Ireland

Death of William Smith O’Brien, leading member of the literary-political Young Ireland movement

Neilí Ni Bhriain, Irish Gaelic League activist, is born

Birth in Edgeworthstown, Co. Longford of Sir Henry Wilson

Sir Henry Wilson is born in Edgeworthstown, County Longford, on May 5, 1864. A career British Army officer, he rises to become Chief of the Imperial General Staff from 1918 to 1922, playing a key role in post–World War I military strategy and the British response to Irish unrest. During the Irish War of Independence, Wilson is instrumental in establishing British military intelligence operations in Dublin, including the infamous Cairo Gang, a group of undercover agents later targeted in Michael Collins’s intelligence campaign. Wilson is assassinated in London in 1922 by two Irish republicans.

William Ellison, clergyman and the sixth director of the Armagh Observatory, is born

Charlotte Milligan Fox, collector of folk music, is born in Omagh, Co. Tyrone

Charlotte Olivia Milligan Fox (17 March 1864 – 25 March 1916) was an Irish composer, folk music collector and writer.

Archbishop Paul Cullen issues a pastoral for St. Patrick's Day denouncing Fenianism

Paul Cullen (April 29, 1803-October 24, 1878) was a cardinal, and the Catholic primate of Ireland. He was born in Prospect, Kildare.

Daniel Mannix, Archbishop of Melbourne and advocate of Irish independence, is born in Charleville, Co. Cork

Daniel Patrick Mannix (4 March 1864 – 6 November 1963) was an Irish-born Catholic bishop. Mannix was the Archbishop of Melbourne for 46 years and one of the most influential public figures in 20th-century Australia.

Stephen Lucius Gwynn, writer and nationalist, is born in Dublin

Matilda Knowles, Irish botanist and lichenologist, born

Matilda Cullen Knowles (1864-1933) was a pioneering Irish botanist and lichenologist, recognized for her substantial contributions to the study of lichens and the flora of Ireland.

The National Gallery of Ireland, opens

The National Gallery of Ireland, located in the heart of Dublin, is one of the country’s premier art institutions. It opened its doors to the public in 1864, showcasing a rich collection of Irish and European art.