1949 in Ireland Return to Years in Irish History |
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January: Agriculture Act passed in Northern Ireland. |
![]() Séan MacBride |
February: Election
in Northern Ireland. The Ulster Unionist Party took 62.73% of the vote
and the Nationalist Party 26.8%.
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March:
The Irish Government leased a residence in the Phoenix Park to the
United States government for ninety-nine years. Minister for External
Affairs Séan MacBride made it clear to the American envoy to
Dublin, George Garrett, that Ireland would accept the Atlantic Pact and
join NATO if partition was ended. On March 19th, the Musical Training Act was extended. |
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![]() Flags
out in Dublin
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April: The
Children (Amendment) Act was brought out on 5th April. In the same
year, the Minister of Education General Mulcahy received complaints
from Cork City Council about Greenmount Industrial School. He paid a
visit to the school with advanced warning, and the case was dismissed. On the 17th of April, twenty-six countries officially left the British Commonwealth. A twenty-one gun salute on O'Connell Bridge, Dublin, ushered in the Republic of Ireland. On the 18th of April, the British "Ireland Act 1949" came into force, recognising the withdrawal of the Republic of Ireland from the British Commonwealth, which had been brought into being by the Republic of Ireland Act 1948. The Act conferred Citizenship of the UK and Colonies on all persons who had been: born in the Republic of Ireland before 6th December 1922; were domiciled outside the Republic of Ireland on that date; were ordinarily resident outside the Republic of Ireland from 1935 to 1948; and who had not registered as an Irish citizen under Irish legislation. On the 29th of April, Major de Courcy Wheeler, who in 1916 had accepted the surrender of Patrick Pearse, presented President Séan T. O'Kelly with Pearse's revolver at a function at Áras an Uachtaráin. |
May:
On
the third of May the British government under Clement Attlee stated
that "it is no part of the business of this government... to take the
initiative to diminish the territory of the United Kingdom." On the 10th, the Oireachtas called for a 'Protest Against Partition' because of the terms of the Ireland Act. Three days later, John A. Costello, Eamon de Valera, William Norton and Séan MacBride appeared together to in public to protest against the British government's attitude to the constitutional status of Northern Ireland. On the 25th of May, Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh received the Freedom of Belfast during a visit to the city. The Irish Open was won by Harry Bradshaw. |
![]() Éamon
de Valera
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![]() Douglas
Hyde
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June: On
the 15th of June, William Murphy was elected in the Cork West
by-election, following the death of Timothy Murphy. On the 26th, 80,000 people gathered in Croke Park to affirm the pledge as members of the Pioneer Total Abstinence Society. The Diseases of Animals Act was passed this month. |
July: The 9th of
this month saw the last tram run from Nelson Pillar to Blackrock. On the twelfth of July, Douglas Hyde, first President of Ireland and founder of the Gaelic League, died in Dublin aged 89. Noel Browne managed to snub the Catholic hierarchy by being the only minister to attend the Church of Ireland funeral of Douglas Hyde. |
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August: Tánaiste
William Norton told the European Consultative Assembly in Strasbourg
that Ireland would not agree to a customs union of western European
states. On the 8th of August a pilgrimage to Lourdes began, initiated by Archbishop John Charles McQuaid. The pilgrims, who included 38 invalids, gathered in St. Andrews Church, Westland Row for a special Mass on the morning of 8th August. All were fasting. |
![]() Ireland Team at Goodison Park |
September: The
Republic of Ireland beat England 2 - 0 in a football match on Goodison
Park on the 21st of September. |
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October: Thomas Charles Nelson was elected for the Unionists in Enniskillen, following the resignation of Erne Ferguson. | |
![]() Group
of walkers out in Northern Ireland, 1949
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November:
On the 8th, street names in any language other than English were
prohibited by an Amendment to a Bill passed in the Senate of Northern
Ireland. Eight days later, Patrick O'Donnell was elected in Donegal West following the death of Brian Brady. In the North this month, two more Unionists were elected in by-elections: Frederick Lloyd-Dodd in Queen's University and George Boyle Hanna in Belfast Duncairn. On the 20th, students and professional staff celebrated the centenary of University College Galway. Also in November, military headquarters issued a secret report outlining Ireland's position on NATO, from a strategic as well as a partition viewpoint. Military planners were convinced of Ireland's strategic position in the north Atlantic area. |
December: Public Health and Local Government act passed in Northern Ireland. |
Notable births in Ireland |
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![]() Nuala Ahern 5th Jan |
![]() Roy Foster 16th Jan |
![]() Michael Ahern 20th Jan |
![]() John McAreavey, 2nd Feb |
![]() Jim Sheridan 6th Feb |
![]() Fergus Slattery 12th Feb |
![]() Joan Burton February |
![]() Frank Chambers 3rd March |
![]() Sorcha Cusack 9th April |
![]() Peter Caffrey 18th April |
Avril Doyle 18th April |
![]() Joe Higgins 1st May |
![]() Pat Rabbitte 18th May |
![]() Shane Ross 11th July |
![]() Bryan Murray 13th July |
![]() John O'Leary 18th August |
![]() Phil Lynott 20th Aug |
![]() Thomas Murphy 26th August |
![]() Ann Murray 27th August |
![]() Liam Fitzgerald 1st Sept |
![]() Michael McKevitt 4th Sept |
![]() Charlie Bird 9th Sept |
![]() Charlie McCreevy 30th Sept |
![]() Enda Bonner October |
![]() Jim McDaid 3rd October |
![]() Eddie Macken 20th Oct |
![]() Gabriel Rosenstock |
![]() Pat Finucane |
![]() Billy Roche |
![]() Dermot Gleeson |
Notable Deaths in Ireland |
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Name | Date of death | Age | Details | |||
James Magee | 18th January | 76 | Cricketer from Dublin who played for Ireland six times. | |||
Cecil Lowry-Corry | 2nd March | 75 | Sixth Earl Belmore, former Justice of the Peace and High Sheriff. | |||
Timothy J. Murphy | 29th April | - | Senior Irish Labour Party politician. | |||
Dan Comyn | 23rd May | 76 | Cricketer from Galway who played for Ireland sixteen times. | |||
Douglas Hyde | 12th July | 89 | Former president, scholar and founder of the Gaelic League. | |||
Edith Anna Sommerville | 8th October | 91 | Novelist, suffragette and artist. | |||
Jimmy Dunne | 14th November | 44 | Footballer. |