1971 in Ireland
Events in the year 1971 in Ireland .
Incumbents
Events
4 January – John McQuaid retired after thirty years as Roman Catholic Archbishop of Dublin . Dermot Ryan was appointed to succeed him on 29 December.
15 February – Decimalisation : Ireland and the United Kingdom both switched to decimal currency .[ 1]
25 February – A partial eclipse of the sun (magnitude 0.708) darkened the sky across Ireland . In Dublin , the event lasted two hours and seven minutes. It began at 9.35 am; the maximum was at 10.37 am when 70.8% of the sun's disc was covered by the moon; and it ended at 11.42 am.[ 2]
6 March
17 March – The giant Jumbo Jet recently arrived in Ireland flew over the Saint Patrick's Day parade along O'Connell Street , Dublin, escorted by four smaller aircraft.
20 March – Major James Chichester-Clark resigned as Prime Minister of Northern Ireland . He was succeeded on 23 March by Brian Faulkner .
3 April – The Eurovision Song Contest was held in Dublin . Presented by Bernadette Ní Ghallchóir , it was the first colour television broadcast by RTÉ .
11 April
20 April – Two British Royal Navy survey launches moored off Baltimore, County Cork , were towed out to sea and bombed by a Provisional Irish Republican Army unit. One of them, the Stork , was wrecked.[ 6]
11 May – Seán Lemass , taoiseach from 1959 to 1966, died aged 71. He fought during the 1916 Easter Rising , the War of Independence and the Civil War .
22 May – Members of the Irish Women's Liberation Movement returned to Dublin bringing contraceptives from Belfast on the so-called "Contraceptive Train " to protest against the law banning their importation.[ 7]
8 July – Two rioters were shot dead by British troops in Derry.[ 8]
16 July – The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) announced that it was withdrawing from the Stormont parliament.
9 August – Internment without trial was introduced in Northern Ireland. Over 300 republicans were arrested in pre-dawn raids by British security forces and interned in Long Kesh prison. Some Loyalists were later arrested. Twenty people died in riots that followed, including eleven in the Ballymurphy Massacre .[ 9]
12 August – British troops began clearing operations[clarification needed in Belfast following the worst rioting in years. Taoiseach Jack Lynch called for an end to the Stormont administration.
7 September – The death toll in The Troubles reached 100 after three years of violence, with the death of 14-year-old Annette McGavigan , who was killed by a gunshot during crossfire between British soldiers and the IRA.
25 September – A rally took place in Dublin in support of a campaign of civil disobedience in Northern Ireland.
27 September – Prime ministers Edward Heath , Jack Lynch, and Brian Faulkner met at Chequers to discuss the Northern Ireland situation.
13 October – The British Army began to destroy roads between Ireland and Northern Ireland as a security measure.[ 10]
23 October – Two women were shot dead by soldiers in Belfast when their car failed to stop at a checkpoint.[ 11]
31 October – The Standard Time (Amendment) Act, 1971[ 12] Standard Time Act 1968 , returning Irish winter time to UTC+0 (Western European Time ).
10 November – The Government defeated a motion of no confidence in the Minister for Agriculture , Jim Gibbons .
17 November – Neil Blaney and Paudge Brennan were expelled from the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party.
4 December – The McGurk's Bar bombing , carried out by the Ulster Volunteer Force in Belfast, killed 15 people, the highest death toll from a single incident in the city during The Troubles .[ 13]
Undated – Units 1 and 2 of Poolbeg Generating Station in Dublin were completed.
Arts and literature
Sports
All-Ireland Senior Football Championship:
Offaly 1–14 Galway 2–8
All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship:
Tipperary 5–17 Kilkenny 5–14
Births
19 January
20 January – Ger McDonnell , mountaineer and engineer (d. 2008).
31 January – Mark Geary , folk singer-songwriter.
3 March – Stephen J. Martin, comic fiction writer.
4 March – Fergal Lawler , rock drummer with The Cranberries .
12 March – Conrad Gallagher , chef.
6 April – Derek Tracey , association football player.
29 April – Adrian Maguire , jockey.
30 April – John Boyne , novelist.
18 June – Jason McAteer , international association football player.
28 June – Kenny Cunningham , association football player.
16 July – Joe McHugh , Fine Gael party Teachta Dála (TD) for Donegal North-East , senator .
30 July – Hubert Rigney , Offaly hurler.
2 August – Davy FitzGerald , Clare hurler.
4 August – Paul McCarthy , association football player (died 2017).
6 August – Conor McPherson , playwright and director.
10 August – Roy Keane , Manchester United and Glasgow Celtic footballer and Sunderland manager.
17 August – Anthony Kearns , tenor.
18 August – Aphex Twin (Richard D. James), electronic music artist.
31 August – Pádraig Harrington , golfer, winner of 2007 Open Championship .
August – Brian Whelahan , Offaly hurler.
6 September – Dolores O'Riordan , rock singer-songwriter with The Cranberries (d. 2018).
7 October – Johnny Dooley , Offaly hurler, manager.
24 October – Dervla Kirwan , actress.
30 October – Stephen Kenny , football player and manager
3 November – Dylan Moran , comedian, actor, and writer.
22 November – Kyran Bracken , rugby player
26 November – James McGarry , Kilkenny hurling goalkeeper.
November – Brian Lohan , Clare hurler.
25 December – Noel Hogan , guitarist and songwriter. Full date unknown
Deaths
2 January – J. T. O'Farrell , trade union official, served in the Seanad (Senate) from 1922 to 1936 and 1948–50.
24 January – St John Ervine , playwright and novelist (born 1883).
28 January – Edward O'Connell , Cork hurler.
31 March – Michael Browne , Master General of the Dominicans , Cardinal (born 1887).
1 April – Kathleen Lonsdale , X-ray crystallographer (born 1903).
May – Eamon Martin , a founder of Fianna Éireann and an Irish Volunteer fighting in the Easter Rising (born 1892).
4 May – Seamus Elliott , road bicycle racer (born 1934).
10 May – Archie Heron , trade union organiser.
11 May
15 May – Tyrone Guthrie , theatrical director (born 1900).
13 June – Máiréad Ní Ghráda , poet and playwright.
14 June – Gerard Dillon , artist and painter (born 1916).
14 August – Shane Leslie , diplomat and writer (born 1885).
15 September – John Desmond Bernal , scientist (born 1901).
26 September – Conor Maguire , Chief Justice of Ireland (born 1889).
2 October – Paddy Ahern , Cork hurler (born 1900).
3 October – Seán Ó Riada , composer and musician (born 1931).
16 December – Richard Mulcahy , Chief of Staff, TD, Cabinet minister and former leader of the Fine Gael party (born 1886).
See also
References
^ Penguin Pocket On This Day . Penguin Reference Library. 2006. ISBN 0-14-102715-0 ^ "February 25, 1971 — Partial Solar Eclipse — Dublin, Ireland" . TimeAndDate . Retrieved 6 April 2024 .^ Supplementary Estimates, 1971-72. - Vote 41: Transport and Power Houses of the Oireachtas, 1971-11-25. "The company took delivery of two Boeing 747s (Jumbos) in March, 1971, and they went into service in April and May. The Aerlínte fleet now consists of 6 Boeing 707-320s and 2 Boeing 747s."^ Aer Lingus On Its Own Flight International, 1971-03-25. "A SECOND 747 will be delivered to Aer Lingus-Irish within the next two weeks to join the first which arrived in Dublin on March 6."^ Recap: When Led Zeppelin played the National Stadium in Dublin, 1971 ^ "IRA claim they sank Royal Navy launch". The Times ^ O'Toole, Fintan (2023). We Don't Know Ourselves: A Personal History of Modern Ireland 212– 215. ISBN 978-1-324-09287-2 ^ "1971: British troops shoot Londonderry rioters" . BBC News . 8 July 1971. Retrieved 2 February 2008 .^ "1971: NI activates internment law" . BBC News. 9 August 1971. Retrieved 2 February 2008 .^ "1971: Army blasts N Ireland border roads" . BBC News. 13 October 1971. Retrieved 2 February 2008 .^ "1971: Two women shot at Belfast checkpoint" . BBC News. 23 October 1971. Retrieved 2 February 2008 .^ "Standard Time (Amendment) Act, 1971" . Irish Statute Book . Retrieved 24 July 2012 .^ "1971: Bomb demolishes crowded Belfast pub" . BBC News. 4 December 1971. Retrieved 2 February 2008 .
