June in Irish history, day by day
55 entries across 30 days of June, picked by hand: the turning points, the culture, the sport and the people Ireland remembers, each linked to the full story.
1st June
- 1922The Royal Ulster Constabulary was founded as the police force of the new Northern Ireland, replacing the Royal Irish Constabulary there. Wikipedia
2nd June
- 1567Shane O'Neill, the most powerful Gaelic lord in Ulster, was killed by the MacDonnells at Cushendun in County Antrim. Wikipedia
3rd June
- 1984US President Ronald Reagan visited Ballyporeen in County Tipperary, the home village of his great-grandfather, and spoke to the people there. Wikipedia
4th June
- 1798Wexford rebels defeated a Crown column at Tubberneering near Gorey, one of the United Irishmen's few clear victories in the field. Wikipedia
5th June
6th June
- 1940Born: Willie John McBride, the Ballymena rugby forward who captained the unbeaten British and Irish Lions in South Africa in 1974 Wikipedia
7th June
8th June
- 1886The House of Commons rejected Gladstone's first Home Rule Bill for Ireland by 341 votes to 311. Wikipedia
9th June
- 597Died: Saint Columba, the Donegal-born monk who founded the monastery on Iona and carried Irish Christianity to Scotland Wikipedia
- 1798Wexford rebels attacked Arklow in County Wicklow and were held off by Crown forces, stopping their advance on Dublin. Wikipedia
- 1936Born: Mick O'Dwyer, the Kerry footballer and manager who guided Kerry to eight All-Ireland titles Wikipedia
10th June
- 1996Multi-party talks on Northern Ireland's future opened at Stormont, chaired by former US Senator George Mitchell, without Sinn Féin taking part. Wikipedia
11th June
- 1990Ireland played their first ever World Cup match, drawing 1-1 with England in Cagliari after Kevin Sheedy's equaliser. Wikipedia
- 1981A general election brought Garret FitzGerald to power at the head of a Fine Gael and Labour coalition, and two hunger strike prisoners were elected to the Dáil. Wikipedia
12th June
13th June
14th June
15th June
16th June
- 1904James Joyce first walked out with Nora Barnacle, and set his novel Ulysses on this day, now celebrated worldwide as Bloomsday. Wikipedia
- 1922The Pact Election returned a large majority for candidates who supported the Anglo-Irish Treaty, days before the Civil War began. Wikipedia
- 1954Patrick Kavanagh, Flann O'Brien and friends marked the 50th anniversary of Bloomsday with the first pilgrimage around Joyce's Dublin. Wikipedia
17th June
- 1959Éamon de Valera was elected the third President of Ireland, while voters on the same day rejected his plan to scrap proportional representation. Wikipedia
18th June
- 1994Ray Houghton's goal gave Ireland a 1-0 win over Italy at Giants Stadium in New York, in their opening match of the World Cup. Wikipedia
- 1992Voters approved the Maastricht Treaty in a referendum, taking Ireland into the new European Union. Wikipedia
- 1264The Parliament of Ireland met at Castledermot in County Kildare, the first meeting of that parliament that is known for certain. Wikipedia
19th June
- 1940The Institute for Advanced Studies Act became law, setting up the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, where the physicist Erwin Schrödinger would later work. Wikipedia
20th June
21st June
- 1798Crown forces defeated the main Wexford rebel camp at Vinegar Hill outside Enniscorthy, breaking the rising in the south east. Wikipedia
- 1990Niall Quinn's goal earned a 1-1 draw with the Netherlands in Palermo and sent Ireland into the knockout rounds of Italia 90. Wikipedia
- 1921The village of Knockcroghery in County Roscommon, known for its clay pipes, was burned by British forces during the War of Independence. Wikipedia
22nd June
- 1921King George V opened the Parliament of Northern Ireland in Belfast City Hall and appealed for reconciliation, a speech that helped bring the truce weeks later. Wikipedia
- 1922Field Marshal Sir Henry Wilson was killed by the IRA in London, raising British pressure on the Free State to act against anti-Treaty forces in the Four Courts. Wikipedia
23rd June
- 1985Air India Flight 182 was destroyed by a bomb off the coast of County Cork, and all 329 people on board were lost; a memorial stands at Ahakista. Wikipedia
- 2016The United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union, while a majority in Northern Ireland voted to remain, putting the border back at the centre of politics. Wikipedia
24th June
- 637The Battle of Moira was fought in County Down between the High King of Ireland and the kings of Ulster and Dál Riata, one of the largest battles of early Ireland. Wikipedia
25th June
- 1990Packie Bonner saved a penalty and David O'Leary scored the winner as Ireland beat Romania in a shootout in Genoa to reach the World Cup quarter-finals. Wikipedia
- 1995Died: Ernest Walton, the Waterford-born physicist who split the atom with John Cockcroft and shared the Nobel Prize in Physics Wikipedia
26th June
- 1938Douglas Hyde, founder of the Gaelic League, was inaugurated as the first President of Ireland. Wikipedia
- 1963US President John F. Kennedy arrived in Dublin for a four-day visit, the first by a serving American president. Wikipedia
- 1996Died: Veronica Guerin, the Sunday Independent crime journalist, was murdered in Dublin; her death led to the creation of the Criminal Assets Bureau. Wikipedia
- 1824Born: William Thomson, Lord Kelvin, the Belfast-born physicist after whom the Kelvin temperature scale is named Wikipedia
27th June
28th June
29th June
- 1916Roger Casement was sentenced to death for treason in London for his part in bringing German arms for the Easter Rising. Wikipedia