1954 in Ireland

Events from the year 1954 in Ireland.

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 1954
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Ireland

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Centuries:
  • 18th
  • 19th
  • 20th
  • 21st
Decades:
  • 1930s
  • 1940s
  • 1950s
  • 1960s
  • 1970s
See also:1954 in Northern Ireland
Other events of 1954
List of years in Ireland

Incumbents
  • President: Seán T. O'Kelly
  • Taoiseach:
    • Éamon de Valera (FF) (until 2 June 1954)
    • John A. Costello (FG) (from 2 June 1954)
  • Tánaiste:
    • Seán Lemass (FF) (until 2 June 1954)
    • William Norton (Lab) (from 2 June 1954)
  • Minister for Finance:
    • Seán MacEntee (FF) (until 2 June 1954)
    • Gerard Sweetman (FG) (from 2 June 1954)
  • Chief Justice: Conor Maguire
  • Dáil:
    • 14th (until 23 April 1954)
    • 15th (from 2 June 1954)
  • Seanad:
    • 7th (until 7 July 1954)
    • 8th (from 22 July 1954)

Events
  • 1 January – 1954 was the first Marian year. There were many events and devotions to Mary, mother of Jesus, and shrines and statues were erected in public places.
  • 11 January – The Irish Council of the European Movement was formed in Dublin.
  • 19 January – The government announced that the new Cork Airport would be built at Ballygarvan, County Cork.
  • 19 February – Captain Henry Harrison, the last surviving member of the party led by Charles Stewart Parnell, died aged 87.
  • 20 April – Murderer Michael Manning, aged 25, was executed in Mountjoy Prison. He was the last person to be judicially executed in the state.
  • 5 May – At its headquarters in Kingsbridge, transport company CIÉ signed a £4.75 million contract to replace its steam locomotives with diesels.
  • 16 May – Thirty thousand people marched through Dublin in a Marian year procession, the city's greatest display of Catholic faith since the Eucharistic congress of 1932.
  • 18 May – 1954 Irish general election: The Fianna Fáil party lost four seats. The second inter-party government under John A. Costello came to power when the members of the 15th Dáil assembled on 2 June.
  • 12 June – An Irish Republican Army (IRA) unit carried out a successful arms raid on Gough Barracks in Armagh, signalling the renewal of IRA activity following a long hiatus.
  • 28 June – Alfie Byrne was elected Lord Mayor of Dublin for the tenth time.
  • 5 July – Dublin Corporation decided that Nelson's Pillar on O'Connell Street in Dublin would not be removed.
  • 5 September – Twenty seven people died when KLM Flight 633 crashed two minutes after leaving Shannon Airport.
  • 8 September – Marian College, Dublin opened for the first time.
  • Undated
    • Entrepreneur Joe "Spud" Murphy (1923–2001) established the Tayto company to manufacture crisps.[1]
    • The Evening Press newspaper was launched in Dublin.

Arts and literature
  • 16 June – The first public celebration of Bloomsday took place in Dublin. Writers Flann O'Brien, Patrick Kavanagh, and Anthony Cronin travelled 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 was unveiled at Westland Row, Dublin, to mark the centenary of the birth of writer Oscar Wilde.
  • 19 November – Brendan Behan's first play, The Quare Fellow, premièred at the Pike Theatre, Dublin.
  • The first Cork International Choral and Folk Dance Festival was held.[2]
  • English-born painter Derek Hill settled 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

Association football
League of Ireland
Winners: Shamrock Rovers
FAI Cup
Winners: Drumcondra 1–0 St Patrick's Athletic.

Births
  • 3 January – Fintan Cullen, art historian and writer.
  • 10 January – Bairbre de Brún, Sinn Féin Member of the European Parliament (MEP) and first Sinn Féin politician to represent Northern Ireland in the European Parliament.
  • 22 January – Ger Fennelly, Kilkenny hurler.
  • 26 January – Sean O'Callaghan, Provisional Irish Republican Army member and Garda Síochána informer (died in 2017).
  • 8 March – Dermot Keely, soccer player and manager.
  • 12 March – Francis Martin O'Donnell, United Nations official.
  • 6 April – Billy Fitzpatrick, Kilkenny hurler.
  • 11 April – Michael Lyster, RTÉ sports broadcaster.
  • 15 April – Michael Willis, only official IRA member to escape from Crumlin Road prison.
  • 25 April – Róisín Shortall, Labour Party Teachta Dála (TD) for Dublin North-West.
  • 29 April – Gavan O'Herlihy, actor.
  • 30 April – Gerry Daly, soccer player.
  • 5 May – Ger Henderson, Kilkenny hurler.
  • 13 May – Johnny Logan, singer and songwriter (born in Australia).
  • 25 May – Daragh O'Malley, actor.
  • 6 June – Tim O'Reilly, computer software promoter.
  • 6 July – Tim Kennelly, Gaelic footballer with Kerry (died 2005).
  • 23 July – Arthur Morgan, Provisional Irish Republican Army prisoner, Sinn Féin TD for Louth.
  • 27 July – Pat Delaney, Offaly hurler.
  • 28 July – Mikey Sheehy, Gaelic footballer (Kerry).
  • 3 August – George Birmingham, Fine Gael politician.
  • 5 August – Paddy Glackin, fiddle player.
  • 12 August – Brian Cody, Kilkenny hurler, manager.
  • 22 August – Jimmy Barry-Murphy, hurler and Gaelic footballer (St. Finbarr's, Cork, Munster).
  • 8 September – Áine Brady, Fianna Fáil TD for Kildare North.
  • 3 October – Mick Holden, Gaelic footballer and hurler (died in 2007).
  • 8 October – Tony Ward, international rugby player and sports journalist.
  • 16 October
    • Bertie Óg Murphy, Cork hurler and manager.
    • Noel Slevin, journalist.
  • 2 November – Martin Cullen, Fianna Fáil TD 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.
  • Catherine Dunne, novelist.
  • Harry O'Donoghue, musician and songwriter.
  • Eugene Sheehy, Group Chief Executive of Allied Irish Bank Plc.

Deaths
  • 2 February – Áine Ceannt, revolutionary activist and humanitarian (born 1880).
  • 20 April – Michael Manning, carter, convicted of murder and hanged, last person executed in the Republic of Ireland (born 1929).
  • 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 G. Douglas, member of the 1922 Seanad (born 1887).
  • 21 October – T. V. Honan, merchant, Fianna Fáil member of the Seanad (born 1878).

References
  1. "Joe 'Spud' Murphy". The Daily Telegraph. 5 November 2001. Archived from the original on 28 December 2007. Retrieved 3 October 2010.
  2. Fleischmann, Ruth, ed. (2004). Cork International Choral Festival 1954–2004: A Celebration. Cork.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
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