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← 1950 1949 1948 1947 1946 1951 in Ireland → 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956
Centuries:	18th 19th 20th 21st
Decades:	1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s
See also:	1951 in Northern Ireland Other events of 1951 List of years in Ireland

Events from the year1951 in Ireland.

• President:Seán T. O'Kelly
• Taoiseach:
  • John A. Costello (FG) (until 13 June 1951)
  • Éamon de Valera (FF) (from 13 June 1951)
• Tánaiste:
  • William Norton (Lab) (until 13 June 1951)
  • Seán Lemass (FF) (from 13 June 1951)
• Minister for Finance:
  • Patrick McGilligan (FG) (until 13 June 1951)
  • Seán MacEntee (FF) (from 13 June 1951)
• Chief Justice:Conor Maguire
• Dáil:
  • 13th (until 7 May 1951)
  • 14th (from 13 June 1951)
• Seanad:
  • 6th (until 25 July 1951)
  • 7th (from 14 August 1951)

• 2 February –Éamon de Valera visitedNewry for the first time since his arrest there in 1924.
• 11 April –Minister for HealthNoel Browne resigned and hisMother and Child Scheme was overturned.
• 19 April – TheAttorney General for Northern Ireland,Ed Warnock, referring to Noel Browne's resignation, said thatIreland is really ruled byMaynooth (i.e. by the Catholic Church).
• 24 May –Gardaí (police) exchanged shots with two men after they threw a bomb at the British Embassy inDublin.
• 30 May –1951 Irish general election:Fianna Fáil won most seats but lacked an overall majority.
• 13 June – Members of the14th Dáil assembled.Éamon de Valera becameTaoiseach with one of the smallest majorities on record (74–69), forming aFianna Fáil government with the support of independents.
• 1 July – Taoiseach Éamon de Valera paid his first visit toDerry in 25 years.
• July – The last boat to use theRoyal Canal commercially, owned by Willie Leech, ceased trading.^[1]
• 15 November – TheNobel Prize for Physics was awarded jointly to ProfessorErnest Walton ofTrinity College Dublin and SirJohn Cockcroft.

• 18 July – TheAbbey Theatre in Dublin was burnt to the ground.
• 30 July–22 September – The now-homeless Abbey Theatre company performed a season at the Rupert Guinness Hall in theGuinness Brewery^[2] before moving to theQueen's Theatre, Dublin.
• 15 August –Donagh MacDonagh'sballad operaGod's Gentry opened at the Belfast Arts Theatre, transferring to theGate Theatre, Dublin on 26 December.
• 21 October–4 November – The firstWexford "Festival of Music and the Arts", predecessor ofWexford Festival Opera.
• The first national festival of thefolk music of Ireland was held inMullingar.
• Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann was established in Mullingar by a group ofuilleann pipers to promote the folk music and language of Ireland.
• Samuel Beckett's novelMolloy was published in French.
• Sinéad de Valera's collection for childrenThe Emerald Ring and Other Irish Fairy Stories was published.
• TheDolmen Press was established in Dublin by Liam and Josephine Miller to publishIrish literature.^[3]
• Louis le Brocquy paintedA Family.
• Daniel O'Neill paintedKnockalla Hills, Donegal andWestern Landscape.

League of Ireland

Winners:Cork Athletic

FAI Cup

Winners:Transport 1–1, 1–0Shelbourne.

• 8 June –Jack Doyle defeated America's 'Beer Baron' Two-Ton Tony Gelanto atTolka Park.

Mayo successfully defended All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final by defeating Meath 2–8 to 0–9.

• Irish Open – no tournament held.

• 4 January –Paddy Roche, soccer player.
• 25 January –M. J. Nolan,Fianna FáilTD forCarlow–Kilkenny andSenator.
• 27 January –Brian Downey, drummer.
• 4 February –Patrick Bergin, actor.
• 6 February –Margo, singer.
• 14 February –Alan Shatter,Fine Gael TD forDublin South.
• 1 March –J. P. McManus, businessman and racehorse owner.
• 16 March –John Egan,Dublin GAA County Chairman (died 2007).
• 25 March –Gerard Murphy,Fine Gael TD representingCork North-West.
• 4 April –Alan Hughes, cricketer.
• 24 April –Enda Kenny, leader ofFine Gael, TD forMayo.
• 1 May –Michael McDowell, founding member ofProgressive Democrats, TD, Cabinet Minister andAttorney-General.
• 10 May –Ger Canning,Gaelic Athletic Associationhurling andfootball commentator.
• 21 May
  • Adrian Hardiman, justice of theSupreme Court of Ireland (died 2016).
  • Ray O'Brien, soccer player.
• 23 May –Viscount Slane,later The Marquess Conyngham, pop concert promoter.
• 26 May –Madeleine Taylor-Quinn,Fine Gael TD, councillor.
• 6 June –Frank Fahey,Fianna Fáil TD forGalway West.
• 10 June –Joe McKenna,Limerick hurler and manager.
• 12 June –Nóirín Ní Riain, singer, musician, writer and theologian.
• 27 June –Mary McAleese, eighthPresident of Ireland.
• July –Anne Colley,Progressive Democrats politician.
• August –Peter Mathews, TD representingDublin South and economic commentator (died 2017).
• 30 August –Dana Rosemary Scallon, singer, Eurovision Song Contest winner andMember of the European Parliament.
• 1 September –Geraldine Kennedy, journalist, politician and first female editor ofThe Irish Times.
• 12 September –Bertie Ahern,Taoiseach and leader ofFianna Fáil.
• 5 October –Bob Geldof, singer, songwriter and humanitarian.
• 18 December –Noel Treacy,Fianna Fáil TD forGalway East.
• 30 December –Gay Mitchell, TD representingDublin South-Central, Member of the European Parliament for Dublin.

  Full date unknown

• John Aimers, educator and Chairman of theMonarchist League of Canada
• Yvonne Farrell, architect.

• 9 January –John Aston, cricketer (born 1882).
• 17 January –Alexander Haslett, independent TD (born 1883).
• 18 January –Amy Carmichael, Christian missionary and writer (born 1867).
• 26 January –Thomas Houghton, Anglican clergyman and editor of theGospel Magazine (born 1859).
• 18 March –Thomas Foran, trade union official, member of theSeanad from 1922 to 1948.
• 27 March –James Geoghegan,Fianna Fáil TD,Minister for Justice,Attorney General of Ireland and judge of theSupreme Court (born 1886).
• 29 March –Ambrose Upton Gledstanes Bury, politician inAlberta, Canada (born 1869).
• 10 April –Nora Barnacle, wife of authorJames Joyce (born 1884).
• 12 April –Henry De Vere Stacpoole, ship's doctor and author (born 1863).
• 19 May –Frederick Barton Maurice, soldier, military correspondent, writer and academic, founded theBritish Legion in 1920 (born 1871).
• 10 June – JusticeGeorge Gavan Duffy, barrister,Sinn Féin Member of Parliament and a signatory of theAnglo-Irish Treaty in 1921 (born 1882).
• 21 June –Eugene O'Mahoney, museum curator andentomologist (born 1899).
• 24 July –Paddy Moore, soccer player (born 1909).
• 16 August –Gus Kelly, cricketer (born 1877).
• 17 August –Joseph Warwick Bigger, professor, member of theDublin University constituency in theSeanad from 1944 to 1951.
• 25 August –John J. McGrath,DemocraticU.S. Representative fromCalifornia (born 1872).
• 27 November –George Meldon, cricketer (born 1885).

  Full date unknown

• Margot Ruddock, actress, poet and singer (born 1907).

• 1951 in Ireland
• 1950s in Ireland
• Years of the 20th century in Ireland
• 1951 in Europe
• 1951 by country

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