Ireland

Gerald Boland, nationalist politician, is born in Manchester

Charles Stewart Parnell turns the first sod for the West Clare Railway

The West Clare Railway (WCR) originally operated in County Clare, Ireland, between 1887 and 1961. This 3 ft (914 mm) narrow-gauge railway ran from the county town of Ennis, via numerous stopping-points along the West Clare coast to two termini, at Kilrush and Kilkee, with the routes diverging at Moyasta Junction. The system was the last operating narrow gauge passenger system in Ireland and connected with the mainline rail system at Ennis, where a station still stands today for bus and train services to Limerick and Galway. Intermediate stops included Ennistymon, Lahinch and Milltown Malbay.

Thomas Ashe, teacher, born

Thomas Ashe was born on January 12, 1885, in Lispole, County Kerry, Ireland.

Birth in Hillsborough, Co. Down of Harry Ferguson, engineer, inventor, and pioneer of the modern tractor

Founding of the Gaelic Athletic Association

The gunboat HMS Wasp is wrecked off Tory Island, Co. Donegal, with the loss of 52 lives; there are eight survivors

Louise Gavan Duffy, born

Louise Gavan Duffy (Irish: Luíse Ghabhánach Ní Dhufaigh, 17 July 1884 – 12 October 1969) was an educator, an Irish language enthusiast and a Gaelic revivalist, setting up the first Gaelscoil in Ireland.

Birth in Athlone of John McCormack, tenor and papal count

Mary Colum in Collooney, Co. Sligo, born

Oscar Wilde and Constance Lloyd are married