Ireland

Birth of artist, Walter Osborne in Dublin.

Walter Osborne, renowned Irish artist, is born in Dublin on June 17, 1859. Celebrated for his sensitive depictions of everyday life, he is especially admired for his paintings of young girls at play, which remain among the most cherished works in the National Gallery of Ireland. Notable pieces such as The Doll’s School and The House Builders showcase his talent for natural light, domestic intimacy, and social realism, securing his place as a key figure in late 19th-century Irish art.

Sir Conan Doyle, Scottish author - born

Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle, DL (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a Scottish author most noted for his stories about the detective Sherlock Holmes, which are generally considered a major innovation in the field of crime fiction. He was a prolific writer whose other works include science fiction stories, historical novels, plays and romances, poetry, and non-fiction.

Birth in Edinburgh of Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes

Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle is born in Edinburgh on May 22, 1859, the eldest of ten children born to Irish parents, Charles Doyle and Mary Foley. A trained physician, he would go on to achieve global fame as the creator of Sherlock Holmes, one of literature’s most enduring and iconic detectives. Doyle’s Irish heritage and upbringing in a creative, if financially troubled, household influenced both his worldview and his prolific literary output, which spanned detective fiction, historical novels, science fiction, and spiritualist writings.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, author of Sherlock Holmes, born of Irish parents in Edinburgh.

The independent Irish party splits and the Tenant League breaks up

The Independent Irish Party (IIP) was the designation chosen by the 48 Members of the United Kingdom Parliament returned from Ireland with the endorsement of the Tenant Right League in the 1852 general election. The League had secured their promise to offer an independent opposition (refusing all government favour and office) to the dominant landlord interest, and to advance an agrarian reform programme popularly summarised as the “three F’s”: fair rent, fixed tenure and free sale.

First publication of The Irish Times

The Irish Times is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It was launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. The Irish Times is Ireland’s leading newspaper. It is considered a newspaper of record for Ireland.

National Gallery of Scotland opened in Edinburgh

The National (formerly the Scottish National Gallery) is the national art gallery of Scotland. It is located on The Mound in central Edinburgh, close to Princes Street. The building was designed in a neoclassical style by William Henry Playfair, and first opened to the public in 1859.

Kenneth Grahame, author of The Wind in the Willows born in Edinburgh

Kenneth Grahame (8 March 1859 – 6 July 1932) was a British writer born in Edinburgh, Scotland. He is most famous for The Wind in the Willows (1908), a classic of children’s literature, as well as The Reluctant Dragon. Both books were later adapted for stage and film, of which A. A. Milne’s Toad of Toad Hall, based on part of The Wind in the Willows, was the first.

Edward Martyn, playwright, co-founder of Irish Literary Theatre, and Sinn Féin president, is born

Edward Martyn, born on January 30, 1859, was a key figure in the Irish cultural and political landscape in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He made significant contributions as a playwright, a co-founder of the Irish Literary Theatre, and a political activist, including a term as the president of Sinn Féin.

Edith Oenonne Somerville, novelist, born