| 1953 in Ireland Return to Years in Irish History |
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| January: Sinn Féin decided to contest all twelve Northern Irish constituencies in the next Westminster elections. The sea ferry MV Princess Victoria sank on its way from Scotland with the loss of 133 lives. Only 44 people survived. |
 Jay Yeomans, a surviver of the ferry disaster |
| February: The Summary Jurisdiction Act (Northern Ireland) received royal assent. It restricted press freedom as regards court reporting. |
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| March: Up to ten thousand civil servants marched in Dublin for a just wage. Franklin Delano Roosevelt Junior asked the American Congress to support a United Ireland. |
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 The winner of the An Tóstal bike race |
April: The first Four Day
Cycling Tour of Ireland was held. It was part of 'An Tóstal', a
celebration of Irishness which was to last until 1958. This began at
Easter with the aim of bringing tourists to Ireland. Many towns began a
clean-up campaign, the origins of the National Tidy Town awards, and a
series of stamps was issued. May: The Criminal Justice (Northern Ireland) Act was introduced. It aimed to 'to abolish penal servitude, hard labour and prison divisions.' June: Five hundred unemployed men marched at Kildare Street to demand employment rather than dole. |
| July: One thousand unemployed people staged a sit-down protest on O'Connell Bridge. August: Taoiseach Éamonn de Valera called for the return of Roger Casement's remains; and Kilmainham Gaol was preserved as a national monument. |
 Stamps from 1953 showing Robert Emmet |
| September: The Great Northern Railway was jointly nationalised by the governments of the Republic and Northern Ireland. | |
 An old woman from the Blasket Islands |
October: Three independent TDs became members of Fianna Fáil November: The final inhabitants of the Blasket Islands were evacuated to the mainland. A general election was held in Northern Ireland. The Ulster Unionists led by Basil Brooke retained power. December: The Censorship Board banned almost one hundred publications for being indecent or obscene. |
| Notable Births in Ireland |
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 Noel Dempsey 6th January |
 Des Smyth 12th February |
 Eoin Ryan 24th February |
 Brian Kerr 3rd March |
 James Bannon 6th March |
 Derek Daly 11th March |
 Mary Harney 11th March |
 Richard Bruton 15th March |
 Breeda Moynihan-Cronin 31st March |
 Paul Darragh 28th April |
 Pierce Brosnan 16th May |
 Colm Meaney 30th May |
 Jerry Kiernan 31st May |
 Kathleen Lynch 7th June |
 John Moloney 12th June |
 Neil O'Donoghue 18th June |
 Jim Glennon 7th July |
 Frank McGuinness 29th July |
 Tom Parlon 19th August |
 Catherine Murphy 1st September |
 Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin 18th September |
 Joe Waters 20th September |
 Paudge Connolly 23rd September |
 Dolores Keane 26th September |
 Jimmy Holmes 11th November |
 Marian Harkin 26th November |
 Nicky Brennan 3rd December |
 Dessie Ellis |
 Hugo Hamilton |
 Mary Flaherty |
| Notable Deaths in Ireland |
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| Name | Date of death | Age | Details |
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| Valentine McEntee, 1st Baron McEntee | 11th February | 82 | Labour MP |
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| John Caffrey | 22nd February | 61 | Victoria Cross recipient | |||
| Tom Sharkey | 17th April | 79 | Boxer | |||
| Philip Graves | 3rd June | 77 | Journalist and writer | |||
| Frank Fahy | 14th July | 73 | Sinn Féin MP/TD | |||
| James Hamilton, 3rd Duke of Abercorn | 12th September | 83 | Unionist Politician | |||
| Jack Rochford | 17th October | 71 | Kilkenny hurler | |||
| John Counihan | 30th October | - | Member of 1922 Seanad | |||
| Thomas F O'Higgins | 1st November | (63) | Fine Gael TD | |||
| Patsy Donovan | 25th December | 88 | Major League Baseball (born in Ireland) | |||
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