Today on Celtic History on

August 8th

Sat 08 Aug 1981

Thomas McElwee, Irish polictical prisoner, dies on hunger strike in Maze prison, Northern Ireland.

Wed 08 Aug 1923

The Civic Guard is renamed the Garda Siochana

Wed 08 Aug 1781

James Gandon moves from London to Dublin; the first stone of his Customs House is laid on this date

Sun 08 Aug 1694

Birth of Francis Hutcheson, Presbyterian philosopher, in Co. Down

Mon 08 Aug 1588

The Spanish Armada is defeated by the English, with some Spaniards slain upon reaching the coasts of Ireland and some survivors remaining

Sat 08 Aug 1503

King James IV married Margaret Tudor, daughter of King Henry VII of England. The marriage was known as the Union of the Thistle and the Rose.

Wed 08 Aug 1296

King Edward I removed to England the Stone of Destiny on which generations of Scottish kings had been crowned.