This Date in Irish History - May 19th
1660 - An act of British Parliament forbade the export of Irish wool. 1798 - Lord Edward Fitzgerald, military leader of the United Irishmen, was captured by the British in Dublin. He had escaped capture in March when many of the United Irish leaders had been arrested, but a spy, Francis Magan, had betrayed his hiding place on Thomas Street. Lord Edward fiercely resisted arrest, stabbing to death one of his captors, but another shot him, and he died of his wounds 16 days later. "What a noble fellow. Of the first family of Ireland, with an easy fortune, a beautiful wife, a family of lovely children, the certainty of a splendid appointment under the government, if he would condescend to support their measures; he has devoted himself wholly to the emancipation of his country." - Theobald Wolfe Tone commenting on Lord Edward Fitzgerald in his diary 1870 - The first meeting of the "Home Government Association - later to become the Home Rule League - was held in Dublin. 1981 - Five British soldiers were killed in an IRA landmine attack near Bessbrook, County Armagh. The soldiers had been travelling in an armoured vehicle when the bomb exploded. 1996 - A soldier of the Royal Irish Regiment of the British army shot two men and seriously injured a woman in Belfast before shooting himself. Up to 40 loyalist thugs wearing balaclavas and carrying baseball bats and sticks attacked the nationalist area of Duncairn Gardens, Belfast early in the morning, trying to force their way into a number of houses but residents managed to barricade themselves in. Cars and homes were damaged in the onslaught. An uncle of Gavin Malcolm, the 15-year-old sectarian murder victim who was thrown off a block of flats after being beaten on April 8, 1994 reacted angrily after an RIR British soldier served only 48 hours of a two-year sentence for his part in the murder.
1660 - An act of British Parliament forbade the export of Irish wool. 1798 - Lord Edward Fitzgerald, military leader of the United Irishmen, was captured by the British in Dublin. He had escaped capture in March when many of the United Irish leaders had been arrested, but a spy, Francis Magan, had betrayed his hiding place on Thomas Street. Lord Edward fiercely resisted arrest, stabbing to death one of his captors, but another shot him, and he died of his wounds 16 days later. "What a noble fellow. Of the first family of Ireland, with an easy fortune, a beautiful wife, a family of lovely children, the certainty of a splendid appointment under the government, if he would condescend to support their measures; he has devoted himself wholly to the emancipation of his country." - Theobald Wolfe Tone commenting on Lord Edward Fitzgerald in his diary 1870 - The first meeting of the "Home Government Association - later to become the Home Rule League - was held in Dublin. 1981 - Five British soldiers were killed in an IRA landmine attack near Bessbrook, County Armagh. The soldiers had been travelling in an armoured vehicle when the bomb exploded. 1996 - A soldier of the Royal Irish Regiment of the British army shot two men and seriously injured a woman in Belfast before shooting himself. Up to 40 loyalist thugs wearing balaclavas and carrying baseball bats and sticks attacked the nationalist area of Duncairn Gardens, Belfast early in the morning, trying to force their way into a number of houses but residents managed to barricade themselves in. Cars and homes were damaged in the onslaught. An uncle of Gavin Malcolm, the 15-year-old sectarian murder victim who was thrown off a block of flats after being beaten on April 8, 1994 reacted angrily after an RIR British soldier served only 48 hours of a two-year sentence for his part in the murder.