Events during the year 1983 in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

Incumbents

* Secretary of State -

Jim Prior James Michael Leathes Prior, Baron Prior, (11 October 1927 – 12 December 2016) was a British Conservative Party politician. A Member of Parliament from 1959 to 1987, he represented the Suffolk constituency of Lowestoft until 1983 and then ...

Events

*7 February - The airfield at

Sydenham, Belfast Victoria was one of the nine district electoral areas (DEA) in Belfast, Northern Ireland, from 1985 to 2014, when it was mostly replaced by the Ormiston district. Located in the east of the city, the district elected seven members to Belfast C ...

, reopens to commercial flights as Belfast Harbour Airport. *23 May - The Bushmills Distillery in

County Antrim County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, ) is one of six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of and has a population o ...

celebrates its 375th anniversary. *30 May - The inaugural meeting of the

New Ireland Forum The New Ireland Forum was a forum in 1983–1984 at which Irish nationalist political parties discussed potential political developments that might alleviate the Troubles in Northern Ireland. The Forum was established by Garret FitzGerald, then T ...

takes place at

Dublin Castle Dublin Castle ( ga, Caisleán Bhaile Átha Cliath) is a former Motte-and-bailey castle and current Irish government complex and conference centre. It was chosen for its position at the highest point of central Dublin. Until 1922 it was the se ...

. *10 June -

Gerry Adams Gerard Adams ( ga, Gearóid Mac Ádhaimh; born 6 October 1948) is an Irish republican politician who was the president of Sinn Féin between 13 November 1983 and 10 February 2018, and served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for Louth from 2011 to 2020 ...

Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( , ; en, " eOurselves") is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active throughout both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Gri ...

is elected the new

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for West Belfast. *25 September -

Maze Prison escape The Maze Prison escape (known to Irish republicans as the Great Escape) took place on 25 September 1983 in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. HM Prison Maze (also known as Long Kesh) was a maximum security prison considered to be one of the most e ...

: 38 prisoners, using guns, escape from

HM Prison Maze Her Majesty's Prison Maze (previously Long Kesh Detention Centre, and known colloquially as The Maze or H-Blocks) was a prison in Northern Ireland that was used to house alleged paramilitary prisoners during the Troubles from August 1971 to Sept ...

in the largest prison escape in U.K. history; one guard dies of a heart attack and twenty others are injured. Nineteen of the prisoners are apprehended within three days. *21 November - Three elders are shot dead during a service in

Darkley Darkley () is a small village and townland near Keady in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It had a population of 224 people (80 households) in the 2011 Census. (2001 Census: 282 people) History Darkley is first mentioned on the ''Maps of the ...

Pentecostal Church,

County Armagh County Armagh (, named after its county town, Armagh) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the southern shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of and ha ...

. The shooting is claimed by the

Catholic Reaction Force The Darkley killings or Darkley massacre was a gun attack carried out on 20 November 1983 near the village of Darkley in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. Three gunmen attacked worshippers attending a church service at Mountain Lodge Pentecostal ...

Arts and literature

*15 May - Charabanc Theatre Company's first production, ''Lay Up Your Ends'', written by Martin Lynch with

Marie Jones Sarah Marie Jones (born 1951) is a Belfast-based actress and playwright. Born into a working-class Protestant family, Jones was an actress for several years before turning her hand to writing. Her plays have been staged on Broadway theatre, Br ...

and other members of the company, is premiered at The Arts Theatre, Belfast. *9 November -

Christina Reid Christina Reid (12 March 1942 – 31 May 2015) was an Irish playwright. Life Reid was born in North Belfast. She left school in 1957 and married in 1963. She enrolled at Queen's University Belfast in 1981 but winning a BBC playwrighting competit ...

's first play, ''Tea In A China Cup'', is premiered at the

Lyric Theatre, Belfast The Lyric Theatre, or simply The Lyric, is the principal, full-time producing theatre in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The theatre's current Executive Producer is Jimmy Fay, previously the founder and Artistic Director of Bedrock Productions. His ...

. *

Bernard MacLaverty Bernard MacLaverty (born 14 September 1942) is an Irish fiction writer and novelist. His novels include '' Cal'' and ''Grace Notes''. He has written five books of short stories. Biography ''MacLaverty'' was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, a ...

's novel ''

Cal Cal or CAL may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Cal'' (novel), a 1983 novel by Bernard MacLaverty * "Cal" (short story), a science fiction short story by Isaac Asimov * ''Cal'' (1984 film), an Irish drama starring John Lynch and Helen Mir ...

'' is published.

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:

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 ...

1 - 1, 2 - 1 Linfield *

Pat Jennings Patrick Anthony Jennings (born 12 June 1945) is a Northern Irish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He played 119 international matches for Northern Ireland in an international career which lasted for over 22 years. D ...

becomes the first footballer to play in 1,000 Football League matches.

Motorcycling

Robert Dunlop Stephen Robert Dunlop (25 November 1960 – 15 May 2008) was a Northern Irish motorcycle racer, the younger brother of fellow road racer, the late Joey Dunlop, and the father of William Dunlop and Michael Dunlop. Like Joey, Robert died after ...

wins Newcomers 350cc

Isle of Man TT The Isle of Man TT or Tourist Trophy races are an annual motorcycle racing event run on the Isle of Man in May/June of most years since its inaugural race in 1907. The event is often called one of the most dangerous racing events in the world ...

race.

Births

*17 January -

Christopher Stalford Christopher David Matthew Stalford (17 January 1983 – 19 February 2022) was a Northern Irish politician who was a Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for South Belfast from the 2016 election until hi ...

, MLA (died

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

) *2 February -

Bridget McKeever Bridget McKeever (born 2 February 1983), also known as Bridget Cleland, is a former Ireland women's field hockey international. Between 2003 and 2010 she made 150 senior appearances for Ireland. She also captained Ireland. Early years and e ...

, international hockey player. *9 May - Alan Campbell, sculler. *17 June -

Connie Fisher Connie Fisher (born 17 June 1983) is a British actress, singer and TV presenter, who won the BBC One talent contest, '' How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?'' On 15 November 2006, she opened to excellent reviews in the part of Maria von Trapp ...

, actress and singer. *5 December -

Samantha Lewthwaite Samantha Louise Lewthwaite (; born 5 December 1983), also known as Sherafiyah Lewthwaite or the White Widow, is a British terrorist who is one of the Western world's most wanted terrorism suspects. Lewthwaite, the widow of 7/7 London terrorist ...

, Islamic terrorist.

Deaths

*20 April -

Sarah Makem Sarah Makem (18 October 1900 – 20 April 1983) a native of Keady, County Armagh, Northern Ireland, was a traditional Irish singer. She was the wife of fiddler Peter Makem, mother of musicians Tommy Makem and Jack Makem, and grandmother of ...

, traditional singer (born

1900 As of March 1 ( O.S. February 17), when the Julian calendar acknowledged a leap day and the Gregorian calendar did not, the Julian calendar fell one day further behind, bringing the difference to 13 days until February 28 ( O.S. February 15), 2 ...

). *4 July -

John Bodkin Adams John Bodkin Adams (21 January 18994 July 1983) was an Irish-born British general practitioner, convicted fraudster, and suspected serial killer. Between 1946 and 1956, 163 of his patients died while in comas, which was deemed to be worthy of i ...

, general practitioner in

Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. Eastbourne is immediately east of Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in Great Britain and part of the la ...

cleared of murdering one of his patients (born

1899 Events January 1899 * January 1 ** Spanish rule ends in Cuba, concluding 400 years of the Spanish Empire in the Americas. ** Queens and Staten Island become administratively part of New York City. * January 2 – **Bolivia sets up a c ...

). *21 August - Francis Evans, British diplomat (born

1897 Events January–March * January 2 – The International Alpha Omicron Pi sorority is founded, in New York City. * January 4 – A British force is ambushed by Chief Ologbosere, son-in-law of the ruler. This leads to a puniti ...

). *21 September -

F. S. L. Lyons Francis Stewart Leland Lyons (11 November 1923 – 21 September 1983) was an Irish historian and academic who was Provost of Trinity College Dublin from 1974 to 1981. Biography Known as Le among his friends and family, Lyons was born in Derry, ...

, historian and academic (born

1923 Events January–February * January 9 – Lithuania begins the Klaipėda Revolt to annex the Klaipėda Region (Memel Territory). * January 11 – Despite strong British protests, troops from France and Belgium occupy the Ruhr area, t ...

). *15 November - John Rea,

hammered dulcimer The hammered dulcimer (also called the hammer dulcimer) is a percussion-stringed instrument which consists of strings typically stretched over a trapezoidal resonant sound board. The hammered dulcimer is set before the musician, who in more trad ...

player. *23 December -

Colin Middleton Colin Middleton (29 January 1910 – 23 December 1983) was a Northern Irish landscape artist, figure painter, and surrealist. Middleton's prolific output in an eclectic variety of modernist styles is characterised by an intense inner visio ...

, artist (born

1910 Events January * January 13 – The first public radio broadcast takes place; live performances of the operas '' Cavalleria rusticana'' and ''Pagliacci'' are sent out over the airwaves, from the Metropolitan Opera House in New York C ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1983 In Northern Ireland