1949 in Ireland

1949 in Ireland Return to Years in Irish History
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%.
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.
Flags out in Dublin	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
Douglas Hyde	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.
Douglas Hyde	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.
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.
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	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.
Group of walkers out in Northern Ireland, 1949	December: Public Health and Local Government act passed in Northern Ireland.

Notable births in Ireland
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
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.

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