A new edition of Century Ireland is out on 26 April with all the news from 100 years ago.
The main stories include:
- Anniversary of shooting of Francis Sheehy Skeffington at Portobello Barracks commemorated
27 April 1914
The first anniversary of the murder of Francis Sheehy Skeffington was commemorated yesterday when the front of the Irish Women’s Franchise League offices was draped in remembrance material. The offices are in a building on Westmoreland Street and the remembrance took the form of the name of the deceased being printed in large white letters on s black surface bordered with green and yellow colours. - Peat Reclamation Plan in jeopardy
28 April 1917
A proposed scheme of relief work focusing on peat reclamation now lies in jeopardy. The scheme was proposed by the Lord Mayor of Dublin’s Conference on Unemployment and Wages and may not now be acted on due to government conditions. The scheme involved the cutting and delivering of over 100,000 tons of peat for the coming winter. The Scheme was to use peat taken from a bog near Edenderry in Co. Offaly. This peat was to be cut and dried by the unemployed of Dublin – at a minimum wage of 30s weekly – with separation allowances for the families of workers remaining in Dublin.
- Irish girls should be saved from London immorality
30 April 1917
The Ministry of Labour in London has issued a statement emphatically denying all charges that Irish girls in London were being inappropriately treated. The statement denies that they ‘do not make adequate provision for girls who are migrating from Ireland in order to take up munitions work in this country.’ The statement further denies that any girl under 18 is accepted and says that any girl under 21 must have the permission of her parents.
- Horseracing brought to an end
1 May 1917
Andrew Bonar Law has announced in the House of Commons in London that horseracing will end for the duration of war-time. The last races to be held in Britain will be at Newmarket next weekend, after which the 4,000 horses in training will not be allowed to race. Asked whether the prohibition extended to Ireland, Andrew Bonar Law said that the prohibition extended across the United Kingdom and this was supported by Captain Bathurst who said: ‘I am not authorized to say that any exception will be made.’
- First May Day Celebrations in Russia
2 May 1917
The Provisional Government in Petrograd declared 1 May a Grand National Fete and holiday. All shops, government offices, and restaurants were closed. Over a million people took part in processions that were conducted in peace and order in Petrograd, against the backdrop of beautiful weather. Across the city, there were extraordinary scenes of gaiety and enthusiasm. People marched with hundreds of silk banners, embroidered in gold letters bearing legends such as ‘May Day, the great International Labour Fete.’
- Peruvian-based Irish priest tells of horrors of Putumayo
2 May 1917
‘Nobody realises how good the at home in Ireland are until he sees life in other countries’, says Peruvian-based Irish priest, Fr. Ryan (a native of Clare). Fr. Ryan has returned from Putumayo, remote district in Peru, where Sir Roger Casement exposed atrocities and where a Catholic mission was established as a result. Fr. Ryan said that four other priests remain in the mission, three of whom are Irish. Fr. Ryan said that after Sir Roger was executed, rumours swept the area that the execution was not because he was an Irish rebel, but ‘because he had ruined the Peruvian rubber trade.’ - New War Budget introduced
3 May 1917
Andrew Bonar Law, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, introduced a budget yesterday ‘on a scale never heard of, or dreamed of, in any country in any previous period.’ Last year’s budgetary expenditure had exceeded estimates by some £372,000,000. The increase was largely due to the increased cost of munitions and increased advances to Allies and dominions. In the course of the last year, the national debt of the United Kingdom increased by £1.7bn to some £3.9bn. For the coming year, the total estimated daily expenditure amounted to more than £6m, something that would necessitate a loan across the year of some £1.6bn.
- ‘Abandon Westminster and get conscription’, Irish MP warns.
8 May 1917
There would be conscription introduced in Ireland within a month without Irish Party efforts at Westminster, according to John Dillon MP. Mr. Dillon was speaking in Longford in advance of the pending by-election. In the course of a typically wide-ranging speech, Mr. Dillon set out all that Ireland would lose by the removal of Irish representation from Westminster.
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