Events during the year 1954 in Northern Ireland.

Incumbents

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

- The Lord Wakehurst *

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

- Basil Brooke

Events

* 6 April – Flags and Emblems (Display) Act (Northern Ireland) is introduced, making it illegal to interfere with the display of a

Union Flag The Union Jack, or Union Flag, is the ''de facto'' national flag of the United Kingdom. Although no law has been passed making the Union Flag the official national flag of the United Kingdom, it has effectively become such through precedent. ...

and giving the

Royal Ulster Constabulary The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) was the police force in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 2001. It was founded on 1 June 1922 as a successor to the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC)Richard Doherty, ''The Thin Green Line – The History of the Royal ...

the right to remove any other flag or emblem if it is thought that it might lead to a breach of peace. * 12 June – An

Irish Republican Army The Irish Republican Army (IRA) is a name used by various paramilitary organisations in Ireland throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Organisations by this name have been dedicated to irredentism through Irish republicanism, the belief tha ...

unit carries out a successful arms raid on

Gough Barracks Gough Barracks was a military installation in Armagh, Northern Ireland. History The barracks were first established on the site in 1773. In 1873 a system of recruiting areas based on counties was instituted under the Cardwell Reforms and the bar ...

Armagh Armagh ( ; ga, Ard Mhacha, , "Macha's height") is the county town of County Armagh and a city in Northern Ireland, as well as a civil parish. It is the ecclesiastical capital of Ireland – the seat of the Archbishops of Armagh, the Pri ...

signalling the renewal of IRA activity following a long hiatus. * 17 August –

Ocean liner An ocean liner is a passenger ship primarily used as a form of transportation across seas or oceans. Ocean liners may also carry cargo or mail, and may sometimes be used for other purposes (such as for pleasure cruises or as hospital ships). Ca ...

SS ''Southern Cross'' is launched by

Harland and Wolff Harland & Wolff is a British shipbuilding company based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It specialises in ship repair, shipbuilding and offshore construction. Harland & Wolff is famous for having built the majority of the ocean liners for the W ...

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

. * The

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

political party

Fianna Uladh Fianna Uladh (; "Soldiers of Ulster") was a minor Irish republican political party active in Northern Ireland during the 1950s. It represented the political wing of Saor Uladh, a splinter group of the Irish Republican Army. Formed in 1953 by Li ...

is formed by Liam Kelly as the political wing of

Saor Uladh Saor Uladh (; Irish for "Free Ulster") was a short-lived Irish republican paramilitary organisation in Northern Ireland in the 1950s.Feeney (2002), p. 203. Seen as a splinter group of the Irish Republican Army, it was formed in County Tyron ...

. *

Roselawn Cemetery Roselawn Cemetery ( ga, Reilig Phlásóg na Rós) (also known as Roselawn) is a large cemetery and crematorium on the outskirts of Belfast in Northern Ireland. It opened in 1954. It is owned and operated by Belfast City Council. It is located on ...

opens in Belfast.

Arts and literature

* John Hewitt's ''The Bloody Brae: A Dramatic Poem'' (1936) is first broadcast on the

BBC Northern Ireland BBC Northern Ireland ( ga, BBC Thuaisceart Éireann; Ulster-Scots: ''BBC Norlin Airlan'') is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Northern Ireland. It is widely available across both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ire ...

Home Service Home Service is a British folk rock group, formed in late 1980 from a nucleus of musicians who had been playing in Ashley Hutchings' Albion Band. Their career is generally agreed to have peaked with the album ''Alright Jack'', and has had an ...

Sport

Football

* Irish League ::Winners: Linfield *

Irish Cup The Irish Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly referred to as the Irish Cup (currently known as the Samuel Gelston's Whiskey Irish Cup for sponsorship purposes) is the primary football knock-out cup competition in Northern Ireland. Ina ...

::Winners: Derry City 2 – 2, 0 – 0, 1 – 0

Glentoran Glentoran Football Club is a professional football club that plays in the NIFL Premiership. The club was founded in 1882. History Early history In 1914, Glentoran won the Vienna Cup, becoming the first United Kingdom team to win a European t ...

Births

*9 March –

Bobby Sands Robert Gerard Sands ( ga, Roibeárd Gearóid Ó Seachnasaigh; 9 March 1954 – 5 May 1981) was a member (and leader in the Maze prison) of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) who died on hunger strike while imprisoned at HM Prison Maze ...

Provisional Irish Republican Army The Irish Republican Army (IRA; ), also known as the Provisional Irish Republican Army, and informally as the Provos, was an Irish republican paramilitary organisation that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland, facilitate Irish reun ...

volunteer Volunteering is a voluntary act of an individual or group freely giving time and labor for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergency rescue. Others serve ...

and MP (died on

hunger strike A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke a feeling of guilt in others, usually with the objective to achieve a specific goal, such as a policy change. Most ...

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

). *8 April –

Joe Kernan Joe Kernan or Joseph Kernan may refer to: * Joe Kernan (baseball), 19th-century American baseball player * Joe Kernan (Gaelic footballer) (born 1954) * Joe Kernan (politician) (1946–2020), American politician * Joseph D. Kernan (born 1955), Uni ...

, Gaelic footballer and manager. *28 April –

Monica McWilliams Monica Mary McWilliams (born 28 April 1954) is a Northern Irish academic, peace activist, human rights defender and former politician in Northern Ireland. In 1996, she co-founded the Northern Ireland Women’s Coalition (NIWC) political party ...

Northern Ireland Women's Coalition The Northern Ireland Women's Coalition (NIWC) was a minor cross-community political party in Northern Ireland from 1996 to 2006. The NIWC was founded by Catholic academic Monica McWilliams and Protestant social worker Pearl Sagar to contest ele ...

MLA, later Chief Commissioner of the

Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission The Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission (NIHRC) is a non-departmental public body funded through the Northern Ireland Office but operating independently of government as the national human rights institution (NHRI) for Northern Ireland. It ca ...

. *11 May –

Jane Morrice Jane Morrice (born 11 May 1954) is a Northern Irish politician and journalist who helped architect the Good Friday Agreement. She is the former Deputy Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly, former Head of the European Commission Office in Nort ...

, Northern Ireland Women's Coalition MLA. *23 May – Gerry Armstrong, footballer. *23 June – Michael Copeland, Unionist politician. *2 August –

Sammy McIlroy Samuel Baxter McIlroy (born 2 August 1954) is a Northern Irish retired footballer who played for Manchester United, Stoke City, Manchester City, Örgryte (Sweden), Bury, VfB Mödling (Austria), Preston North End and the Northern Ireland natio ...

, footballer and football manager. *28 August –

Clive Culbertson Clive Culbertson (born 28 August 1954, Ballymoney, County Antrim, Northern Ireland) is the founder of The Order of Druids in Ulster. He is a mysticism, mystic, musician and healer (alternative medicine), healer. Culbertson trained with his friend ...

, mystic,

musician A musician is a person who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate one who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters who wri ...

and healer. *12 October –

Kieran Deeny Kieran Deeny (born 12 October 1954) is a medical doctor turned politician from Northern Ireland. Deeny was a Designated Other Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for West Tyrone (MLA) from 2003 to 2011, having run on a single issue ticket o ...

medical doctor A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

turned independent politician and MLA. *19 October – Angela Feeney, opera singer. *

Eamon Collins Eamon Collins (1954 – 27 January 1999) was a Provisional Irish Republican Army member in the late 1970s and early 1980s. He turned his back on the organisation in the late 1980s, and later co-authored a book called ''Killing Rage'' detailing h ...

, Provisional Irish Republican Army activist and writer (died

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

). * Martin O'Brien, journalist. *

Marian Price Marian Price (born 1954), also known by her married name as Marian McGlinchey, is a former Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) volunteer. Price was born into a strongly Republican family in Andersonstown, west Belfast. Both of her parents ...

, Provisional Irish Republican Army volunteer.

Deaths

*1 May –

James Macmahon James Macmahon PC (Ire) (20 April 1865 – 1 May 1954) was an Irish civil servant and businessman.Obituary, ''The Times'', 3 May 1954 Macmahon was born in Belfast and raised as a Roman Catholic. He was educated at St Patrick's College, Arm ...

, civil servant and businessman,

Under-Secretary for Ireland The Under-Secretary for Ireland (Permanent Under-Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland) was the permanent head (or most senior civil servant) of the British administration in Ireland prior to the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922 ...

from 1918 to 1922 (born

1865 Events January–March * January 4 – The New York Stock Exchange opens its first permanent headquarters at Broad Street (Manhattan), 10-12 Broad near Wall Street, in New York City. * January 13 – American Civil War : Sec ...

). *11 October – Thomas Teevan, Unionist politician and lawyer (born

1927 Events January * January 1 – The British Broadcasting ''Company'' becomes the British Broadcasting ''Corporation'', when its Royal Charter of incorporation takes effect. John Reith becomes the first Director-General. * January 7 * ...

References

1954 in Europe 1954 by country {{NorthernIreland-stub