- 1876-06-14 — Birth of George Townshend, Hand of the Cause of God, in Dublin.
- 1901-00-00 — Dr Frederick D'Evelyn, born in Belfast about 1855 was the first person of Irish birth to accept the Faith. In the year became a Bahá'í, he was in the party (along with Helen Goodall, Ella Goodall Cooper, and Mr and Mrs W. C. Ralston) that officially welcomed 'Abdu’l-Bahá on His arrival in San Francisco in October 1912, and his name appears first of the list of recipients of a tablet from the Master published in Star of the West on 19 January 1915. Dr D'Evelyn's account of the historic meeting is reproduced in Marion Carpenter Yazdi's Youth in the Vanguard which describes his involvement in Bahá'í activities a number of times. His service is mentioned in other books, such as Mahmud's Diary and Leroy Ioas - Hand of the Cause of God by Anita Ioas Chapman, and he appears a number of times in Star of the West, sometimes referred to as "Frederick W. Evelyn". In addition to his local position he was a member of the Temple Unity Board, the forerunner of the National Spiritual Assembly.
In August 1932 he died after a brief illness and was interred at Cypress Lawn cemetery. The Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of San Francisco expressed its "grief and sense of serious loss" and paid tribute to "the untiring services and inspiring leadership of their first Chairman, Dr Frederick W. D'Evelyn". [Bahá'í Council website]
- 1906-00-00 — The earliest Bahá'ís living in Ireland are thought to have been the Culver family. Henry Culver was the U.S. consul in Queenstown (now Cobh) from 1906 to 1910. He and his wife were Bahá'ís, but appear to have treated their faith as a private matter, perhaps because of Henry's official position. They had learned of the Faith from the Magee family while living in London, ON. In 1910, Henry was appointed United States Consul in St John, New Brunswick, and the family arrived there that September. Despite his almost immediate attempt to be transferred back to Europe, Henry spent the remainder of his consular career there, retiring from the service in 1924. In 1925, Henry and Mary moved to Eliot, Maine, and were active in the Bahá'í community there and with Green Acre Bahá'í School. Henry died in 1936 and Mary in 1937. [Bahá'í Council website; Early Irish Baha'is: Issues of Religious, Cultural, and National Identity by R. Jackson Armstrong-Ingram]
- 1912-12-17 —
A Bahá'í arrived from Ireland to see 'Abdu'l-Bahá, possibly Joan Waring, after travelling all day and all night. Miss Waring was possibly the first native believer in Ireland. She contributed to the Wilmette Temple Fund in 1913 and on the 26th of October 1914 she married Thomas Fforde. On the 29th of June 1919 they wrote to Àbdu'l-Bahá expressing gratitude that He had survived the War. [Bahá'í Council website; Early Irish Baha'is: Issues of Religious, Cultural, and National Identity by R. Jackson Armstrong-Ingram]
- He made comments on the character of the American people.
- In the afternoon He spoke to a large gathering at Caxton Hall in Westminster. [SoW Vol III no 19 2Mar1913 p3-4, ABTM276-277]
- 1920-00-00 — George Townshend became a Bahá'í, and sent a letter of acceptance of the Faith to `Abdu'l-Bahá. [GT49]
- 1930-00-00 — The National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of England changed its name to become the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the British Isles. [Bahaipedia United Kingdom; BCBI423]
- 1940-06-30 — George Townshend preached a sermon in St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, proclaiming the Bahá'í Faith to the congregation. [GT171]
- 1944-05-00 —
The British at their national convention, decided to ask the Guardian for their own Six Year Plan. [UDXVI]
- He responded immediately by setting them the task of forming 19 assemblies spread over England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Eire. [UD173]
- Shoghi Effendi described this as 'their first collective enterprise'. [UDXVI, 173–4]
- See also BBRSM158, 185.
- 1947-06-20 — George Townshend sent a letter of resignation from the Church of Ireland to the Bishop of Killaloe, naming 30 September for the effective date.
[GT195]
- 1947-09-30 —
George Townshend, at the age of 71 years, resigned his position with the Church of Ireland. [GT195]
- He was the first ordained priest of a Christian Protestant church to renounce his Orders and to become a fully accredited member of the Bahá'í community. [GT183]
- For the story of his resignation and transition to a lay life see GT199–200, 202.
- 1948-04-21 — The first local spiritual assembly in Ireland was established in Dublin.
- 1949-00-00 — The pamphlet written by by George Townshend to all Christians under the title The Old Churches and the New World Faith was sent out to 10,000 "responsible people" in the British Isles on the occasion of his resignation from the church. [UD470]
- 1951-04-21 —
The Bahá'ís of the British Isles launched a Two Year Plan (1951-1953). [Ruhi 8.2 p46]
Some goals were:
- To strengthen the nineteen Spiritual Assemblies already established in the British Isles
- To form nuclei in three dependencies of the British Crown in East or West Africa
- To translate, publish and disseminate Bahá'í literature in three additional African languages
- Note that the British community was concentrating on homefront goals and playing a leading role in the African Campaign coordinated with five other National Spiritual Assemblies. [The Spiritual Conquest of the Planet (Supplement) p2]
- 1957-03-25 —
Hand of the Cause of God George Townshend passed away in Dublin, Ireland. (b.14 June, 1896) [BBD226, BW02-03p169]
- For his obituary see BW13:841–846.
- Shoghi Effendi had appointed him among the first contingent on the 24th of December, 1951. [MoCxxiii]
- His pamphlet entitled The Old Churches and the New World Faith was his statement upon severing his relationship with his colleagues in the Anglican Church. [CBN No 89 June 1957 p1]
- A talk given by O.Z. (Zebby) Whitehead at an Irish Bahá'í Summer School.
- See The Covenant: An Analysis, a study guide on the idea of a covenant, Messengers and their missions, the covenant between the Messenger and the faithful, and covenant-breaking. Includes an appendix, compilation on the covenant. It was published in Manchester in 1950.
- See his essay The Way of the Master.
- Christ and Bahá'u'lláh was published by George Ronald in 1957. Also published by George Ronald were: Àbdu'l-Bahá - The Master, Mission of Baha'u'llah - Essays, Poems and Meditations, of One Who was Appointed a Hand of the Cause, Promise of All Ages - A Classic Description of the Baha'i Faith, and The Heart of the Gospel - The Story of the Spiritual Evolution of Humanity Using Bible Texts.
- See George Townshend - Biography from Church Canon to Hand of the Cause of God by David Hofman.
- See Shoghi Effendi: The Range and Power of His Pen by 'Ai Nakhjavani p83 for his contribution in assisting Shogh Effendi with his translation work.
- 1968-06-21 — The first summer school to be held in Ireland bagin.
- 1972-04-21 —
The National Spiritual Assembly of the Republic of Ireland was formed with its seat in Dublin. [BW15:283]
- For picture see BW15:153.
- The National Spiritual Assembly of the British Isles was renamed the National Spiritual Assembly of the United Kingdom. [BW15:290]
- 1982-06-25 —
A Bahá'í International Conference to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the passing of the Greatest Holy Leaf was held in Dublin, Ireland, attended by some 1,900 Bahá'ís from 60 countries. [BW18:100; VV61]
- For the message of the Universal House of Justice see BW18:156–7.
- For a pictorial report see BW18:138–40.
- 1983-00-00 —
The Association for Bahá'í Studies, English-Speaking Europe, was established in the Republic of Ireland.
- Responsibility for the Association was transferred to the United Kingdom in 1989.
- 1998-07-29 —
The passing of actor and writer O. Z. Whitehead at the age of 87 in Dublin. (b. in New York City on 18 March 1911).
- His most acclaimed performance and best remembered role remained that of Al in John Ford's classic 1940 film version of John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath.
- After the World Congress in 1963 he pioneered to the Irish Republic where, among other services to the Faith, he served on the National Spiritual Assembly.
- He published three volumes of pen portraits, Some Early Bahá'ís of the West (1976), Some Bahá'ís to Remember (1983), and Portraits of Some Bahá'í Women (1996).
- He is remembered as a champion of the Arts. [Bahá'í Studies Review Vol8, 1998]
- See Robert Weinberg's O. Z. Whitehead (1911-1998):Actor and writer that was published in Bahá'í Studies Review No 8 in 1998.
- 2003-03-09 — The passing of Knight of Bahá'u'lláh Una Dean, née Townshend, in Edmonton, Canada. Una lived a full life of Bahá'í service. In 1946 she was the first Bahá'í in Dublin and was later a member of the first spiritual assembly. She also helped to form the first spiritual assembly in Liverpool. In October 1953 she was the first Bahá'i in Malta, a goal of the Ten Year Crusade. In 1954 she returned to Ireland to tend to her ailing father and to assist him in writing Christ and Bahá'u'lláh. After his passing in 1957 she moved to America, met and married her husband, Dick Dean, and moved to Edmonton where she served on the Local Assembly until 1987. [BW02-03p269]
- 2010-04-30 — The visit of the President of the Republic of Ireland, Mary McAleese, to the World Centre. [BWNS774]
- 2023-08-22 — The launch of the Townshend Taherzadeh Library and Archives established in honour of George Townshend (1876-1957), the founding figure of the Irish Bahá'í Community, and Adib Taherzadeh (1921-2000), a father figure during its formative years. the library's primary founding objectives are to promote, preserve and provide accessibility to the rich history and development of the Bahá'í Faith in the island of Ireland and throughout the world, and to become a centre of learning and research for future generations.
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