February

• Februay 1 - Feast of goddess Brigit, also known as Imbolc, Candlemasm, Groundhogs Day, Celtic fertility day

• February 1, 1177 - John de Courcy invades Ulster and seizes Down

• February 1, 1315 - Edward the Bruce of Scotland and his Irish allies win the battle of Skerries in Kildare

• February 1, 1754 - Denis O'Neal, convicted of a footpad robbery and sentenced to death, is executed

• February 1, 1796 - Theobald Wolf Tone, arrives in France seeking assistance

• February 1, 1815 - Daniel O'Connell, having kills Norcot d'Esterre in a duel fought on this date

• February 1, 1865 - Highland Railway formed from the Inverness-Perth Junction & Inverness-Aberdeen-Junction Railways

• February 1, 1878 - Thomas MacDonagh, patriot, poet, critic and scholar, is born in Cloughjordan, Co. Tipperary

• February 1, 1918 - Muriel Spark, author, born

• February 1, 1919 - Tanks and army patrol the streets of Glasgow after Bloody Friday

• February 2, 1172 - Last day King Henry II holds his court in Dublin

• February 2, 1172 - The Synod of Cashel - the Bishops of Ireland, under duress, pledge allegiance to Henry II of England

• February 2, 1194 - Churches of St Andrew's and Durham struck a deal confirming their respective rights in Scotland and England

• February 2 1424 - James I married Lady Jane Beaufort, daughter of the Earl of Somerset, in London.

• February 2 1645 - Battle of Inverlochy, one of the Duke of Montroses victories over the Covenanters, killing 1,300.

• February 2, 1806 - Daniel Maclise, painter, born in Co. Cork

• February 2, 1880 - Charles S. Parnell addresses the U.S. Congress

• February 2, 1882 - James Joyce, Irish Author born

• February 2 1987 - Alistair Maclean, novelist, dies

• February 2, 2005 - Feast and legal Quarter Day of Candlemass

• February 3, 1537 - Revocation of the Breton Assembly by the French

• February 3, 1744 - Lord Netterville, indicted for the murder of Michael Walsh, is acquitted by his Parlimentary Peers

• February 3, 1790 - Revocation of the Breton Assembly by the French

• February 3, 1801 - Prime Minister William Pitt resigns over royal veto on Catholic emancipation

• February 3, 1881 - Irish Land League organizer Michael Davitt is arrested again in Dublin

• February 3, 1896 - Lady Jane Wilde (Spiranza), poet, nationalist and the mother of Oscar, dies in London

• February 3, 1911 - Robert Noonan, author of The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, dies

• February 3, 1919 - Harry Boland and Michael Collins engineer Eamon de Valeras escape from Lincoln Jail in England

• February 4, 1649 - Charles II proclaimed king in Edinburgh but not in England.

• February 4, 1685 - King Charles II died and James VII crowned.

• February 4, 1716 - James VIII of Scotland escapes to France, concluding the Jacobite rising of 1715

• February 4, 1775 - Robert Emmett, Irish patriot, born

• February 4, 1818 - Honours of Scotland put on display in Edinburgh Castle after being rediscovered by Sir Walter Scott

• February 4, 1868 - Countess Constance Markievicz, Irish patriot and revolutionary, born

• February 4, 1941 - SS Politician ran aground on Eriskay in the Outer Hebrides

• February 4, 1953 - WW2 Rationing of chocolate and sweets finally ended

• February 5, 1811 - Maurice Lenihan, journalist and historian, is born in Waterford

• February 5, 1820 - William Drennan, physician, poet, educator and political radical, dies

• February 5, 1840 - John Boyd Dunlop - Scottish Inventor of the pneumatic rubber tire- born

• February 5, 1880 - The Irish Rugby Football Union is founded in Dublin

• February 5, 1881 - Thomas Carlyle, writer and historian, died in London

• February 6, 1605 - The Trades House of Glasgow was founded to represent the interests of the craftsmen

• February 6, 1665 - Anne, Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, the last British sovereign of the House of Stuart was born

• February 6 1685 - King Charles II, the merry monarch died

• February 6, 1853 - Arthur William Moore, Manx historia, died

• February 6, 1877 - John O'Mahoney, Irish patriot, dies in New York City

• February 6, 1918 - Representation of the people Act received Royal assent, granting votes to women over the age of 30

• February 6, 1952 - King George VI dies and Queen Elizabeth II becomes monarch.

• February 7, 1313 - Robert the Bruce, captures Dumfries, Scotland

• February 7, 1592 - Earl of Moray murdered at Donibristle.

• February 7, 1603 - Battle at Glenfruin when the MacGregors slaughtered a number of Colquhouns

• February 7, 1873 - Joseph Sheridan LeFanu, Journalist, novelist, and short story writer, dies

• February 7, 1875 - Sir Alfred Chester Beatty, the first honorary citizen of Ireland, is born in NY"

• February 7, 1877 - John O'Mahony, founder of the Fenian Brotherhood in US, dies in New York

• February 8, 1587 - Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots, executed by English

• February 8, 1622 - King James I disbands the English parliament

• February 8, 1872 - Captain John Philip Nolan, a supporter of home rule and tenant rights, in a Co. Galway by-election

• February 9, 1292 - First Scottish Parliament assembles at Scone

• February 9, 1554 - Battle at London, Sir Thomas Wyatt defeated

• February 9, 1731 - Sir Lucius O'Brien, opposition politician, born

• February 9, 1739 - The publication of the first edition of the Scots Magazine

• February 10, 1306 - Robert the Bruce murdered Red Comyn

• February 10, 1495 - A bull from Pope Alexander VI confirmed the foundation of Aberdeen University

• February 10,1567 - Lord Darnley, husband of Mary Queen of Scots, assassinated

• February 10, 1723 - Rev. John Witherspoon, President of Princeton College, signatory to the US Declaration of Independence, baptized

• February 10, 1792 - John Jones (Tegid) Welsh poet and scholar transcriber of the Mabinogion born

• February 10, 1794 - The 4th Duke of Gordon was authorized to raise the Gordon Highlanders

• February 10, 1844 - Daniel O'Connell is convicted of conspiracy, fined and sentenced to 12 months in prison

• February 10, 1852 - William O'Brien, writer and nationalist, is born in Mallow, Co. Cork

• February 10, 1868 - David Brewster, scientist, inventor (including the kaleidoscope) died

• February 10, 1889 - Richard Piggott is exposed as forger of Times Phoenix Park letters

• February 10, 1907 - Sir William Howard Russell, Dublin born journalist, died

• February 10, 1912 - Joseph Lister, pioneer of surgery and antiseptic at the University of Glasgow and Glasgow and Edinburgh Royal, died

• February 10,1972 - The uninhabited island of Rockall, in the Atlantic from the Western Isles, incorporated as part of Scotland

• February 11, 1774 - Jacob Poolem antiquary, died in Growtown, Co. Wexford

• February 11, 1800 - William H Fox Talbot, pioneering photographer, born

• February 11, 1858 - The Miracle of Lourdes takes place

• February 11, 1847 - Macvey Napier, a Scottish editor of Encyclopedia Brittanica, died

• February 11, 1895 - Coldest temperature ever recorded in Scotland, -27.2C at Braemar

• February 11, 1926 - Rioting greets the Abbey Theatre performance of Sean O'Caseys The Plough and the Stars

• February 11, 1940 - John Buchan, Author and politician, died in Canada

• February 12, 1624 - George Heriot, goldsmith to King James VI, died.

• February 12, 1782 - The right of habeas corpus is introduced in Ireland

• February 12, 1815 - Edward Forbes, Manx naturalist, born

• February 12, 1820 - The ships East Indian & Fanny, with about 350 Irish emigrants aboard, leave Cork for Cape Colony, carrying some of the 1820 settlers

• February 12, 1846 - Rev Henry Duncan, founder of the world-wide savings bank movement, died near Ruthwell

• February 12, 1848 - John Mitchel publishes first United Irishmen

• February 12, 1923 - James Chichester-Clark, Northern Ireland Prime Minister, born in Castledawson, Co. Derry

• February 13, 858 - Kenneth MacAlpin, King of Dalriada and the Picts, died at Forteviot

• February 13, 1462 - Treaty of Westminster-Ardtornish between the Lord of the Isles and Edward IV, the King of England

• February 13, 1689 - William and Mary, daughter of James II are proclaimed king and queen jointly

• February 13, 1692 - Massacre of Glencoe, Scotland

• February 13,1820 - Leonard McNally, lawyer and English informer, dies

• February 13, 1864 - Stephen Lucius Gwynn, writer and nationalist, is born in Dublin

• February 13, 1871 - Joseph Devlin, Belfast Nationalist, is born

• February 13, 1898 - Frank Aiken, revolutionary and politician from Co. Armagh, is born

• February 13, 1931 - Scottish Youth Hostel Association formed

• February 14, 1489 - Treaty of Dordrecht, Henry VII of England and Holy Roman Emperor Maxmillian agree to uphold Breton independence

• February 14, 1565 - Mary Queen of Scots meets Lord Darnley for the first time

• February 14, 1629 - Valentine Greatrakes, a physician who is known as the touch doctor, is born in Affane, Co. Waterford

• February 14, 1700 - A subsidy is authorized to Louis Crommellin for establishing a linen industry

• February 14, 1792 - Pianist and composer John Field gives his first public performance at the Rotunda in Dublin

• February 14, 1853 - The Queen Victoria sinks in a storm off Howth, with the loss of 55 lives

• February 14, 1856 - Frank Harris, writer and journalist, is born in Galway

• February 14, 1876 - Alexander Graham Bell patented the telephone (Patent 174461). Two hours after it was lodged, his rival, Elisha Gray, applied for a similar patent. Bells was granted.

• February 14, 1878 - Daniel Corkery, writer, critic and Irish cultural enthusiast, is born in Cork

• February 14, 1930 - Sir Thomas Mackenzie, died

• February 15, 1782 - The first Dungannon Convention of the Ulster Volunteers calls for an independent Irish parliament

• February 15, 1793 - A third convention of Dungannon a gathering of Volunteers from Ulster is held

• February 15, 1794 - The United Irishmen publish a plan for parliamentary reform

• February 15, 1834 - William Henry Preece, Welsh wireless inventor, born

• February 15, 1848 - The Caledonian Railway company opened

• February 15, 1850 - Sophie Bryant, Irish patriot and womens rights advocate, is born

• February 15, 1874 - Sir Ernest Shackleton, Antarctic explorer, born in Kilkea, Co. Kildare

• February 15, 1901 - Viscount Brendan Bracken, politician, born in Templemore, Co. Tipperary

• February 15, 1971 - Decimal currency introduced, abandoning 12 pennies to a shilling and 20 shillings to a pound

• February 16, 1768 - The Octennial Act limits Irish parliaments life to eight years

• February 16, 1822 - James Thomson, engineer, is born in Belfast

• February 16, 1859 - Thomas Edward Ellis, Welsh Nationalist, born

• February 16, 1886 - The Irish Catholic Hierarchy formally endorses Home Rule

• February 16, 1902 - Birth of singer Delia Murphy in Ardroe, Claremorris, Co. Mayo

• February 16, 1932 - Fianna Fáil wins the general election

• February 16, 1992 - George Mann MacBeth, Journalist and poet, died.

• February 17, 1540 - King James V passed a law which recognised Scotlands gypsies

• February 17, 1688 - James Renwick, last Covenanter to be executed

• February 17, 1781 - Rene T.H. Laennec, Famed French physician born

• February 17, 1896 - In the House of Commons, Horace Plunkett and W.E.H. Lecky, Irish Unionists, support John Redmonds plea for clemency for Irish political prisoners

• February 17, 1903 - Joseph Parry, composer of the Welsh Opera Blodwen, died

• February 17, 1945 - Brenda Fricker, actress, born

• February 18, 1366 - The Statutes of Kilkenny are passed

• February 18, 1478 - George, Duke of Clarence, is executed for high treason

• February 18, 1503 - Henry Tudor created Prince of Wales (later Henry VIII)

• February 18, 1867 - Edward Roberts, Welsh poet, died

• February 18, 1899 - Mervyn Johns, actor, was born

• February 18, 1958 - Ian Banks, writer is born in Dunfermline, Fife

• February 19, 1602 - Duke of Mercoeur, died

• February 19, 1674 - England and the Netherlands sign the Peace of Westminster

• February 19, 1904 - Muiris Ó'Suilleabhain, writer, born

• February 19, 1939 - De Valera states his intention to preserve Irish neutrality in the event of a second world war

• February 19, 1987 - A general election in the Republic returns a Fianna Fáil government with Haughey as Taoiseach

• February 19, 1992 - US government deports Joseph Doherty, volunteer Oglaigh na hÉireann

• February 20, 1436 - James I of Scotland is murdered

• February 20, 1472 - Orkney and Shetland annexed from Norway to the crown of Scotland

• February 20, 1547 - Edward VI of England is crowned King of England at Westminster Abbey

• February 20, 1742 - James Gandon, architect and builder of the Customs House, the Four Courts, is born in London

• February 20,1794 - William Carleton, one of the most graphic writers about the Famine, born near Clogher, Co. Tyrone

• February 20, 1874 - Gladstone resigns, a Conservative administration under Disraeli takes over

• February 20, 1882 - Padraic Ó'Conaire, writer and poet, born in Galway

• February 20, 1892 - First performance of Oscar Wilde’s Lady Windermere’s Fan

• February 20, 1941 - Eric Liddell, Chariots of Fire, died

• February 20 1951 - Gordon Brown, Chancellor of the Exchequer, born

• February 21, 1760 - François Thurot lands French forces at Carrickfergus in Belfast Lough

• February 21, 1775 - Edward Denny, MP for Tralee, Ireland, commits suicide

• February 21, 1803 - Edward Despard, Irish republican, executed for attempted overthrow of British Crown

• February 21, 1804 - Richard Trevithick Cornish inventor and engineer demonstrated the first steam driven, died.

• February 21, 1822 - Richard Southwell Bourke, 6th Earl of Mayo, Viceroy and Governor-General of India, born

• February 21, 1842 - Intercity railway between Glasgow and Edinburgh opened by Queen Victoria

• February 21, 1893 - Peadar O'Donnell, revolutionary and writer, is born in Co. Donegal

• February 21, 1952 - Identity cards, introduced at a wartime security measure, were abolished in Britain

• February 22, 1371 - King Robert II Stuart of Scotland crowned

• February 22, 1371 - King David II, son of King Robert the Bruce, died

• February 22, 1452 - King James II killed William Douglas at Stirling

• February 22, 1772 - Thomas Eyre, MP for Fore, dies in the House of Commonsn suddenly taken with an apoplectic fit

• February 22, 1797 - The last invasion of England, Small French force commanded by Irishman William Tate lands in Wales

• February 22, 1886 - Lord Randolph Churchill gives his destructive speech which includes the incendiary comment, Ulster will fight and Ulster will be right

• February 22, 1888 - John Reid of Scotland demonstrates golf to Americans, Yonkers, NY

• February 22, 1900 - Sean O'Faolain, short story writer, born

• February 22, 1921 - Cecil King, painter, is born in Rathdrum, Co. Wicklow

• February 22, 1933 - Archibald Knox, Manx Celtic artist, died

• February 22, 1958 - Matilin Meheut, Breton painter, died

• February 23, 1317 - Bruces army marches south and reaches Castleknock, within sight of Dublin

• February 23, 1649 - Giovanni Battista Rinuccini returns to Rome

• February 23, 1713 - Nicola Hamilton, widow of Tristram Beresford MP, dies on her 47th birthday

• February 23, 1874 - Hugh Stevenson Robertson, Scottish composer of Songs of the Isles, born

• February 23, 1908 - Sinn Fein contests its first election, County Leitrim

• February 23, 1935 - Thomas Murphy, a playwright, is born

• February 23, 1948 - John Robert Gregg, Irish Inventor of Gregg Shorthand, died

• February 23, 1995 - James Heriot, author of All Creatures Great and Small, died

• February 24, 1303 - Nearly 30,000 English soldiers annihilated after Invasion of Scotland in the 1303 Battle of Roslin

• February 24, 1582 - Pope Gregory XIII announces the new Gregorian calendar, replacing the Julian calendar

• February 24, 1692 - The Treaty of Limerick is ratified by William of Orange

• February 24, 1780 - A British Act opens colonial trade to Irish goods

• February 24, 1797 - Samuel Lover, Dublin writer, artist, musician and songwriter, born

• February 24, 1841 - John Philip Holland, inventor and developer of the modern submarine, born in Co. Clare

• February 24, 1850 - Paul Cullen is consecrated Catholic archbishop of Armagh and primate of Ireland

• February 24, 1852 - George Moore, novelist, playwright and critic, is born in Ballyglass, Co. Mayo

• February 24, 1923 - Steam train, the Flying Scotsman went into service with London

• February 24, 1940 - Footballer Denis Law who played for Manchester United and Scotland, born

• February 25, 1570 - Elizabeth I is excommunicated by Pope Pious V

• February 25, 1841 - John Philip Holland - Irish inventor and developer of the modern submarine, born

• February 25, 1852 - Death of Thomas Moore, popular poet and editor of Irish Melodies

• February 25, 1891 - Edward Ned Daly, one of the leaders of the Easter Rising, is born in Limerick

• February 26, 1551 - Thomas Arundell, died

• February 26, 1672 - Philip van der Straten, a Fleming, was granted Scots naturalization and set up a factory in Kelso, thus starting the Border woolen industry.

• February 26, 1797 - The Bank of Ireland suspends gold payments

• February 26, 1854 - William Smith O'Brien, leader of the 1848 rebellion, is pardoned

• February 26, 1931 - Scotland football manager Ally MacLeod born in Glasgow

• February 26, 1935 - Robert Watson Watt demonstrated radar for the first time

• February 27, 1495 - Garret More Fitzgerald, Eighth Earl of Kildare, is arrested in Dublin by Sir Edward Poynings, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland

• February 27, 1545 - Battle of Ancrum Moor

• February 27, 1560 - Second Treaty of Berwick between England and Scotland

• February 27, 1760 - François Thurot holds the castle and the town of Carrickfergus until this date

• February 27, 1792 - The Irish House of Commons is partly destroyed by fire

• February 27, 1841 - William Bruce, Sr., the last surviving member of the Ulster Volunteer convention of 1783, dies

• February 27, 1883 - Caradar (A.S.D. Smith) Cornish pioneer in language revival author of Cornish Simplified and Welsh Made Easy Born

• February 27, 1907 - Coslett Quin, clergyman, scholar and linguist, is born in Derriaghy, Co. Antrim

• February 28, 1638 - Second National Covenant signed in Greyfriars Churchyard

• February 28, 1713 - Henry Pyne, MP for Dungarvan, aged about 24 and the father of three children, is killed in a duel

• February 28, 1790 - The Northern Whig Club is founded in Belfast

• February 28, 1799 - William Dargan, railway engineer and philanthropist, is born in Carlow

• February 28, 1830 - Whitley Stokes, jurist and Celtic scholar, is born in Dublin

• February 28, 1865 - Arthur Symons, Cornish poet born in Wales

• February 28, 1884 - Seán MacDiarmada, revolutionary, is born in Kiltycolgher, Co. Leitrim

• February 28, 1929 - John Montague, best known for his volume, The Rough Field, is born

• February 28, 1946 - Robin Cook, Foreign Secretary, born