1928 in Ireland

Events from the year 1928 in Ireland.

Incumbents

Events

29 January – in Belfast, members of the nationalist opposition protest at the Ulster Unionist Party government's plan to abolish Proportional representation.
31 January – the outgoing Governor-General, T. M. Healy leaves the Vice-Regal Lodge. His successor is James McNeill.
25 February – William O'Brien, former activist in the Home Rule and land campaigns, dies in London aged 75.
12 April – the first east–west transatlantic flight by aeroplane leaves Baldonnel Aerodrome in Dublin. Commandant James Fitzmaurice is on board the Bremen.
30 April – cheering crowds in New York greet the crew of the Bremen after it has made its transatlantic flight.
19 May – the foundation stone of the new Northern Ireland Parliament Building is laid at Stormont.
29 May – it is suggested that the old Irish flag – that of a gold harp with a blue background – should be carried at the Olympic Games in Amsterdam. However, the Irish tricolour has already been registered as the national flag.
14 June – amendments to the Court of Justice bill state that certain judges cannot be appointed if they do not have a competent knowledge of the Irish language.
30 July – the Irish Tricolour is raised for the first time at the Olympic Games when Dr. Pat O'Callaghan wins a gold medal for hammer throwing.
11–22 August – The Tailteann Games take place in Dublin.
27 August – fifteen countries, including Ireland, sign the Kellog Peace Pact in Paris. The Irish Tricolour flies at the Quai d'Orsay amongst the flags of 50 other nations.
30 August – the United States Secretary of State, Frank Kellogg, visits Dublin on his return journey from the Paris Peace Convention. He is granted the freedom of Dublin.
10 September – the Saorstát Pound ('Free State Pound') becomes a reality as the Currency Commission places into circulation the first Irish banknotes issued for over a century.
10 December – the Belfast-built, the first ship to exceed 20,000 tons, runs aground off Cobh and is declared a total loss.
12 December – the first Irish coinage is circulated in the state making complete the introduction of banknotes and coinage of the Irish Free State.
Irish becomes a compulsory subject for the Intermediate Certificate.
Albanian missionary sister Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, later known as Mother Teresa, joins the Sisters of Loreto at Loreto Abbey, Rathfarnham, to learn English in order to teach schoolchildren in India.

Arts and literature

27 August – Taibhdhearc na Gaillimhe in Galway is founded as the national Irish language theatre, opening with Micheál Mac Liammóir's version of Dhiarmada agus Ghráinne.
14 October – The Gate Theatre in Dublin is founded by English actors and lovers Micheál Mac Liammóir and Hilton Edwards, initially using the Abbey Theatre's Peacock studio theatre space to stage works by European and American dramatists.
Sir John Lavery paints Portrait of Lady Lavery as Kathleen Ni Houlihan, with his American-born wife Hazel Lavery posing for the figure on the new banknotes of the Republic of Ireland.
The tenor John McCormack is appointed a Papal Count for his services to music.
Tomás Ó Criomhthain's Allagar na h-Inise is published.
Peadar O'Donnell's novel Islanders is published.
W. B. Yeats' poetry collection The Tower is published.

Sport

Football

Gaelic Games

The All-Ireland Champions are Cork and Kildare.

Golf

Irish Open is won by Ernest Whitcombe.

Olympics

The first Irish team attends the Olympic Games.

Births

23 January – Jackie Fahey, Fianna Fáil TD.
2 February – Liam Burke, Fine Gael TD.
2 March – Pearse Wyse, Fianna Fáil and Progressive Democrats politician.
4 May – Thomas Kinsella, poet, translator, editor and publisher.
24 May – William Trevor, novelist and playwright.
May – Brian O'Doherty aka Patrick Ireland, art critic in the United States.
4 June - Arthur Murphy, broadcaster and singer
17 July – Chris Giles, footballer
21 July – John B. Keane, playwright, novelist and essayist.
23 July – Denis Mahony, Gaelic footballer
10 August – Peter Barry, Fine Gael TD, Tánaiste and Cabinet Minister.
17 August
*Ernest Bodell, cricketer.
*Pat Saward, soccer player.
6 September – Maura Murphy, writer.
6 October – Maeve Kyle, Olympian runner and hockey player and coach.
11 October – Robin Roe, clergyman and rugby player.
12 October - Ulick O'Connor, writer, historian and critic.
22 October – Dominic Behan, songwriter, novelist and playwright.
19 November – Paddy Power, Fianna Fáil TD for Kildare and Cabinet Minister.
1 December - Denis Donoghue, literary critic.
17 December – Seán Purcell, Galway Gaelic footballer.
;Full date unknown
:*Paddy Barry, Cork hurler.
:*Seán South, IRA leader.

Deaths

20 January – John de Robeck, admiral in the British Navy.
25 February – William O'Brien, nationalist, journalist, agrarian agitator, social revolutionary, politician, party leader, newspaper publisher and author.
17 March – Lawrence Bulger, international rugby union player.
4 April – Alan Joseph Adamson, politician in Canada.
18 May – Standish James O'Grady, author, journalist, historian.
18 June – Donn Byrne, author, automobile accident.
22 July – Lawrence E. McGann, Democrat U.S. Representative from Illinois.
6 August – W. H. Grattan Flood, musicologist and historian.
29 September – John Devoy, Fenian organiser, exiled to America.
6 October – Pádraic Ó Conaire, journalist and writer.
26 October – Michael McCarthy, nationalist anticlerical lawyer.
25 November – J. J. Clancy, Member of Parliament, barrister and journalist.
;Full date unknown
:*F. Elrington Ball, author and legal historian.