J.P. for Counties Dublin, Carlow and Wicklow, and was knighted at the Vice Regal Lodge, Dublin, on 5 January 1898.
27 June 1917 – Death of London-born David James O’Donoghue, librarian of University College Dublin since 1909, and co-editor of the Catalogue of the Gilbert Library (1918). He was vice-president of the Irish Literary Society.
27 June 1939 – Mrs. Kathleen Clarke, widow of 1916 rebel Tom Clarke, elected Lord Mayor of Dublin City.
28 June 1977 – Death of Arthur Luce, Professor of Philosophy at T.C.D. He was 94, and an international authority on Berkeley.
28 June 1886 – Upper Mecklenburgh Street was changed to Tyrone Street – later to Waterford Street.
28 June 1948 – John Breen (Labour Party) took office as Lord Mayor of Dublin.
28 June 1963 – U.S. President John F. Kennedy laid a wreath at the memorial at Arbour Hill, Dublin.
28 June 1974 – Seven people escaped when a three-storey apartment house at 39 Lower Rathmines Road was badly damaged by fire. Dublin Fire Brigade attended the scene.
28 June 1974 – Councillor James O’Keeffe elected Lord Mayor of Dublin, the first since 1969.
28 June 1982 – Daniel Browne (Labour Party) took office as Lord Mayor of Dublin.
29 June 1815 – Great illuminations in Dublin in honour of the victory at Waterloo.
29 June 1841 – Death of Frederick Darley, Dublin City Assembly Alderman, builder and magistrate. He was born in Dublin, the son of a well –known Dublin stonemason, Henry Darley, in 1764. Frederick Darley won the contract for the stonework to the Carlisle Bridge (1791-1794). He was a member of Dublin’s Merchant Guild and was an Alderman from 1800. He was also Lord Mayor (1808 – 1809). He was married in 1785 to Elizabeth, the eldest daughter of the first Arthur Guinness.
29 June 1959 – Philip A. Brady took office as Lord Mayor of Dublin.
30 June 1832 – First issue of Dublin Penny Journal, founded and edited by Rev. Caesar Otway with George Petrie.
30 June 1887 – Killiney Hill opened as a public park by Prince Albert Victor.
30 June 1893 – Death of John Beveridge, Town Clerk, Dublin City Council since 1878.
30 June 1898 – Death of Dublin-born poet Thomas Stanislaus Cleary. He was born in 1851 and was a poetical contributor for years to various Irish and American papers, especially the United Ireland, Boston Pilot, Nation, etc. In 1888 he published Songs of the Irish Land War. After returning to Dublin from his editorship of the Clare Independent he wrote for the Weekly Irish times, Irish Society, Dublin Figaro, etc. He died suddenly at Killaloe, Co. Clare and was buried at Glasnevin.
30 June 1903 – The Iveagh Trust Act (1903) amalgamated the Guinness Trust (Dublin) Fund with the Dublin Improvement (Bull Alley Area) Scheme.
30 June 1911 – Dublin Employers’ Federation formed.
30 June 1922 – The Four Courts in Dublin destroyed by fire.
30 June 1936 – Polling day for Dublin Corporation local elections. Of the total poll of 137,749 votes, Lord Mayor Alfie Byrne, T.D., and those candidates he endorsed, polled 72,658, beating Fianna Fail into second place.
30 June 1947 – Patrick Joseph Cahill took office as Lord Mayor of Dublin.
30 June 1962 – The Theatre Royal, Hawkins Street, closed (see also 18 January 1821; 9 February 1880; 13 December 1897; and 23 September 1935).
30 June 1980 – Fergus O’Brien (Fine Gael) took office as Lord Mayor of Dublin.
© Dublin City Council.
2 May 1922 – Death of Lt. Col. George Tindall Plunkett, C.B., aged 79. He was, until 1907, director of the Science and Art Museum in Dublin.
3 May 1785 – The Irish Academy (granted title Royal Irish Academy on 28 January 1786) met for the first time, at 114 Grafton Street, house of the earl of Charlemont.
3 May 1839 – The Abbey Street Theatre Royal, opened in 1829, was burned down. The theatre was rebuilt in 1841 as the Mechanics’ Theatre.
4 May 1889 – First conference of the Irish Federated Trade and Labour Union held in Dublin.
4 May 1907 – The Irish International Exhibition was opened at Herbert Park, Ballsbridge by the Lord Lieutenant, the Earl of Aberdeen. The Exhibition closed on 9 November.
4 May 1973 – The retail premises of Thomas Dockrell & Sons at South Great George’s Street, Dublin, is burned to the ground.
4 May 1979 – Death of Dublin-born comedian and pantomime star Jack Cruise, aged 63.
5 May 1764 – Thomas Mathews was appointed Dublin City Surveyor.
5 May 1880 – John Joyce and Mary Jane Murray (James Joyce’s parents) married at the Church of Our Lady of Refuge, Rathmines.
5 May 1884 – At its quarterly meeting, the Municipal Council of the City of Dublin, Councillor Clancy moved (and was seconded by Councillor Sexton) that ‘the bridge leading from the end of Tara Street to Custom House Quay be called Butt Bridge’.
5 May 1902 – Dublin Corporation changed the name of Dispensary Lane to Dorset Lane.
5 May 1909 – Death of Bindon Blood Stoney, F.R.S., M.A., LL.D., of 14, Elgin Road, Dublin. He was born on 13 June 1828. He was educated privately and at Trinity College Dublin. He qualified as an engineer in 1850. He was engineer to the Spanish Railways, 1852-53. He worked on the Earl of Rosse’s observatory at Birr before working on the Boyne viaduct in 1854-55. In 1856 he worked for the Corporation for Preserving and Improving the Port of Dublin, which in 1867 became the Dublin Port and Docks Board. He was appointed executive engineer for Dublin Port in 1859 and Engineer-in-chief in 1862. He was elected M.R.I.A. in 1867 and was Secretary of the Institution of Civil Engineers in Ireland, 1862-70. In 1871 he was elected president, I.C.E.I. He was elected F.R.S. in 1881.He retired as port engineer to Dublin Port and Docks Board in 1898 but continued to act as consultant to the Board. Under his directions half the former shipping quays on the Liffey were re-constructed and converted to deep water quays. He re-built Carlisle Bridge (now O’Connell Bridge). In addition, he was consultant engineer on the harbours of Drogheda, Bray, Wicklow, Arklow, Wexford, Waterford, Kilmore, Queenstown, Cork, Galway, Westport, Ballina, and Sligo. He married, in 1879, Susannah, daughter of Francis Walker, Q.C., of Grangemore, Co. Dublin and had one son and three daughters.
5 May 1966 – Bob Dylan performed his songs in concert at Dublin’s Adelphi Theatre.
6 May 1880 – Carlisle Bridge, Dublin, re-opened under the name O’Connell Bridge.
6 May 1905 – Four labourers working on a sewer main drain at the corner of Burgh Quay and Hawkins Street suffered severe asphyxiation. DMP Constable Patrick Sheahan, 45B, in attempting their rescue, lost his own gallant life. Members of Dublin Fire Brigade and various people in the vicinity also assisted.
7 May 1766 – Tommaso Giordani’s L’eroe cinese at Smock Alley Theatre, Dublin – the first performance of Italian opera seria in Ireland.
8 May 1786 – An ‘Act for improving the police of the City of Dublin’ (26 Geo. III, c.24) enacted by the Irish Parliament.
8 May 1839 – Birth in Dublin of Frederick William Pim, businessman. He was a director of Pim Brothers Ltd. The company had a retail department store at South Great George’s Street, and later at Exchequer Street. Pim was also a railways entrepreneur and director of several rail companies including Dublin, Wicklow & Wexford Railway. After 1916 he modified his formerly Unionist political views on the national question. He died on 7 January 1925 and was buried at Temple Hill, Blackrock, Co. Dublin.
8 May 1877 – The Viceroy, the Duke of Marlborough, opened the new front wing of the Coombe Lying-In Hospital, begun two years earlier from the designs of J.F. Fuller, favourite architect of the Hospital’s benefactors, the Guinness family.
9 May 1865 – The Dublin International Exhibition of Arts and Manufactures opened at Dublin Exhibition Palace and Winter Garden in Earlsfort Terrace.
9 May 1867 – During heavy rain, large quantities of berries (perhaps hailstones blackened by soot) fell in Dame Street, Capel Street and neighbouring streets.
9 May 1936 – Anchor Line’s 17,000-ton California sailed from Dublin Bay with passengers for New York city. The service inaugurated a new transAtlantic run by Anchor Line’s four ships.
10 May 1791 – The Dublin Library Society founded by Dr. Richard Kirwan.
10 May 1830 – At a meeting called by advertisement by the Duke of Leinster and held at the Rotunda under the chairmanship of the Duke of Leinster, it was decided to establish the Zoological Society of Dublin.
10 May 1936 – Irish Aviation Day at Phoenix Park attended by c.40,000. The famous aviator C.W.A. Scott attended.
11 May 1823 – Death of Rev. John Troy, O.P., Roman Catholic Archbishop of Dublin. He was born at Castleknock, Co. Dublin on 10 May 1739 and was ordained a priest in 1762. Troy was appointed Archbishop of Dublin in 1786. He laid the foundation stone of the Pro-Cathedral, Marlborough Street, Dublin in April 1815. He was replaced by Rev. Dr Daniel Murray.
11 May 1897 – New Dublin fish market opened.
12 May 1823 – Formation of Catholic Association in Dempsey’s Tavern, Dublin.
12 May 1853 – The Great Industrial Exhibition opened by Lord Lieutenant, Earl of St Germans, at Leinster Lawn, Dublin. The Exhibition, sponsored by William Dargan, lasted until 31 October 1853.
12 May 1935 – Over 50,000 attended the Irish Aero Club’s Irish Aviation Day in the Phoenix Park, Dublin.
12 May 1961 – Foundation stone laid for new Liberty Hall, Dublin; architect Desmond Rea O’Kelly.
12 May to 21 May 1978 – The Liberties Festival. Events included the Chieftains in concert, Punch and Judy show, Robert Emmet exhibition, historical walks and drama, and a handball competition.
13 May 1937 – The equestrian statue of King George II, dating from 1754 by sculptor John Van Nost, in the centre of St Stephen’s Green, Dublin, was blown up.
13 May 1957 – The Dublin International Theatre Festival was inaugurated.
14 May 1660 – Charles II proclaimed King of Ireland in Dublin.
14 May 1804 – The Fever Hospital and House of Recovery, Cork Street, was opened.
14 May 1847 – Death of Dublin-born landscape painter Samuel Brocas, son of Henry Brocas Senior. Samuel Brocas exhibited at the Royal Hibernian Academy 1828-47. A series of twelve views of Dublin was engraved by his brother Henry and published in 1820. His brother William was also a painter. Samuel Brocas died at his house, 120 Lower Baggot Street.
14 May 1855 – Death of Dublin-born hymnal editor Rev. Thomas Kelly. He was born, the son of Judge Kelly of the Irish Court of Common Pleas, on 13 July 1769. He graduated B.A. at T.C.D. in 1789. He took Holy Orders in 1792 and eventually became a nonconformist. He published A Collection of Psalms and Hymns (1800) and Hymns on Various Passages of Scripture (1804).
15 May 1963 – The actor Vic Oliver officially opened the sale of the ‘Festival of 1,000 Cakes’, held in connection with Dublin Jewish Women’s Week at Dublin’s Mansion House. The cakes were baked by members of Dublin’s Jewish community.
16 May 1823 – The Dublin to Liverpool packet ship, Robert, sank with the loss of 60 lives.
16 May 1835 – Death of poetess Felicia Hemans at her home 21 Dawson Street, Dublin. Her remains were interred at St Anne’s Church, Dawson Street.
16 May 1892 – The Masonic Centenary five-day Bazaar opened at the Royal Dublin Society grounds. The opening was presided over by the Grand Master, the Duke of Abercorn. Among the highlights were reconstructions of historic Dublin buildings, a human chess game, and landscaped gardens. Some 96,000 passed through the turnstiles over the five days. A profit of over £21,690 was made from the 50 stalls and turnstile tickets. On 20 May the R.D.S. jumping grounds were the scene of the first-ever international lawn tennis tournament between Ireland and England.
17 May 1760 – Dublin City Corporation Act (33 Geo. II, c.16) increased the power of Dublin’s guilds to elect representatives to common council.
17 May 1760 – Public Lighting Act (33 Geo. II, c.18) empowered Dublin vestries to levy lighting tax.
17 May 1864 – William Henry elected Town Clerk of Dublin, in the room of Alexander Farquhar, deceased, until 1878.
17 May 1935 – The long-running Dublin tram industrial dispute ended.
17 May 1966 – The Mayor of the newly-formed town of Camden (London), Cllr. Samuel Fisher, J.P., was officially welcomed to the Mansion House by Lord Mayor Eugene Timmons.
17 May 1974 – Three car bombs in central Dublin left 26 murdered and many injured.
18 May 1816 – National Institution for the Education of the Deaf and Dumb Children of the Poor in Ireland, established by Dr Charles E.H. Orpen, at Claremont near Glasnevin – until 1943 when the school moved to Monkstown, Co. Dublin.
18 May 1715 - Joshua Dawson’s town house (the Mansion House, Dawson Street) was bought by Dublin City Assembly for £3,500. In addition, the City Assembly agreed to pay 40s. annual rent plus a loaf of double-refined sugar weighing 6lbs, each Christmas.
18 May 1954 – In the General Election for the 15th Dail, the five-seater Dublin South West constituency returned Robert Briscoe, Bernard Butler and Michael ffrench O’Carroll (Fianna Fail), Peadar Doyle and Michael O’Higgins (Fine Gael), and Sean MacBride (Clann na Poblachta). The total valid poll was 43,651 and the quota was 7,276.
18 May 1957 – Violinist Yehudi Menuhin gave a concert at Dublin’s Theatre Royal.
18 May 1975 – The poet Robert Graves gave a poetry reading at Dublin’s Peacock Theatre.
19 May 1816 – The Wellington or Iron or Ha’penny Bridge was opened. It was designed by William Walsh.
19 May 1870 – Home Rule movement launched by Isaac Butt at private meeting in Bilton’s Hotel, Dublin (56 Upper Sackville Street, Dublin).
19 May 1897 – Election of Joseph Ferguson Peacocke as Bishop of Church of Ireland Diocese of Dublin.
20 May 1859 – Some 1,500 guests of Lord Mayor James Lambert and the Lady Mayoress attended a grand ball in the Oak Room of the Mansion House and were entertained by the band of the 3rd Dragoons.
20 May 1923 – Dissolution of Dublin City Council by Minister for Local Government Seamus A. Bourke, T.D. Each member of the Corporation, including Lord Mayor Laurence O’Neill, was informed that their functions finished at 6p.m. The first meeting of the Commission appointed to govern the city was held on 29 May.
20 May 1924 – Executive Council dissolves Dublin Corporation; municipality of Dublin administered by three commissioners until 13 October 1930.
20 May 1938 – The first pipe to bring supplementary water to Dublin from the Poulaphouca supply was laid at Blackhorse Bridge, Inchicore by Alderman P.S. Doyle, Acting Lord Mayor of Dublin.
20 May 1992 – The Dublin Guild Merchant Roll, c.1190-1285, published by Dublin City Archives.
21 May 1839 – Death of William Paulet Carey, writer of political songs and parodies. He was born in Dublin in 1759. He also wrote political skits, and works on art. For a time he was a member of the United Irishmen. He had earlier trained at the Drawing School of the Royal Dublin Society. He married, in May 1792, a Miss Lennon of Grafton Street.
23 May 1744 – Hospital for Incurables opened in Dublin.
23 May 1898 – Death of Sir John Thomas Gilbert, librarian and historian.
23 May 1902 – Fitters at the Inchicore railway works went on strike. The strike lasted for 25 weeks.
23 May 1974 – Death of Dublin-born figure painter and etcher Leslie Curtis. He was born on 30 April 1918, and educated at St Andrew’s College, Dublin. He attended evening classes at the National College of Art in the early 1940s. He exhibited at the Irish Exhibition of Living Art in 1958, and at the ‘Rising’ Exhibition at the Municipal Gallery of Modern Art in 1966. He also exhibited at the RHA in 1973. At the time of his death in a shooting accident he lived at Bridgend, Newcastle, Co. Wicklow.
24 May 1487 - Lambert Simnel, pretender to the English throne, was crowned as Edward VII in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin.
24 May 1613 – First national convocation of the Church of Ireland, summoned by King James I, meets at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin (until 25 April 1615). The convocation adopted 104 articles known as the ‘Confession of Faith.’
24 May 1713 – Death of Sir Patrick Dun, physician to the Army in Ireland, and first physician of the Royal Hospital Kilmainham, where he attended to the wounded after the Battle of the Boyne. He was knighted in 1696, and with Ormonde, founded the College of Physicians in Dublin, of which he was the first president. His remains were interred in the vaults of St Michan’s church, Church Street, Dublin.
24 May 1751 – The foundation stone laid for the Rotunda Lying-In Hospital. The building was designed by Richard Cassels (died 1750) and completed by his pupil George Ensor. The benefactor was Bartholomew Mosse. The building was roofed in April 1754 and finally opened by the Duke and Duchess of Bedford in 1757.
24 May 1844 – Foundation stone of Amiens Street railway station laid by Lord Lieutenant de Grey; building completed in 1846. 24 May is Queen Victoria’s birthday. The foundation stone contained contemporary railway documents, newspapers and coins.
24 May 1858 – Death of politician John O’Connell (son of Daniel O’Connell), at his Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin residence.
24 May 1893 – Henry Campbell elected Town Clerk of Dublin, in the room of John Beveridge, resigned.
24 May 1974 – Day one of the first official strike in the 215-year history of Guinness – 1,200 workers had served strike notice.
25 May 1878 – Butt Bridge was opened to the public. The bridge was designed by Bindon Blood Stoney, C.E.
25 May 1881 – Dublin streets first lighted by electricity.
25 May 1885 – Lord Mayor John O’Connor officially opened the new £5,000 baths and washhouses at Tara Street, Dublin.
25 May 1921 – The Custom House severely damaged by fire.
26 May 1897 First publication of Dracula, by Dubliner Bram Stoker.
26 May 1994 Jack Charlton, manager of the Irish soccer team, was awarded the Freedom of the City of Dublin in a ceremony at College Green.
26 May 1844 – The Dublin to Drogheda railway line was opened.
27 May 1768 – ‘Act for promoting the trade of Ireland by enabling the merchants thereof to erect an exchange in the city of Dublin’ (7 Geo. III, c.22).
27 May 1936 – The first commercial flight by Aer Lingus took off from Baldonnel for Bristol. The aircraft was a five seater de Havilland Dragon DH84 named Iolar.
27 May 1960 – Barge 51M made the last delivery of Guinness to Limerick on the Grand Canal.
28 May 1879 – Thomas Moore Centenary. A grand musical and literary demonstration was held in the Exhibition Palace, before an audience estimated at 5,000.
29 May 1972 – The Garden for the Blind is opened in St Stephen’s Green, Dublin.
30 May 1951 – In the General Election for the 14th Dail, the Dublin North Central constituency returned Vivion de Valera and Colm Gallagher (Fianna Fail) and Patrick McGilligan (Fine Gael). The total valid poll was 22,696 and the quota was 5,675.
30 May 1963 – Patrick Belton (Fine Gael) won by-election for Dublin North East Dáil seat.
31 May – 2 June 1740 – Bread riots in Dublin.
31 May 1941 – German bombing of North Strand, Dublin – 28 dead, 90 injured and 300 houses destroyed or damaged. Smaller bombs damaged the American Embassy and Áras an Uachtaráin.
31 May 1959 – Closure of Hill of Howth Tramway – the last tramway in Ireland.
31 May 1960 – Dublin’s Lord Mayor Maurice Dockrell, T.D. and Lady Mayoress Mrs Dockrell began an official visit to London.
31 May 1985 – The official opening of the Luke Kelly Bridge at Ballybough, Dublin.
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