1939 in Ireland

← 1938 1937 1936 1935 1934 1939 in Ireland → 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944
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See also:	1939 in Northern Ireland Other events of 1939 List of years in Ireland

Events from the year 1939 in Ireland.

Incumbents

• President: Douglas Hyde
• Taoiseach: Éamon de Valera (FF)

Events

• 11 January – The Congress of the Irish National Teachers' Organisation in Galway called on the Government to abolish the ban on married women teachers.
• 12 February – The Department of External Affairs announced that it recognised the government of Francisco Franco in Spain.
• February – In his Lenten pastoral, Bishop Daniel Mageean referred to "A Protestant Parliament for a Protestant People".
• 12 March – Taoiseach Éamon de Valera attended the coronation of Pope Pius XII in Rome.
• 16 March – Éamon de Valera was greeted by Benito Mussolini in Rome and a luncheon was held in his honour.
• 22 March – Ireland's neutrality was discussed during a Dáil debate on defence estimates. The Government considered the implications for the export market to Britain if a neutral stand was taken.
• 30 March – The Treason Bill passed its fifth and final stage in Dáil Éireann.
• 9 April – The Gaelic Athletic Association voted to keep the name of the President, Douglas Hyde, off its list of patrons. The situation arose when Hyde attended an international soccer game.
• 15 April – Boxer Jack Doyle married Mexican film actress Movita Castaneda in a civil ceremony in Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico.^[1]
• 17 April – The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland, Lord Craigavon, dismissed as cowardly the Irish Government's position of neutrality.
• 19 April – In a speech to Seanad Éireann Taoiseach Éamon de Valera referred to the dropping of all references to the King and Great Britain from new Irish passports.
• 30 April – 1939 New York World's Fair opened with an Ireland pavilion designed by Michael Scott.^[2]
• 4 May – The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland announced that conscription would not be extended to Northern Ireland.
• 18 May – The Earl of Iveagh presented the Government with his townhouse in Dublin.
• 2 June – The Treason Act 1939 became law: a sentence of death could be passed on anyone convicted of "levying war against the State."
• 29 June – Clann na Talmhan, the National Agricultural Party, was founded in Athenry.
• 1 July – The Irish Red Cross Society was established.
• 1 September – A state of emergency was declared by the Government.^[3]
• 2 September – Taoiseach Éamon de Valera told the Dáil that Ireland will remain neutral in the European War.
• 3 September – The Emergency Powers Act 1939 came into force as Britain and France declared war on Germany. The Marine and Coastwatching Service was set up.
• 4 September – The SS Athenia was torpedoed and sunk in the Atlantic Ocean by a Nazi submarine. The Knut Nelson (Norway) landed 450 survivors in Galway.
• 18 September – John F. Kennedy flew from Foynes for his first transatlantic flight, to Port Washington, New York, after helping with arrangements for survivors of the SS Athenia.^[4][5]
• 9 September – Billed as "The Last Race in Europe" until after World War II, the Irish Motor Racing Club held its Phoenix Park Race; this included motorcycle and car races.^[6]
• 11 September – The Irish-flagged tanker Inverliffey was shelled and sunk by the Nazi submarine, U-38. The U-boat towed the lifeboats away from the blazing oil.
• 13 September – The Minister for Supplies, Seán Lemass, introduced petrol rationing.
• 6 October – Austrian theoretical physicist Erwin Schrödinger took up residence in Dublin at the invitation of Éamon de Valera.^[7]
• 30 October – More than two dozen air-raid sirens, acquired by Dublin Corporation, were tested across Dublin City.
• November – The teenage Brendan Behan, at this time a member of the Irish Republican Army, was arrested in Liverpool for possession of explosives.
• December – The Supreme Court of Ireland declared the detention without trial of Irish Republican Army members to be illegal.^[8]
• 10 December – The German Nazi propaganda radio station Irland-Redaktion began broadcasting to Ireland in the Irish language.^[8]
• 23 December – A million rounds of ammunition were stolen from the national arsenal at the Phoenix Park by pro-Nazi elements of the Irish Republican Army.

Arts and literature

• February – English novelist T. H. White settled at Doolistown in County Meath; he lived in Ireland until 1946.
• 13 March – Flann O'Brien's At Swim-Two-Birds was published in London.
• 4 May – James Joyce's Finnegans Wake was published complete in London.
• July – W. B. Yeats' Last Poems and Two Plays were published posthumously in London.^[9]
• 10 October – Robert Collis's play Marrowbone Lane was premiered at the Gate Theatre, Dublin, starring Wilfrid Brambell.^[8][10]
• Autumn
  • English painters Kenneth Hall and his lover Basil Rakoczi of The White Stag group moved from London to Ireland.
  • English novelist Ethel Mannin settled in Connemara.^[8]
• Lord Longford began a series of Chekhov productions at the Gate Theatre in Dublin with The Cherry Orchard.^[11]
• Louis MacNeice's Autumn Journal: a poem was published in London.^[9]
• Peig Sayers' stories and anecdotes about life on Great Blasket Island are published as Maċtnaṁ seana-ṁná in Dublin.

Sport

Football

• League of Ireland

Winners: Shamrock Rovers

• FAI Cup

Winners: Shelbourne 1–1, 1–0 Sligo Rovers. English footballer, Dixie Dean played in the final for Rovers.

Golf

• Irish Open was won by Arthur Lees (England).

Births

January to June

• 25 January – Dermot Clifford, Roman Catholic Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly.
• 2 February – Desmond O'Malley, Fianna Fáil TD and founder of the Progressive Democrats.
• 24 March – Joe McCartin, Member of the European Parliament, Senator.
• 25 March – Tom Fitzgerald, Fianna Fáil Senator.
• 1 April – Joe Jacob, Fianna Fáil TD and Minister of State.
• 13 April – Seamus Heaney, poet (died in 2013).
• 3 May – Ken Hope, cricketer.
• 9 May – Pádraig Flynn, Fianna Fáil TD, Cabinet Minister and European Commissioner.
• 19 May – John Sheahan, violinist, folk musician and composer, with The Dubliners.
• 29 May – Mary Banotti, Fine Gael politician.

July to December

• 11 July – Mick Brown, football scout.
• 16 August – Seán Brady, Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland.
• 21 August – Ray McLoughlin, international rugby player.
• 5 September – Mark Killilea, Jnr, Fianna Fáil TD and Member of the European Parliament.
• 10 September – Edward Plunkett, 20th Baron of Dunsany, artist.
• 12 September – Patrick Harrington, Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Lodwar in Kenya.
• 20 September – Mike O'Donnell, film and television composer.
• 11 October – Austin Currie, founder-member of the Social Democratic and Labour Party and Fine Gael TD.
• 16 October – Joe Dolan, singer (died in 2007).
• 27 October – Thady Wyndham-Quin, 7th Earl of Dunraven and Mount-Earl, peer.
• October – Frank Columb, writer.
• 2 November – John Buckley, Bishop of Cork and Ross (1997 – ).
• November – Ollie Conmy, international soccer player.
• 16 December – Barney McKenna, musician.

Full date unknown

• Ted Carroll, Kilkenny hurler.
• Paddy FitzGerald, Cork hurler.
• Alice Hanratty, painter and printmaker.
• Paddy Moran, Kilkenny hurler.
• Denis Murphy, Cork hurler.
• Éamonn O'Doherty, sculptor (died in 2011).

Deaths

• 28 January – William Butler Yeats, poet and dramatist (born in 1865).
• 9 May – Mary Williams, previously Mary, Lady Heath, aviator, athlete and writer (born in 1896).
• 9 June – Owen Moore, actor (born in 1886).
• 28 June – James Dowdall, Independent member of the 1922 Seanad.
• 19 July – John Cassidy, sculptor and painter (born in 1860).
• 20 August – Edward Bulfin, British general during World War I (born in 1862).
• 8 September – Maurice George Moore, Independent member of the 1922 Seanad.
• 15 September – William MacCarthy-Morrogh, cricketer (born in 1870).
• 20 September – Andrew Claude de la Cherois Crommelin, astronomer (born in 1865).
• 10 November – Charlotte Despard, suffragist, novelist and Sinn Féin activist (born in 1844).
• 14 December – Samuel Lombard Brown, Independent member of 1922 Seanad.

References