1931 in Ireland

Events from the year 1931 in Ireland.

Incumbents

• Governor-General: James McNeill
• President of the Executive Council: W. T. Cosgrave (CnaG)
• Vice-President of the Executive Council: Ernest Blythe (CnaG)
• Minister for Finance: Ernest Blythe (CnaG)
• Chief Justice: Hugh Kennedy
• Dáil: 6th
• Seanad:
• 1928 Seanad (until 5 December 1931)
• 1931 Seanad (from 6 December 1931)

Events

• 9 January – Ulster Canal abandoned.
• 12 February – sixteen members of the Ennis Dalcassian Gaelic Athletic Association club are expelled for attending the Ennis-Nenagh rugby match.
• 17 March – first St. Patrick's Day parade held in the Irish Free State, reviewed by Desmond FitzGerald, Minister of Defense.
• 3 April – persistent rainfall causes the banks of the River Lee to burst. Half the houses in Cork are flooded.
• 7 May – the Irish Youth Hostel Service, An Óige, is established.
• 17 May – Muintir na Tíre, the rural organisation, is founded by Canon John Hayes.
• 9 July – Dublin-born racing driver Kaye Don breaks the world water speed record at Lake Garda, Italy.
• 13 August – law books return to the rebuilt Four Courts where High Court business resumes after its destruction during the Civil War.
• 5 September – the first issue of The Irish Press, the newspaper of Fianna Fáil, goes on sale for 1d.
• 27 September – Saor Éire's first National Congress takes place in the Iona Hall in Dublin.
• 4 December – the derelict aerodrome at Collinstown in north County Dublin is considered as the site for a new civil airport.

Arts and literature

• 13 October – Orson Welles makes his first professional stage debut, age 16, at the Gate Theatre, Dublin, with a leading rôle in an adaptation of Jew Süss.
• 25 October – Ireland's first all-concrete Art Deco church, the Church of Christ the King, is opened at Turners Cross, Cork, designed by Chicago architect Barry Byrne with sculptor John Storrs.
• 'Æ' (George William Russell) publishes Vale, and Other Poems.
• Samuel Beckett's Proust is published.
• Cecil Day-Lewis's poetry From Feathers To Iron is published.
• Lord Dunsany's The Travel Tales of Mr. Joseph Jorkens is published.
• Kate O'Brien's first novel, Without My Cloak, is published.
• Frank O'Connor's first short story collection, Guests of the Nation, is published.
• Francis Stuart's first novel, Women and God, is published.

Sport

Football

• ;League of Ireland
• :Winners: Shelbourne
• ;FAI Cup
• :Winners: Shamrock Rovers 1–1, 1–0 Dundalk

Golf

• Irish Open is won by Bob Kenyon (England).

Births

• 1 January – Jimmy Smyth, Clare hurler (died 2013).
• 7 February – Cyril Haran, priest and Gaelic football manager (Sligo) (died 2014).
• 2 March – Paddy Cooney, solicitor, Fine Gael TD, Cabinet Minister and MEP.
• 9 March – Jackie Healy-Rae, Fianna Fáil. TD for Kerry South (died 2014).
• 9 April – Patrick Walsh, Bishop of Down and Connor (1991–2008) (died 2023).
• 30 May – John O'Brien, Catholic priest and musician (died 2008).
• 5 June – Laurence Forristal, Bishop of Ossory (1981–2007) (died 2018).
• 8 July – Thomas Flynn, Bishop of Achonry (1976–2007) (died 2015).
• 26 July – Paddy Harte, Fine Gael TD and Minister of State (died 2018).
• 29 July – Tom Mitchell, IRA activist and politician (died 2020).
• 1 August – Seán Ó Riada, composer and musician (died 1971).
• 11 August – Thomas Meaney, Fianna Fáil TD and Minister of State (died 2022).
• 8 September – Desmond Guinness, architectural conservationist (died 2020).
• 20 September – Malachy McCourt, actor, writer and politician (died 2024)
• 13 October – Jimmy O'Neill, soccer player (died 2007).
• 27 October – Seán Calleary, Fianna Fáil TD and Minister of State (died 2018).
• 28 November – Dervla Murphy, travel writer (died 2022).
• 10 December
• Gustavus Hamilton-Russell, 10th Viscount Boyne, Irish peer, soldier and banker (died 1995).
• Tom MacIntyre, poet and playwright (died 2019).
• 28 December – Mervyn Taylor, Labour Party TD and cabinet minister (died 2021).
• ;Full date unknown
• :*Mick Cashman, Cork hurler (died 1988).
• :*Seán Kinsella, chef and restaurateur (died 2013).

Deaths

• 6 January – Harry Clarke, stained glass artist and book illustrator (born 1889).
• 19 January – Mary Elizabeth Byrne, literary scholar (born 1880).
• 7 March – Hamilton Lyster Reed, recipient of the Victoria Cross for gallantry in 1899 at the Battle of Colenso, South Africa (born 1869).
• 26 March – Timothy Michael Healy, Nationalist politician, journalist, author, barrister and first Governor-General of the Irish Free State (born 1855).
• 22 March – James Campbell, 1st Baron Glenavy, lawyer, Lord Chancellor of Ireland, first Chairman of Seanad Éireann (born 1851).
• 2 April – Katharine Tynan, novelist and poet (born 1861).
• 13 April – William Dowler Morris, mayor of Ottawa (born 1857).
• 22 April – Patrick Kenny, Independent member of the Seanad for 12 years from 1922. Leas Ceann Comhairle 1928.
• 25 June – Con Lucid, Major League Baseball player (born 1874).
• 17 August – Pretty Polly, racehorse (born 1901).
• 27 August – Frank Harris, author, editor, journalist and publisher (born 1856).
• 29 September – William Orpen, painter (born 1878).
• 18 October – Reginald Clare Hart, soldier, recipient of the Victoria Cross for gallantry in 1879 in the Bazar Valley, Afghanistan (born 1848).
• 23 October – Peter de Loughry, member of 1922 Seanad, TD representing Carlow–Kilkenny from 1927 to 1931.
• 28 October – Paddy Glynn, Attorney General of Australia and Minister for External Affairs (born 1855).
• 27 December – Alfred Perceval Graves, writer (born 1846).

References