Ireland

Bernard (Barney) Hughes, born

Brendan (Barney) Hughes was born in Armagh in 1808. Starting out as a baker’s boy, he moved to Belfast at the age of 19 to continue baking.

Michael Balfe, operatic composer, is born in Dublin

Benjamin Burton, fractures his skull in a fall from his horse while hunting

Benjamin Burton, an Irish figure of note, fractures his skull in a fall from his horse while hunting. Though he appears to recover, he later returns to the hunt, only to succumb to brain fever shortly afterward — likely a complication from the earlier head injury. His death is a cautionary tale of the dangers of untreated trauma and the risks associated with the sporting lifestyle of the Anglo-Irish gentry in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Henry Blosse Lynch, soldier and explorer, is born in Ballinrobe, Co. Mayo

Henry Blosse Lynch (1807—1873) was an Anglo-Irish explorer. Henry Blosse Lynch was third of the eleven sons of Major Henry Blosse Lynch (1778-1823) of Partry House, Ballinrobe, County Mayo, His mother was Elizabeth Finnis (from Hythe, Kent, died March 1845).

William Congreve Alcock and John Colclough, fight a duel in front of the county sheriff

During the election for County Wexford in 1807, a political rivalry turns deadly when candidates William Congreve Alcock and John Colclough engage in a duel—fought in full view of the county sheriff, sixteen magistrates, and a large crowd of spectators.

Thomas Wyatt, architect, is born in Loughlin House, Co. Roscommon

Maurice FitzGerald resigns as Commissioner of the Treasury (UK) over the issue of Catholic relief

Maurice FitzGerald, MP for County Kerry, resigns as Commissioner of the Treasury over the British government’s refusal to grant Catholic relief. On this date, he publicly declares that the war effort alone — referring to Irish Catholic support during the Napoleonic Wars — merits concessions to Ireland’s Catholic population. His stance highlights the growing political pressure in early 19th-century Britain and Ireland to address Catholic civil rights, a movement that would culminate in Catholic Emancipation in 1829.

Maurice FitzGerald, MP for Co. Kerry, resigns as Commissioner of the Treasury

Sir Maurice FitzGerald, 18th Knight of Kerry (29 December 1774 – 7 March 1849) was an hereditary knight and an Irish Whig politician.

Sir Robert McClure, polar explorer and discoverer of the North-West Passage, born in Co. Wexford

Sir Robert John Le Mesurier McClure, a notable figure in the history of polar exploration, was born on January 28, 1807, in Wexford, Ireland. He is best known for his role in the discovery of the Northwest Passage, the sea route through the Arctic Ocean, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

Birth in Dublin of Charles Lever; fiction writer who was famous for his rendering of Trinity Colleges privileged atmosphere