6 May 1074: Death of Dunán the first Bishop of Dublin. He was the first to be appointed under one of Dublin’s kings. He is known also as Donatus, or Donagh. He was buried in Christ Church to which he was appointed in 1038 at the request of King Sitric.
6 May 1880: Carlisle Bridge, Dublin, was reopened on this day under the new name of O'Connell Bridge. Due to the increase in traffic volume as the city grew in size it was decided to widen the bridge.
6 May 1882: The ‘Phoenix Park Murders’. The Under Secretary for Ireland Thomas Henry Burke, and the newly arrived Chief Secretary Lord Frederick Cavendish, were both stabbed to death in the Phoenix Park by members of a secret organisation known as ‘The Invincibles’. Five of the assassins were later executed in Kilmainham Jail and a number of others were sentenced to long terms of imprisonment. This event rocked Anglo-Irish relations to the core and was the most shocking and audacious attack on members of the British Political Establishment in Ireland during the course of the 19th Century.
6 May 1970: An Taoiseach Jack Lynch sensationally dismissed Charles J. Haughey (Minister of Finance) and Neil Blaney (Minister for Agriculture) from the Government over allegations of gun running into the State for use in the North of Ireland.
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