1921 in Ireland

Events

• 1 February
• *Captain Con Murphy from near Millstreet, County Cork is executed by British authorities, the first man to be executed in front of a firing squad since the 1916 Rising.
• *The Irish White Cross is established to distribute funds raised by the American Committee for Relief in Ireland.
• 4 February – Irish War of Independence: Irish Republican Army sets fire to Summerhill House in County Meath, destroying it.
• 5 February – in Brighton, England, the widow of Charles Stewart Parnell, Katherine Parnell, dies aged 76.
• 5 March – Irish War of Independence: Clonbanin Ambush: Irish Republican Army kills Brigadier General Cumming.
• 19 March – Irish War of Independence: Crossbarry Ambush: British troops fail to encircle an outnumbered column of Irish Republican Army volunteers in County Cork, with at least ten British and three IRA deaths.
• 21 March – Irish War of Independence: Headford Ambush: Irish Republican Army kills at least nine British troops.
• 27 April – Viscount FitzAlan of Derwent is appointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, the first Roman Catholic granted the office since 1685.
• 3 May – the province of Northern Ireland is created within the United Kingdom under terms of the Government of Ireland Act 1920.
• 13 May – Irish elections, under terms of the Government of Ireland Act 1920: At close of nomination for elections to the new Parliament of Southern Ireland, all 128 candidates are returned unopposed and deemed elected. All 124 Sinn Féin candidates regard themselves as elected to the Second Dáil.
• 24 May – Irish elections, under terms of the Government of Ireland Act 1920: In the Northern Ireland general election for the new Parliament of Northern Ireland, it is apparent by 29 May that the Unionists have a substantial majority.
• 25 May – Irish War of Independence: The Irish Republican Army occupies and burns The Custom House in Dublin, the centre of local government in Ireland. Five IRA men are killed and over eighty captured by the British Army which surrounds the building.
• 7 June – the forty elected Unionist Members of Parliaments gather in Belfast City Hall. James Craig is elected as the first Prime Minister of Northern Ireland.
• 22 June – new Parliament of Northern Ireland meets at Belfast City Hall and is opened by George V of the United Kingdom, making a speech calling for reconciliation in Ireland.
• 28 June – new Parliament of Southern Ireland meets at the Royal College of Science for Ireland in Merrion Street, Dublin and is opened by the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Viscount FitzAlan. In addition to the appointed Senate, only the four Unionist MPs representing the University of Dublin attend the House of Commons. Having elected Gerald Fitzgibbon to be Speaker, the House adjourns sine die. This is its only formal meeting and it never enacts any legislation.
• 4 July – James Craig refuses to attend a peace conference in Dublin because the invitation by President Éamon de Valera was addressed to him personally instead of to the Prime Minister of Northern Ireland.
• 8 July – at the Peace Conference in the Mansion House, Dublin, President de Valera accepts an invitation to meet the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, David Lloyd George, in London.
• 10 July – Bloody Sunday: Clashes between Catholics and Protestants in Belfast result in 16 deaths and the destruction of over 200 homes.
• 11 July – under the terms of the truce which becomes effective at noon, the British Army agrees that there will be no provocative display of forces or incoming troops. The Irish Republican Army agrees that attacks on Crown forces will cease.
• 16 August – following the uncontested election for the Parliament of Southern Ireland, 125 Sinn Féin Teachtaí Dála assemble as the Second Dáil at the Mansion House, Dublin. Six represent constituencies in Northern Ireland.
• 23 August – the Northern Cabinet agrees that Stormont Castle will be the permanent site of the Northern Houses of Parliament.
• 7 September – David Lloyd George summons a meeting of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom at Inverness to discuss an independent Ireland's relationship with the British Empire.
• 8 September – David Lloyd George's final offer is delivered to Éamon de Valera. Sinn Féin is invited to discuss the proposals which would grant limited sovereignty within the British Empire.
• 14 September – Dáil Éireann selects five delegates to negotiate agreement with Lloyd George in London, including Michael Collins and Arthur Griffith.
• 8 October – the Irish delegation leaves for London to discuss the Treaty.
• 9 October – large crowds greet the Irish delegation at Euston Station in London. Griffith tells the crowd that de Valera will not travel to London.
• 6 December – agreement is reached in the Anglo-Irish Treaty negotiations in London. The main points include the creation of an Irish Free State within the Commonwealth, an Oath of Allegiance to the Crown, and retention by the British naval services of the use of certain ports.
• December – Éamon de Valera accuses the delegation to London of having ignored its instructions. Arthur Griffith accuses de Valera of knowing at the time that a Republic could not be achieved.
• 16 December – the British House of Commons accepts the Articles of Agreement. The House of Lords also votes to accept the Treaty by a large majority.
• Bethany Home established in Dublin as a home for Protestant unmarried mothers, reformed prostitutes and those convicted of petty offences.

  Arts and literature

• 6 January – George Shiels' play Bedmates is premiered at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin.
• 24 February – Terence MacSwiney's play The Revolutionist has its stage premiere posthumously at the Abbey Theatre. His writings Principles of Freedom are collected from Irish Freedom and published this year also.
• George Moore publishes the novel Heloise and Abelard.
• L. A. G. Strong publishes the poetry Dublin Days.
• W. B. Yeats publishes the poetry Michael Robartes and the Dancer and Four Plays for Dancers.

  Sport

Football

• The new Football Association of Ireland is formed in Dublin after a split from the Belfast-based Irish Football Association. Shelbourne FC and Bohemian FC are amongst the eight founder members of the new League of Ireland..

  Gaelic Games

• The All-Ireland Champions are Limerick and Dublin

  Births

• 3 January – Eddie Gannon, soccer player.
• 24 January
• *Sybil Connolly, fashion designer.
• *Patrick Scott, painter.
• January – Donogh O'Malley, Fianna Fáil TD and Cabinet Minister.
• 22 February – Cecil King, painter.
• 8 March – James Comyn, Justice of the High Court of England.
• 10 March – Bernard Devlin, Roman Catholic Bishop of the Diocese of Gibraltar.
• 21 March – Yaakov Herzog, Dublin-born Israeli diplomat.
• 25 March – John Joe McGirl, chief of staff of the Irish Republican Army.
• 14 April – Mona Tyndall, missionary sister and development worker.
• 31 May – Billy Walsh, soccer player and manager.
• 29 June – Desmond Leslie, pilot, filmmaker and writer.
• 23 July – Malachi Martin, Roman Catholic priest and author.
• 27 July – Tom Nolan, Fianna Fáil TD, Minister of State and MEP.
• 22 August – Michael Yeats, Fianna Fáil Seanad member and MEP.
• 8 September – Patrick Flynn, Liberal Party of Canada MP.
• 9 October – Egerton Bushe Coghill, painter.
• 22 November – Brian Cleeve, writer and television broadcaster.
• 17 December – Alice Glenn, Fine Gael politician.
• 24 December – Gerard Victory, composer.
• ;Full date unknown
• :*Éamonn Young, Cork Gaelic footballer.

  Deaths

• 5 January – James Rankin, lighthouse keeper in America.
• 21 April – Rosa Mulholland, Lady Gilbert, novelist, short-story writer and poet.
• 28 April – Maurice Moore, Irish republican who fought in the Irish War of Independence, executed.
• 9 June – Sir Henry Bellingham, 4th Baronet, politician and barrister.
• 18 August – Samuel Cleland Davidson, inventor and engineer.
• 10 December – George Ashlin, architect.
• ;Full date unknown
• :*James Gogarty, took part in Easter Rising, first known I.R.B. casualty of the Irish War of Independence.