1961 in Ireland

Events in the year 1961 in Ireland.

Incumbents

Events

January

6 January – Lieutenant-General Seán Mac Eoin left Dublin for the Congo to take up his new post as General Commanding Officer of the United Nations.
20 January – John F. Kennedy became President of the United States, the first of Irish-Catholic descent.
27 January – Laid-up tanker Trigonosemus broke free from its moorings during a gale in Lough Swilly.

April

9 April – The national census showed that County Cork's population had reached an all-time low, with just 330,000.

June

10 June – President Éamon de Valera and his wife Sinéad greeted Prince Rainier and Princess Grace of Monaco at the presidential residence, Áras an Uachtaráin. It was the first official visit to Ireland by a head of state after it became an independent republic.
15 June – Prince Rainier and Princess Grace took tea in the Kelly homestead, near Newport, County Mayo from which the princess's grandfather, John Henry Kelly, left for America almost 100 years before.

September

16 September – Atlantic Hurricane Debbie made landfall at Dooega on Achill Island, then tracked across County Mayo, the only known tropical cyclone to make landfall in Ireland. Winds gusted up to 114 mph off the island of Arranmore.

October

4 October – 1961 Irish general election: The Fianna Fáil party under Seán Lemass retained most seats and formed a minority government when members of the 17th Dáil assembled on 11 October.
16 October – Cork Airport opened.
25 October – St. John's Church in Sligo was reconstituted as the Cathedral Church for the Church of Ireland dioceses of Elphin and Ardagh, under the name of the Cathedral of St. Mary the Virgin and St. John the Baptist.

November

November – Minister for Justice Charles Haughey established military courts which handed down long prison sentences to convicted Irish Republican Army men.
10 November – The Guinness ship Lady Gwendolen rammed and sank the Freshfield, anchored in fog on the River Mersey in Liverpool.

December

20 December – The last legal execution in Ireland, of Robert McGladdery for murder, occurred in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
31 December – Ireland's first television channel, Telefís Éireann, commenced broadcasting as President de Valera inaugurated the new service. The station's first broadcast was a new year countdown with celebrations at the Gresham Hotel in Dublin, relayed from the transmitter on Kippure mountain.

Full date unknown

The last Irish Sea sail-using cargo vessel, the Arklow auxiliary schooner De Wadden, ceased trading commercially.
German writer Enno Stephan's book Geheimauftrag Irland: Deutsche Agenten im Irischen Untergrundkampf 1939-1945 gave the first full account of Nazi spies in Ireland during "The Emergency".

Arts and literature

Dominic Behan's autobiography Tell Dublin I Miss Her and autobiographical novel Teems of Times were published.
John Montague's poetry Poisoned Lands was published.
Tom Murphy's play A Whistle in the Dark premiered at the Theatre Royal Stratford East in London.

Sports

Association football

St Patrick's Athletic won the FAI Cup.
Drumcondra F.C. won the League of Ireland.
Linfield F.C. won the Irish League and the Irish Cup double.

Births

5 January – Rachel Hardiman, Irish cricketer
6 January – Fergal Keane, writer and broadcast journalist.
19 January – Eoghan Corry, journalist and author.
25 January – Liam Currams, Offaly hurler and Gaelic footballer.
28 February – Barry McGuigan, world featherweight champion boxer.
8 March – Kevin Hennessy, Cork hurler.
20 March – Michael O'Leary, chief executive of the low-cost airline Ryanair.
27 March – Mark Cohen, cricketer.
28 March – Orla Brady, actress.
17 May –
* Enya, singer.
* Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh, fiddle player and singer.
21 May – John Cregan, Fianna Fáil party Teachta Dála for Limerick West.
1 June – Michael Nugent, writer and dramatist.
2 June – Liam Cunningham, actor.
3 July – Mark Keane, cognitive scientist and author.
7 August – Roddy Collins, association football player and manager.
8 August – The Edge, guitarist with the band U2.
27 August – John Hodgins, Cork hurler.
30 August – Ger Cunningham, Cork hurler.
25 September – Ronnie Whelan, association football player.
13 October – Michael Walsh, Kilkenny hurler.
25 October – Willie Walsh, chief executive officer of Aer Lingus and British Airways.
27 October – Margaret Mazzantini, writer.
31 October – Larry Mullen, rock drummer with the band U2.
8 November – Seán Haughey, Fianna Fáil TD for Dublin North-East, son of Charles Haughey and Maureen Haughey.
11 December – Dave King, vocalist and songwriter.
12 December – Daniel O'Donnell, singer.
Full date unknown
* Michelle Rocca, socialite.
* Kevin Sharkey, songwriter and painter.
* John Spillane, singer songwriter.

Deaths

14 January – Barry Fitzgerald, Academy Award-winning actor.
18 January – Joseph Connolly, Fianna Fáil politician.
4 February – Edward Pakenham, 6th Earl of Longford, politician, dramatist and poet.
7 May – Carmel Snow, journalist and editor of the American edition of Harper's Bazaar from 1934 to 1958.
12 August – Ion Hamilton Benn, 1st Baronet, businessman and British politician.
25 September – James Crichton, soldier, recipient of the Victoria Cross for gallantry in 1918 at Crèvecœur, France.
6 October – Achey Kelly, cricketer.
16 November – T. C. Hammond, Anglican clergyman, Principal of Moore Theological College in Sydney.
8 December – Séumas Robinson, member of Irish Volunteers and Irish Republican Army.
24 December – Con Clifford, retired Kerry Gaelic footballer and businessman.
Full date unknown – Patrick MacDonogh, poet.