Events

• 3 April - Oscar Wilde launches a criminal libel case in London against the Marquess of Queensberry.^[1] During the trial he collapses under cross-examination by Edward Carson, and is eventually found guilty and imprisoned for two years on homosexuality charges.
• 23 December - Grand Opera House in Belfast is opened.
• 24 December - Kingstown Lifeboat Disaster: The Kingstown Life-boat capsizes on service: all fifteen crew are lost.^[2]
• Michael Davitt enters the British House of Commons as the elected Member of Parliament for South Mayo. He is refused entry on two previous attempts.
• Belfast Botanic Gardens becomes a public park when Belfast Corporation purchases the gardens from the Belfast Botanical and Horticultural Society.
• In the General Election, Edward Carson is re-elected in a Trinity College, Dublin seat and as senior MP becomes a member of the Privy Council of Ireland.^[1]

Arts and literature

• Oscar Wilde stages An Ideal Husband and The Importance of Being Earnest.

Sport

Football

• International

9 March England 9 - 0 Ireland (in Derby)^[3]

16 March Ireland 2 - 2 Wales (in Belfast)^[3]

30 March Scotland 3 - 1 Ireland (in Glasgow)^[3]

• Irish League

Winners: Linfield

• Irish Cup

Winners: Linfield 10 - 1 Bohemians

• Shelbourne are founded in the south Dublin city suburb Ringsend by a group of seven individuals, including James Rowan (St Margaret Place) and two Wall brothers Felix and Michael (Bath Avenue Place).

Births

• 8 January - John Moyney, soldier, recipient of the Victoria Cross for gallantry in 1917 north of Broembeek, Belgium (died 1980).
• March - Joe Murphy, member of Irish Republican Army, died on 76 day hunger strike during the Irish War of Independence (died 1920).
• 25 May - Liam Mellowes, Sinn F in politician, member of 1st D il. Executed in Mountjoy Jail (died 1922).
• 16 June - Warren Lewis, soldier and historian, brother of C. S. Lewis (died 1973).
• 28 July - John Charles McQuaid, Catholic Archbishop of Dublin and Primate of Ireland (died 1973).
• 3 August - James Samuel Emerson, soldier, posthumous recipient of the Victoria Cross for gallantry in 1917 on the Hindenburg Line north of La Vacquerie, France (died 1917).
• 3 October - Phelim Calleary, Fianna F il TD (died 1974).
• 10 December - Moyna Macgill, stage and film actress, mother of Angela Lansbury (died 1975).

Full date unknown

• John Doherty, fiddle player (died 1980).
• Florence O'Donoghue, historian and Irish Republican Army intelligence officer (died 1967).

Deaths

• 5 February - Robert Montresor Rogers, recipient of the Victoria Cross for gallantry in 1860 at the Taku Forts, China (born 1834).
• 11 May - Patrick Carlin, Victoria Cross recipient for gallantry in 1858 in India (born 1832).
• 14 August - Thomas Hovenden, artist and teacher (born 1840).
• 12 October - Cecil Frances Humphreys Alexander, hymn-writer and poet (born 1818).
• 26 November - George Edward Dobson, zoologist, photographer and army surgeon (born 1848).

References