1954 in Ireland

←

1954
in
Ireland

→

Centuries:

18th
19th
20th
21st

Decades:

1930s
1940s
1950s
1960s
1970s

Incumbents

President: Seán T. O'Kelly
Taoiseach: Éamon de Valera (FF) (until June 2, 1954); John A. Costello (FG) (starting June 2, 1954)

Events

1 January - 1954 is the first Marian year. There are many events and devotions to Our Lady and shrines and statues are erected in public places.
11 January - The Irish Council of the European Movement is formed in Dublin.
19 January - The government announces that the new Cork Airport will be built at Ballygarvan, four miles south of the city.
19 February - Captain Henry Harrison, the last surviving member of the party led by Charles Stewart Parnell, dies aged 87.
20 April - Murderer Michael Manning, aged 25, is executed in Mountjoy Prison. He is the last person to be judicially executed in the State.
5 May - At its headquarters in Kingsbridge, CIÉ signs a £4.75 million contract to replace its steam locomotives with diesels.
16 May - 30,000 march through Dublin in a huge Marian year procession, the city's greatest display of Catholic faith since the International Eucharistic Congress of 1932.
18 May - Irish general election, 1954: Fianna Fáil lose four seats. The second inter-party government under John A. Costello comes to power when the members of the 15th Dáil assemble on 2 June.
12 June - An Irish Republican Army unit carries out a successful arms raid on Gough Barracks in Armagh signalling the renewal of IRA activity following a long hiatus.
28 June - Alfie Byrne is elected Lord Mayor of Dublin for the tenth time.
5 July - Dublin Corporation decides that Nelson's Pillar on O'Connell Street will not be removed.
5 September - 27 people die when KLM Flight 633 crashes two minutes after leaving Shannon Airport.
8 September - Marian College (Dublin) opened for the first time.
Undated - Entrepreneur Joe "Spud" Murphy (1923–2001) sets up Tayto to manufacture crisps.^[1]

Arts and literature

16 June - The first public celebration of "Bloomsday" takes place in Dublin. Writers Flann O'Brien, Patrick Kavanagh and Anthony Cronin travel in a horse-drawn coach stopping at numerous pubs to retrace the steps of the characters from James Joyce's novel Ulysses.
16 October - A marble plaque is unveiled at Westland Row, Dublin, to mark the centenary of the birth of Oscar Wilde.
19 November - Brendan Behan's first play, The Quare Fellow, premières at the Pike Theatre, Dublin, to great reviews.
First Cork International Choral and Folk Dance Festival.^[2]
English-born painter Derek Hill settles at St Columb's Rectory, near Churchill, County Donegal.
Publication of Christy Brown's autobiography My Left Foot.
Publication of Iris Murdoch's first novel, Under the Net.

Sport

Football

League of Ireland

Winners: Shamrock Rovers

FAI Cup

Winners: Drumcondra 1 - 0 St Patrick's Athletic.

Births

January to June

3 January - Fintan Cullen, art historian and writer.
10 January - Bairbre de Brún, Sinn Féin MEP and first Sinn Féin politician to represent Northern Ireland in the European Parliament.
15 April - Michael Willis, First And Only Official IRA Member To Escape From The Crumlin Road Prison
29 April - Gavan O'Herlihy, actor.
April - Róisín Shortall, Labour Party TD for Dublin North-West.
8 March - Dermot Keely, soccer player and manager.
30 April - Gerry Daly, soccer player.
13 May - Johnny Logan, born Seán Patrick Michael Sherrard, singer and songwriter (born in Australia).
25 May - Daragh O'Malley, actor.
6 June - Tim O'Reilly, computer software promoter.

July to December

6 July - Tim Kennelly, former Gaelic footballer with Kerry (died 2005).
11 July - Liam Thomas Quinn, priest and teacher.
23 July - Arthur Morgan, former Provisional Irish Republican Army prisoner, Sinn Féin TD for Louth.
28 July - Mikey Sheehy, former Kerry Gaelic footballer.
22 August - Jimmy Barry-Murphy, hurler and footballer with Cork.
8 September - Áine Brady, Fianna Fáil TD for Kildare North.
8 October - Tony Ward, former international rugby player and sports journalist.
16 October - Noel Slevin, journalist.
2 November - Martin Cullen, Fianna Fáil Teachta Dála representing Waterford and Cabinet Minister.
11 December - Noel Lane, Galway hurler and manager.
17 December - Síle de Valera, Fianna Fáil TD representing Clare, Minister and MEP.
December - John Fenton, Cork hurler.

Full date unknown

Ballymoss, racehorse (died 1979).
George Birmingham, former Fine Gael politician.
Brian Cody, former Kilkenny hurler, manager.
Pat Delaney, Offaly hurler.
Catherine Dunne, author.
Ger Fennelly, former Kilkenny hurler.
Billy Fitzpatrick, former Kilkenny hurler.
Paddy Glackin, fiddle player.
Ger Henderson, former Kilkenny hurler.
Michael Lyster, RTÉ sports broadcaster.
Sean O'Callaghan, former Provisional Irish Republican Army member and Garda Síochána informer.
Harry O'Donoghue, musician and songwriter.
Bertie Óg Murphy, Cork hurler and manager.
Francis Martin O'Donnell, United Nations official.
Eugene Sheehy, Group Chief Executive of Allied Irish Bank Plc.

Deaths

20 April - Michael Manning, carter, convicted of murder and hanged, last person executed in the Republic of Ireland.
1 May - James Macmahon, civil servant and businessman, Under-Secretary for Ireland from 1918 to 1922 (born 1865).
2 May - Elinor Darwin, engraver and portrait painter (born 1871).
20 May - Roger Sweetman, barrister-at-law, member of 1st Dáil representing North Wexford (born 1874).
8 July - George Gardiner, boxer (born 1877).
11 September - R. M. Smyllie, editor of The Irish Times (born 1894 in Scotland).
16 September - James Douglas, member of the 1922 Seanad (born 1887).
21 October - T. V. Honan, merchant, Fianna Fáil member of the Seanad (born 1878).

References

↑ "Joe 'Spud' Murphy". Daily Telegraph. 5 November 2001. Retrieved 2010-10-03.
↑ Fleischmann, Ruth, ed. (2004). Cork International Choral Festival 1954-2004: A Celebration. Cork.

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 7/3/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.