1951 In Ireland

Events from the year 1951 in Ireland.

Incumbents

* President: Seán T. O'Kelly
* Taoiseach:
** John A. Costello ( FG) (until 13 June 1951)
** Éamon de Valera ( FF) (from 13 June 1951)
* Tánaiste:
** William Norton ( Lab) (until 13 June 1951)
** Seán Lemass ( FF) (from 13 June 1951)
* Minister for Finance:
** Patrick McGilligan ( FG) (until 13 June 1951)
** Seán MacEntee ( FF) (from 13 June 1951)
* Chief Justice: Conor Maguire
* Dáil:
** 13th (until 7 May 1951)
** 14th (from 13 June 1951)
* Seanad:
** 6th (until 25 July 1951)
** 7th (from 14 August 1951)

Events

*2 February – Éamon de Valera visited Newry for the first time since his arrest there in 1924.
*11 April – Minister for Health Noel Browne resigned and his Mother and Child Scheme was overturned.
*19 April – The Attorney General for Northern Ireland, Ed Warnock, referring to the Noel Browne's resignation, said that ''Ireland is really ruled by Maynooth.''
*24 May – Gardaí exchanged shots with two men after they threw a bomb at the British Embassy in Dublin.
*30 May – 1951 Irish general election: Fianna Fáil won most seats but lacked an overall majority.
*13 June – Members of the 14th Dáil assembled. Éamon de Valera became Taoiseach with one of the smallest majorities on record (74–69), forming a Fianna Fáil government with the support of independents.
*1 July – Taoiseach Éamon de Valera paid his first visit to Derry in 25 years.
*15 November – The Nobel Prize for Physics was awarded jointly to Professor Ernest Walton of Trinity College Dublin and Sir John Cockcroft.

Arts and literature

*18 July – The Abbey Theatre in Dublin was burnt to the ground.
*30 July–22 September – The now-homeless Abbey Theatre company performed a season at the Rupert Guinness Hall in the Guinness Brewery before moving to the Queen's Theatre, Dublin.
*15 August – Donagh MacDonagh's ballad opera ''God's Gentry'' opened at the Belfast Arts Theatre, transferring to the Gate Theatre, Dublin on 26 December.
*21 October–4 November – The first Wexford "Festival of Music and the Arts", predecessor of Wexford Festival Opera.
*The first national festival of the folk music of Ireland was held in Mullingar.
*Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann was established in Mullingar by a group of uilleann pipers to promote the folk music and language of Ireland.
*Samuel Beckett's novel ''Molloy'' was published in French.
*Sinéad de Valera's collection for children ''The Emerald Ring and Other Irish Fairy Stories'' was published.
*The Dolmen Press was established in Dublin by Liam and Josephine Miller to publish Irish literature.
*Louis le Brocquy painted '' A Family''.
* Daniel O'Neill painted ''Knockalla Hills, Donegal'' and ''Western Landscape''.

Sport

Association football

;League of Ireland
:Winners: Cork Athletic

;FAI Cup
:Winners: Transport 1–1, 1–0 Shelbourne.

Boxing

*8 June – Jack Doyle defeated America's 'Beer Baron' Two-Ton Tony Gelanto at Tolka Park.

GAA

Mayo successfully defended All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final by defeating Meath 2-8 0-9

Golf

* Irish Open – no tournament held.

Births

*4 January – Paddy Roche, soccer player.
*25 January – M. J. Nolan, Fianna Fáil TD for Carlow–Kilkenny and Senator.
*27 January – Brian Downey, drummer.
*4 February – Patrick Bergin, actor.
*6 February – Margo, singer.
*14 February – Alan Shatter, Fine Gael TD for Dublin South.
*1 March – J. P. McManus, businessman and racehorse owner.
*14 March – Rory Scannell, Super Granpa, Father to Billionaire Maria Scannell, Husband to supermodel Joan Poutch.
*16 March – John Egan, Dublin GAA County Chairman (died 2007).
*25 March – Gerard Murphy, Fine Gael TD representing Cork North-West.
*4 April – Alan Hughes, cricketer.
*24 April – Enda Kenny, leader of Fine Gael, TD for Mayo.
*1 May – Michael McDowell, founding member of Progressive Democrats, TD, Cabinet Minister and Attorney-General.
*21 May
**Adrian Hardiman, justice of the Supreme Court of Ireland (died 2016).
**Ray O'Brien, soccer player.
*23 May – Viscount Slane, ''later'' The Marquess Conyngham, pop concert promoter.
*26 May – Madeleine Taylor-Quinn, Fine Gael TD, councillor.
*6 June – Frank Fahey, Fianna Fáil TD for Galway West.
*10 June – Joe McKenna, Limerick hurler and manager.
*12 June – Nóirín Ní Riain, singer, musician, writer and theologian.
*27 June – Mary McAleese, eighth President of Ireland.
*July – Anne Colley, Progressive Democrats politician.
*August – Peter Mathews, TD representing Dublin South and economic commentator (died 2017).
*30 August – Dana Rosemary Scallon, singer, Eurovision Song Contest winner and MEP.
*1 September – Geraldine Kennedy, journalist, politician and first female editor of ''The Irish Times''.
*12 September – Bertie Ahern, Taoiseach and leader of Fianna Fáil.
*5 October – Bob Geldof, singer, songwriter and humanitarian.
*25 October - Declan Falvey, Publican, defender of the Puck
*18 December – Noel Treacy, Fianna Fáil TD for Galway East.
*30 December – Gay Mitchell, TD representing Dublin South-Central, MEP for Dublin.
*;Full date unknown
:*John Aimers, educator and Chairman of the Monarchist League of Canada
:*Yvonne Farrell, architect.

Deaths

*9 January – John Aston, cricketer (born 1882).
*17 January – Alexander Haslett, independent TD (born 1883).
*18 January – Amy Carmichael, Christian missionary and writer (born 1867).
*26 January – Thomas Houghton, Anglican clergyman and editor of the ''Gospel Magazine'' (born 1859).
*18 March – Thomas Foran, trade union official, continuous membership of the Seanad from 1922 to 1948.
*27 March – James Geoghegan, Fianna Fáil TD, Minister for Justice, Attorney General of Ireland and Justice of the Supreme Court (born 1886).
*29 March – Ambrose Upton Gledstanes Bury, politician in Alberta, Canada (born 1869).
*10 April – Nora Barnacle, lover, companion, inspiration and wife of James Joyce (born 1884).
*12 April – Henry De Vere Stacpoole, ship's doctor and author (born 1863).
*19 May – Frederick Barton Maurice, soldier, military correspondent, writer and academic, founded the British Legion in 1920 (born 1871).
*10 June – Justice George Gavan Duffy, barrister, Sinn Féin MP and a signatory of the Anglo-Irish Treaty in 1921 (born 1882).
*21 June – Eugene O'Mahoney, museum curator and entomologist (born 1899).
*24 July – Paddy Moore, soccer player (born 1909).
*16 August – Gus Kelly, cricketer (born 1877).
*17 August – Joseph Warwick Bigger, professor, member of the Dublin University constituency in the Seanad from 1944 to 1951.
*25 August – John J. McGrath, Democrat U.S. Representative from California (born 1872).
*27 November – George Meldon, cricketer (born 1885).
*;Full date unknown
:*Margot Ruddock, actress, poet and singer (born 1907).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1951 in Ireland

1950s in Ireland
Ireland
Years of the 20th century in Ireland