# 1946 in Ireland

"none" is preferred when the title is sufficiently descriptive
Events from the year 1946 in Ireland.

## Incumbents

* President: Seán T. O'Kelly
* Taoiseach: Éamon de Valera (FF)
* Tánaiste: Seán Lemass (FF)
* Minister for Finance: Frank Aiken (FF)
* Chief Justice:
** Timothy Sullivan (until 1 June 1946)
** Conor Maguire (from 1 June 1946)
* Dáil: 12th
* Seanad: 5th

## Events

* 3 January – William Joyce, alias Lord Haw Haw, is hanged in Wandsworth Prison for treason.
* 7 January – the Minister for Education, Thomas Derrig, announces that because refugee children who arrived in Ireland during the war do not have a sufficient knowledge of the Irish language they cannot obtain the Leaving Certificate.
* 21 January – work starts on a comprehensive Irish-English dictionary.
* 4 February – it is announced that George Bernard Shaw is to be awarded the freedom of Dublin.
* 17 June – Aer Lingus inaugurates a Dublin-Paris air service.
* 6 July – a new republican political party, Clann na Poblachta, is formed in Dublin.
* 25 July – Éamon de Valera's motion to apply for membership of the United Nations is accepted in the Dáil.
* 6 August – on the first anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing, Captain Bob Lewis, the co-pilot of the Enola Gay, the aircraft which dropped the bomb, arrives at Shannon Airport, completing his first flight as a civil aviation pilot.
* 12 August – a plane bringing 23 French Girl Guides to Dublin crashes on Djouce in the Wicklow Mountains with no fatalities.
* 29 August – George Bernard Shaw is honoured by being made a freeman of Dublin.
* 2 September – the Emergency Powers Act 1939 expires. The Defence Forces (Requisitions of Emergency) Order, 1940, is also revoked by Order (signed 28 August) with effect from this date.
* September – the Marine Service is formally disbanded and replaced by the Naval Service as a permanent component of the Irish Defence Forces.
* 6 October – seventy primary school teachers protest about low pay on the pitch at Croke Park at half-time during the Kerry–Roscommon All-Ireland Football Final.
* 22 November – Walt Disney arrives in Dublin. He has a meeting with the Irish Folklore Commission to further his investigation of leprechauns for a forthcoming film.
* 18 December – the government announces the release of 24 internees, including Brendan Behan.

## Arts and literature

* 5 August – Frank Carney's religious melodrama The Righteous are Bold opens at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin, where it runs for an unprecedented 14 weeks.
* Denis Devlin publishes his Lough Derg and Other Poems in New York.
* Patrick Kavanagh publishes his poem "On Raglan Road" (under the title "Dark Haired Miriam Ran Away") in The Irish Press (3 October).
* Mervyn Wall publishes his first novel, The Unfortunate Fursey.
* Jack Butler Yeats paints Men of Destiny and The Whistle of a Jacket.

## Sport
### Football
#### League of Ireland

    Winners: Cork United

#### FAI Cup

    Winners: Drumcondra 2–1 Shamrock Rovers.

### Golf

* Irish Open is won by Fred Daly (Northern Ireland).

## Births

* 2 February – Tony Byrne, soccer player (died 2016).
* 2 April – Ruairi Quinn, leader of the Labour Party and Cabinet Minister, TD for Dublin South-East.
* 9 April – Charlie O'Connor, Fianna Fáil TD for Dublin South-West.
* 15 April – Michael Neary, Archbishop of Tuam (1995– ).
* 17 April – Henry Kelly, journalist, writer and television presenter.
* 25 April – Peter Sutherland, barrister, businessman and politician (died 2018).
* May – Mary Upton, Labour Party TD for Dublin South-Central.
* 18 June – Ray Treacy, soccer player and manager.
* 12 July – Seán Keane, fiddle player with The Chieftains (died 2023).
* 18 July – John Naughton, journalist, author and academic
* 6 August – Brendan Ryan, Independent then Labour Party Senator.
* 10 August – Jimmy Conway, soccer player (died 2020).
* 24 August – BP Fallon, author and photographer.
* 12 September – Pat Moylan, Fianna Fáil politician, Cathaoirleach of Seanad Éireann (2007– ).
* 29 September – Michael Keating, Fine Gael TD and Minister, Deputy Leader of the Progressive Democrats and Lord Mayor of Dublin.
* 2 October – Terry Conroy, soccer player.
* 19 October – Jim Mitchell, Fine Gael TD and Cabinet Minister (died 2002).
* 21 November – Jim Fahy, journalist and broadcaster (died 2022)
* 29 November – Eamonn Campbell, folk guitarist/singer with The Dubliners (died 2017).
* 1 December – Gilbert O'Sullivan, pop singer/songwriter.
* 20 December – Tom McGurk, poet, journalist and broadcaster.
* 27 December – Joe Kinnear, soccer player and manager (died 2024).
* 31 December – Martin Mansergh, historian and Fianna Fáil TD for Tipperary South.

### Full date unknown

   * Tom Foley, racehorse trainer (died 2021).
   * Séamus Horgan, Limerick hurler.
   * Charlie McCarthy, Cork hurler.
   * Con Roche, Cork hurler.

## Deaths

* 16 January – Bill O'Callaghan, Cork hurler (b. c1869).
* 19 January – Pádraic Ó Máille, Sinn Féin MP and TD, Fianna Fáil Senator (born 1878).
* 21 January – James Crowley, Sinn Féin TD, member 1st Dáil and Cumann na nGaedheal TD.
* 2 February – Jack White, soldier, trade unionist, co-founder of the Irish Citizen Army (born 1879).
* 27 February – James Cecil Parke, international rugby player, tennis player, golfer and Olympic medallist (born 1881).
* 9 March – John J. Glennon, Roman Catholic Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Saint Louis and cardinal (born 1862).
* 20 March – Frederic Trench, 3rd Baron Ashtown, peer (born 1868).
* 20 April – Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington, feminist, suffragette and writer (born 1877).
* 5 April – Martin Moffat, soldier, recipient of the Victoria Cross (born 1882).
* 22 August – John Philip Bagwell, general manager Great Northern Railway, Seanad member (born 1874).
* 23 August – Samuel Cunningham, politician and Irish Privy Councillor (born 1862).
* 28 August – Rudolph Lambart, 10th Earl of Cavan, British Army commander in World War I, later Chief of the Imperial General Staff and Field Marshal (born 1865).
* 20 October – William Bernard Barry, politician in the United States (born 1902).
* 13 November – Patrick McLane, Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania (born 1875).
* 16 December – Blayney Hamilton, cricketer (born 1872).
* 30 December – Mick Ahern, Cork hurler (born 1905).