This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "1985 in Ireland" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(April 2012) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

← 1984 1983 1982 1981 1980 1985 in Ireland → 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990
Centuries:	18th 19th 20th 21st
Decades:	1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s
See also:	1985 in Northern Ireland Other events of 1985 List of years in Ireland

Events from the year1985 in Ireland.

• President:Patrick Hillery
• Taoiseach:Garret FitzGerald (FG)
• Tánaiste:Dick Spring (Lab)
• Minister for Finance:Alan Dukes (FG)
• Chief Justice:
  • Tom O'Higgins (until 1 October 1985)
  • Thomas Finlay (from 10 October 1985)
• Dáil:24th
• Seanad:17th

• 1 January –Cork celebrated 800 years as a chartered city.

• 26 February – Former ministerDesmond O'Malley was expelled from theFianna Fáil party.
• 28 February –1985 Newry mortar attack: theProvisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) killed nineRoyal Ulster Constabulary officers in a mortar attack at their station inNewry.

• 4 March – Irish singerBob Geldof was honoured for his overseas aid efforts at a civic reception in theMansion House in Dublin.
• 12 March – TheHealth (Family Planning) (Amendment) Act allowed the sale ofcondoms andspermicides to adults without prescriptions.
• 28 March –Gaisce – The President's Award was created by atrust deed under the patronage of thePresident of Ireland.
• 30 March – TheIrish rugby team won theTriple Crown andFive Nations Championship at Lansdowne Road stadium in Dublin. They beatEngland 13–10.

• 16 May – The Minister for Education,Gemma Hussey, announced a new £20 million project to create a transition year in post-primary schools.

• 23 June – Three hundred and twenty nine people were killed whenAir India Flight 182 exploded in midair 190 kilometres off the southwest coast of Ireland while flying the Montreal–London–Delhi–Bombay route. A bomb was thought to have been planted by theKhalistan movement.
• 25 June – Irish police foiled an IRA-sponsored bombing campaign in England which targeted London and English seaside resorts.

• 13 July – The internationalLive Aid charity rock concert took place inWembley Stadium, London. It was organised by IrishmanBob Geldof and ScotsmanMidge Ure. Ireland was the highest per-capita donor country.
• 22 July – Two women claimed to have seen a statue of theVirgin Mary moving inBallinspittle, County Cork. The grotto became a pilgrimage site, and thousands visited there on 31 July.
• 25 July – Ireland was struck by a violent thunderstorm, one of the worst in the country's history.^[1]

• 2 September –Spike Island Jail in County Cork was left in ruins following a riot by prisoners.
• 10 September – The first heart transplant in Ireland was performed.
• 13 September — Two lesbians and former nuns,Rosemary Curb and Nancy Manahan, were interviewed onThe Late Late Show television programme. A prayer vigil was held by objecting members of the public outside the television studio during the broadcast. An ensuing public outcry included petitions, protest vigils, and death threats made to the programme's presenter,Gay Byrne.^[2][3]
• 16 September — TheCatholic Viewers and Listeners Association held its first meeting. The group was concerned by what they viewed as the undermining by broadcasterRTÉ of Catholic moral teaching and values, and RTÉ's alleged debasement of Christianity and normal family life.^[4]
• 20 September –President Hillery presented Bob Geldof with a cheque for £7 million as the Irish contribution to the Live Aid appeal.
• 29 September – The pleasure trawlerTaurima, owned by leader of the Fianna Fáil party,Charles Haughey, was wrecked nearMizen Head lighthouse.

• 11 October –Shop steward Karen Gearon, representingstriking workers at Dunnes Stores, addressed the United Nations Special Committee against Apartheid on a Day of Solidarity with South African Political Prisoners.^[5]
• 25 October – The first commercial flight departed from the newKnock Airport in County Mayo.

• 15 November – TaoiseachGarret FitzGerald and the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom,Margaret Thatcher, signed theAnglo-Irish Agreement atHillsborough Castle.^[6]
• 27 November –Mary Harney was expelled from theFianna Fáil parliamentary party due to her support of the Anglo-Irish Agreement.

• 11 December – The first mobile phone call in Ireland was made by the minister for communications,Jim Mitchell, to the broadcaster,Pat Kenny.^[7]
• 21 December –Desmond O'Malley founded theProgressive Democrats party.

• 18 February –Frank McGuinness's playObserve the Sons of Ulster Marching Towards the Somme opened on the Peacock Stage of theAbbey Theatre in Dublin,^[8] winning theRooney Prize for Irish Literature.^[9]
• 1 June –Bruce Springsteen and theE Street Band played their debut Irish concert atSlane Castle in front of 100,000 people, and performed for four hours.^[10]
• 29 June – The firstCroke Park concert took place, featuringU2,Squeeze,R.E.M.,The Alarm, andIn Tua Nua.
• Maeve Binchy's novelEchoes was published.
• Shaun Davey's orchestralsuite for voice anduilleann pipesGranuaile was recorded.
• Tom Murphy'sConversations on a Homecoming (16 April) andBailegangaire (5 December) were produced by theDruid Theatre Company in Galway.^[8]
• Alternative rock groupToasted Heretic was founded byJulian Gough inGalway.

• Derry City joined theLeague of Ireland, having been out of senior football since 1972.^[11]Monaghan United was also elected to the League this year.

• 8 June –Barry McGuigan won the WBA world featherweight boxing championship.^[12]

• 22 September –Kerry defeatedDublin by 2–12 to 2–8 in the1985 All-Ireland SFC final.^[13]

• Seve Ballesteros of Spain won theIrish Open.^[14]

• 1 September –Offaly defeatedGalway by 2–11 to 1–12 in the1985 All-Ireland SHC final.^[15]

• 30 March – The Irish rugby team won theTriple Crown andFive Nations Championship atLansdowne Road stadium. They beatEngland 13–10.^[16]

• 27–28 April –Dennis Taylorwon the EmbassyWorld Snooker Championship in Sheffield, defeating the title holder Steve Davis in the final frame, 18–17.^[17]

• 11 January –Mark Yeates, association footballer.
• 13 January –Pat Flynn, association footballer.
• 20 January –Neil Gallagher, association footballer.
• 31 January –James "Cha" Fitzpatrick,Kilkenny hurler.

• 6 February –John Tennyson,Kilkenny hurler.
• 7 February –Michael Lyng,Cavan Gaelic footballer.
• 20 February –Alan O'Brien, association footballer.
• 28 February –Michael Fennelly,Kilkenny hurler.

• 2 April –Barry Corr, association footballer.
• 10 April –Willo Flood, association footballer.
• 23 April –Gary Mulligan, association footballer.
• 29 April –Pamela Myers, artist.

• 4 May –Laura Whitmore, presenter.
• 13 May –David Bell, association footballer.

• 8 June –Barry Murphy, association footballer.
• 15 June –Nadine Coyle, singer

• 6 July –Killian Scott, actor
• 10 July –Conan Byrne, association footballer.
• 17 July –Eoin Larkin,Kilkenny hurler.
• 22 July –Ryan Dolan, singer^[18]
• 28 July –Darren Murphy, Irish footballer

• 9 September –Tadhg Purcell, association footballer.
• 17 September –Brendan Clarke, association footballer.
• 20 September –George McMahon, actor.

• 2 October –Mark Quigley, association footballer.
• 6 October –Karl Bermingham, association footballer.

• 5 November –Ian Maher, association footballer.
• 14 November -Keira Keogh,Fine Gael TD forMayo.

• 4 December –Stephen Dawson, association footballer.
• 4 December –Richie Power,Kilkenny hurler.
• 9 December –Mark Leech, association footballer.
• 24 December –Donnacha Cody,Kilkenny hurler.
• 29 December –Patrick Kavanagh, association footballer.

• Caoilinn Hughes, novelist.

• 1 January –Sigerson Clifford, poet and playwright (born 1913).
• 18 January –Wilfrid Brambell, actor (born 1912).
• 19 January –Shelah Richards, actress, director, and producer (born 1903).
• 21 February –Dermot Ryan,Roman Catholic Archbishop of Dublin (born 1924).
• 3 March –Noel Purcell, actor (born 1900).^[19]
• 14 March –Kathleen Lemass, wife ofSeán Lemass (born 1898).
• May –Tommy Murphy,Laois Gaelic footballer (born 1921).
• 16 June –Alexis FitzGerald Snr, solicitor,Fine GaelSeanad member (born 1916).
• 17 June –Bernard Bergin, cricketer (born 1913).
• 29 September –Timothy McAuliffe,Labour Party politician (born 1909).
• 11 October –Todd Andrews, Irish revolutionary and public servant (born 1901).
• 4 November –Liam Grainger, Gaelic footballer (Dohenys,Clonakilty,Carbery,Cork senior team,Munster) (born 1913).
• 4 December –Frederick Boland, diplomat, firstIrish ambassador toBritain and to theUnited Nations (born 1904).
• 8 December –Jimmy Rudd, association football player (born 1919).
• 11 December –Kathleen Ryan, actress (born 1922).
• 17 December –Leo Maguire, singer, songwriter and radio broadcaster (born 1903).

• Fergus Crawford, association football player (born 1933).
• Alex Stevenson, association football player (born 1912).

• 1985 in Irish television

• 1985 in Ireland
• 1980s in Ireland
• Years of the 20th century in Ireland
• 1985 in Europe
• 1985 by country

• Webarchive template wayback links
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use Hiberno-English from August 2022
• All Wikipedia articles written in Hiberno-English
• Use dmy dates from July 2022
• Articles needing additional references from April 2012
• All articles needing additional references