Events from the year 1858 in Ireland.

Events

*17 March – In

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, James Stephens founds the revolutionary organisation which becomes known as the

Irish Republican Brotherhood The Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB; ) was a secret oath-bound fraternal organisation dedicated to the establishment of an "independent democratic republic" in Ireland between 1858 and 1924.McGee, p. 15. Its counterpart in the United States ...

. *

Edward Harland Sir Edward James Harland, 1st Baronet (15 May 1831 – 24 December 1895), was an Ireland-based English shipbuilder and politician. Born in Scarborough in the North Riding of Yorkshire, he was educated at Edinburgh Academy. In 1846, aged 15, ...

, at this time general manager, buys the small shipyard on Queen's Island,

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

, from his employer Robert Hickson in conjunction with

Gustav Wilhelm Wolff Gustav Wilhelm Wolff (14 November 1834 – 17 April 1913) was a German-born British shipbuilder and politician. Born in Hamburg, he moved to Liverpool in 1849 to live with his uncle, Gustav Christian Schwabe. After serving his apprenticeship ...

. * Ballinacourty lighthouse at

Dungarvan Dungarvan () is a coastal town and harbour in County Waterford, on the south-east coast of Ireland. Prior to the merger of Waterford County Council with Waterford City Council in 2014, Dungarvan was the county town and administrative centre of ...

harbour built.

Arts and literature

* First free

public library A public library is a library, most often a lending library, that is accessible by the general public and is usually funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are also Civil servic ...

in Ireland opens in

Dundalk Dundalk ( ; ) is the county town of County Louth, Ireland. The town is situated on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the north-east coast of Ireland, and is halfway between Dublin and Belfast, close to and south of the bor ...

Sport

Births

*11 January –

Mildred Anne Butler Mildred Anne Butler (11 January 1858 – 11 October 1941) was an Irish artist, who worked in watercolour and oil of landscape, genre and animal subjects. Butler was born and spent most of her life in Kilmurry, Thomastown, County Kilkenny an ...

, painter (died

1941 The Correlates of War project estimates this to be the deadliest year in human history in terms of conflict deaths, placing the death toll at 3.49 million. However, the Uppsala Conflict Data Program estimates that the subsequent year, 1942, wa ...

). *13 February – James Murray Irwin, British Army doctor (died

1938 Events January * January 1 – state-owned enterprise, State-owned railway networks are created by merger, in France (SNCF) and the Netherlands (Nederlandse Spoorwegen – NS). * January 20 – King Farouk of Egypt marries Saf ...

). *6 March –

Coslett Herbert Waddell Coslett Herbert Waddell (Rev.) (March 6, 1858 at Drumcro, County Antrim – June 8, 1919) was an Irish priest (Church of Ireland) and botanist. He was related, via his mother Maria Langtry, to Lillie Langtry, the "Jersey Lily". He went to Lurga ...

, priest and botanist (died

1919 Events January * January 1 ** The Czechoslovak Legions occupy much of the self-proclaimed "free city" of Pressburg (later Bratislava), enforcing its incorporation into the new republic of Czechoslovakia. ** HMY ''Iolaire'' sinks off th ...

). *11 March – Tom Clarke, republican (born in England; executed

1916 Events Below, the events of the First World War have the "WWI" prefix. January * January 1 – The British Empire, British Royal Army Medical Corps carries out the first successful blood transfusion, using blood that has been stored ...

). *2 May –

Edith Anna Somerville Edith Anna Œnone Somerville (; 2 May 1858 – 8 October 1949) was an Irish novelist who habitually signed herself as "E. Œ. Somerville". She wrote in collaboration with her cousin "Martin Ross" ( Violet Martin) under the pseudonym " Somervil ...

, novelist (died

1949 Events January * January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2025 * January 2 – Luis ...

). *19 May –

Mike Cleary Mike Cleary (May 19, 1858 in County Laois, Ireland – September 5, 1893 in Belfast, New York) was an Irish-American Irish Americans () are Irish ethnics who live within in the United States, whether immigrants from Ireland or Ame ...

, boxer (died

1893 Events January * January 2 – Webb C. Ball introduces railroad chronometers, which become the general railroad timepiece standards in North America. * January 6 – The Washington National Cathedral is chartered by Congress; th ...

). *5 October – Thomas Cusack,

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

from

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

(died

1926 In Turkey, the year technically contained only 352 days. As Friday, December 18, 1926 ''(Julian Calendar)'' was followed by Saturday, January 1, 1927 '' (Gregorian Calendar)''. 13 days were dropped to make the switch. Turkey thus became the ...

). *;Full date unknown *:* Anne Marjorie Robinson, artist (died

1924 Events January * January 12 – Gopinath Saha shoots Ernest Day, whom he has mistaken for Sir Charles Tegart, the police commissioner of Calcutta, and is arrested soon after. * January 20–January 30, 30 – Kuomintang in Ch ...

Deaths

*4 March – John Ryan, soldier, recipient of the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious decoration of the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British decorations system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British ...

for gallantry in 1857 at

Lucknow Lucknow () is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and the largest city of the List of state and union territory capitals in India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is the administrative headquarters of the epon ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, killed in action (born

1823 Events January–March * January 22 – By secret treaty signed at the Congress of Verona, the Quintuple Alliance gives France a mandate to invade Spain for the purpose of restoring Ferdinand VII (who has been captured by armed revoluti ...

). *26 April – Francis Murphy, first

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

(born

1795 Events January–June * January – Central England records its coldest ever month, in the CET records dating back to 1659. * January 14 – The University of North Carolina opens to students at Chapel Hill, becoming the ...

). *22 July –

Mary Aikenhead Mother Mary Frances Aikenhead (19 January 1787 – 22 July 1858) was born in Daunt's Square off Grand Parade, Cork, Ireland. Described as one of nursing's greatest leaders, she was the founder of the Catholic religious institute, the Religi ...

, founder of the

Sisters of Charity Many religious communities have the term Sisters of Charity in their name. Some ''Sisters of Charity'' communities refer to the Vincentian tradition alone, or in America to the tradition of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton (whose sisters are also of ...

(born

1787 Events January–March * January 9 – The North Carolina General Assembly authorizes nine commissioners to purchase of land for the seat of Chatham County. The town is named Pittsborough (later shortened to Pittsboro), for W ...

). *28 July – Alexander Wright, soldier, recipient of the

for gallantry in 1855 at Sebastopol, in the

Crimea Crimea ( ) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukrain ...

(born

1826 Events January–March * January 15 – The French newspaper ''Le Figaro'' begins publication in Paris, initially as a satirical weekly. * January 17 – The Ballantyne printing business in Edinburgh (Scotland) crashes, ruining noveli ...

). *17 August – Robert Cane, doctor, member of the

Repeal Association The Repeal Association was an Irish mass membership political movement set up by Daniel O'Connell in 1830 to campaign for a repeal of the Acts of Union of 1800 between Great Britain and Ireland. The Association's aim was to revert Ireland to ...

and the

Irish Confederation The Irish Confederation was an Irish nationalist independence movement, established on 13 January 1847 by members of the Young Ireland movement who had seceded from Daniel O'Connell's Repeal Association. Historian T. W. Moody described it as "t ...

, Mayor of

Kilkenny Kilkenny ( , meaning 'church of Cainnech of Aghaboe, Cainnech'). is a city in County Kilkenny, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is located in the South-East Region, Ireland, South-East Region and in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinst ...

(born

1807 Events January–March *January 7 – The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland issues an Order in Council prohibiting British ships from trading with France or its allies. *January 20 – The Sierra Leone Company, faced with b ...

). *;Full date unknown *:* John Hogan, sculptor (born

1800 As of March 1 ( O.S. February 18), when the Julian calendar acknowledged a leap day and the Gregorian calendar did not, the Julian calendar fell one day further behind, bringing the difference to 12 days until February 28 ( O.S. February 16), ...

). *:* Benjamin Lett, bomber and arsonist in America and Canada (born

1813 Events January–March * January 5 – The Danish state bankruptcy of 1813 occurs. * January 18– 23 – War of 1812: The Battle of Frenchtown is fought in modern-day Monroe, Michigan between the United States and a Britis ...

). *:* James Roche Verling,

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

surgeon In medicine, a surgeon is a medical doctor who performs surgery. Even though there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon is a licensed physician and received the same medical training as physicians before spec ...

, became personal surgeon to

Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

St Helena Saint Helena (, ) is one of the three constituent parts of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, a remote British overseas territory. Saint Helena is a volcanic and tropical island, located in the South Atlantic Ocean, some 1,874 km ...

(born

References

{{Years in Ireland 1850s in Ireland

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

Years of the 19th century in Ireland Ireland

Events

Arts and literature

Sport

Births

Deaths

See also

References