The following are a collection of events that are connected to the history of Limerick or people from Limerick during the month of March.
1 April – J. J. Keane was born in Anglesboro, Co. Limerick in 1871. He was a Gaelic footballer who made his inter-county debut with Dublin during the 1898 championship. He won 3 All Ireland medals & 3 Leinster medals. He died on this day 1 April 1956
2 April – On this day 2 April 2016 the Limeirck author Michael Curtin passed away. Roddy Doyle said of him “Curtin is one of Ireland’s best writers”.
3 April – Limerick architect Henry Denmead died on this day 3 April 1788. He was responsible for the ‘re-edification’ of the Exchange on Nicholas Street in 1777-1778.
4 April – The first stone for the Limerick Boat Club was laid on this day 4 April 1870. The image from Limerick_Leader is from the centenary in April 1970
5 April – Patrick Dooly was born in Patrickswell, Co Limerick, on this day 5 April 1875. He was on board the ill-fated Titanic on its maiden voyage in April 1912. He lost his life in the disaster.
6 April – On this day 6 April 1919, the rescue of Robert Byrne from his hospital bed by several members of the IRA took place, Byrne’s death later the same day lead to the period known as the Limerick Soviet.
7 April – The poet William Wordsworth was born on this day 7 Apr 1770. He wrote of his 1829 visit to Limerick “it is raining hard now, and has done so all day.”
8 April – Edmund Sexton Pery, the man responsible for the Georgian section of Limerick city and the Speaker of the House of Commons, was born on this day 8 April 1719.
9 April – Salesian Rector Major Renato Ziggiotti visited Fernbank to lay foundation stone for the new house of studies on this day 9 April 1954.
10 April – Limerick man Liam Lynch an officer in the old IRA during the Irish War of Independence and the commanding general of the Irish Republican Army during the Irish Civil War. He was killed on this day 10 April 1923. His death signalled the end of the Civil War
11 April – Limerick woman Kathleen Clarke nee Daly was born on this day 11 April 1878. She had the distinction of becoming the first female Lord Mayor of Dublin (1939).
12 April – Dan Ahern was born on this day 12 April 1888 in Limerick. He was an athlete who competed in the 1920 Olympic Games where he placed 6th in the triple jump competition. His brother Tim gained the gold in the triple jump at the games 12 years earlier
13 April – On this day 100 years ago (13 April 1921) Spaights posted this advertisement in the Limerick Leader
14 April – On this day 14 Apr 1884, Michael Davitt (1846-1906), co-founder of the Irish Land League received the Freedom of Limerick from Mayor Maurice Lenihan
15 April – Limerick-born Irish actress, broadcaster, and teacher Rachel Burrows died on this day 15 April 1987. She was a founding member of the Limerick and Cork Alliance Française. She played Miss Benson in RTE’s The Riordans.
16 April – The singer Dusty Springfield was born on this day, 16 Apr 1939. She performed in the Jetland Ballroom, Ennis Road in February 1966 at the height of her career.
17 April – On this day 17 Apr 1876, Martin Hogan from Barrington St and 5 other Fenian prisoners escaped from a penal colony in Australia for the US on board the Catalpa.
18 April – Frank Dineen was born in Ballylanders, Co. Limerick in 1862. He is the only man to have held the two top positions in the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA), President (1895-8) & General Secretary (1898). He died on this day 18 April 1916
19 April – The civil engineer and architect William E. Corbett was born on this day 19 April 1824. He designed many structures in Limerick including Tait’s Clock in Baker’s Place.
20 April – On this day, 20 Apr 1954, Limerick man Michael Manning became the last prisoner executed in the Republic of Ireland. Family members of his victim, Catherine Cooper, had signed a petition for clemency.
21 April – Standish O’Grady, 1st Viscount Guillamore, from Cahir Guillamore, County Limerick, died on this day 21 April 1840. He served as Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer for Ireland for a number of years.
22 April – On this day, 22 Apr 1855, in the Crimea, Limerick man Private Joseph Bradshaw and another private, during the Crimean War attacked and captured a Russian rifle pit. He received the Victoria Cross and the French equivalent Médaille militaire for this action
23 April – On this day, 23 Apr 1824, William Nash was born in Newcastle West, Limerick. He was an Irish recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.
24 April – Dr Tiede Herrema died on this day 24 April 2020, three days after his 99th birthday. He was a Dutch industrialist and Managing Director of Limerick’s Ferenka factory was kidnapped and held by the IRA for 36 days in 1975.
25 April – On this day 25 April 1915, the 1st Battalion of the Royal Munsters Fusiliers arrived at V beach in Gallipoli on board the SS River Clyde. Two weeks later, hundreds of men, many of whom were from Limerick were dead. Pictured are survivors 18 days later
26 April – Cork-born Murragh Boyle was Constable of Limerick Castle and Governor of Limerick between 1679 and 1692. He died on this day 26 April 1718
27 April – The Irish republican revolutionary, suffragette and actress Maud Gonne passed away on this day 27 Apr 1953. In December 1900 she became one of only a handful of women to receive the Freedom of Limerick. It was given to her by Mayor John Daly
28 April – On this day 28 April 1921, the Mayor of Limerick Stephen M. O’Mara (of the O’Mara bacon factory) was arrested by the Crown forces for failure to pay a £10 fine for non-compliance with a military summons. He was released a few hours later.
29 April – Limerick-born John Higgins fled with the Wild Geese in 1691. He received his bachelor’s degree on this day 29 Apr 1700 and a doctorate later that same year. He was Chief Physician to King Philip V of Spain until his death.
30 April – On this day 30 April 1966, the American Rock and Roll duo the Everly Brothers performed in the Jetland Ballroom, Ennis Road.
