August 17, 1922

RIC is disbanded to be replaced by the Garda Síochána

August 17, 1822

Visit of George IV to Edinburgh began, orchestrated by Sir Walter Scott.

August 17, 1648

The Battle of Preston (17 August ? 19 August 1648), fought largely at Walton-le-Dale near Preston in Lancashire, resulted in a victory by the troops of Oliver Cromwell over the Royalists and Scots commanded by Hamilton. The Parliamentarian victory presage

The Battle of Preston in which Duke of Hamilton at the head of an army of, 20,000 crossed into England in support of Charles I. Scots defeated by Cromwell, 2,000 killed,, 8,000 captured and Hamilton surrendered on, 25 August (and beheaded in March, 1649).

August 17, 1878

Birth of Oliver St. John Gogarty, writer, and the model for the stately, plump Buck Mulligan in Joyces Ulysses