1961 in Ireland

Incumbents

• President: Éamon de Valera
• Taoiseach: Seán Lemass

  Events

• 6 January – Lieutenant-General Seán Mac Eoin flies out of Dublin en route to the Congo. He is taking up his new post as General Commanding Officer of the United Nations.
• 20 January – John F. Kennedy becomes President of the United States, the first of Irish-Catholic descent.
• 27 January – in a gale, laid-up tanker Trigonosemus breaks free from her moorings in Lough Swilly.
• 9 April – national census shows that County Cork's population has reached an all-time low, with just 330,000.
• 10 June – President Éamon de Valera and Mrs. Sinéad de Valera greet Prince Rainier and Princess Grace at Áras an Uachtaráin.
• 15 June – Prince Rainier and Princess Grace of Monaco take tea in a three roomed cottage near Newport, County Mayo, from which the Princess' grandfather, John Henry Kelly, set off for America almost 100 years before.
• 16 September – Atlantic Hurricane Debbie makes landfall at Dooega on Achill Island, then tracking across County Mayo, the only known tropical cyclone to make landfall in Ireland. Winds gust up to 114 mph off Arranmore.
• 4 October – 1961 Irish general election: Fianna Fáil under Seán Lemass retain most seats and form a minority government when members of the 17th Dáil assemble on 11 October.
• 25 October – St. John's Church in Sligo is reconstituted as the Cathedral Church for the Church of Ireland dioceses of Elphin and Ardagh, under the name of the Cathedral of St. Mary the Virgin and St. John the Baptist.
• November – Minister for Justice Charles Haughey establishes military courts which hand down long prison sentences to convicted Irish Republican Army men.
• 10 November – in fog, the Guinness ship Lady Gwendolen rams and sinks the Freshfield anchored in the Mersey.
• 20 December – the last legal execution in Ireland occurs in Belfast, Northern Ireland – it is of Robert McGladdery for murder.
• 31 December – Telefís Éireann goes on air as President de Valera inaugurates the new service. The station's first broadcast is a New Year countdown with celebrations at the Gresham Hotel and O'Connell Street, Dublin, relayed from the Kippure transmitter.
• The last Irish Sea sail-using cargo vessel, the Arklow auxiliary schooner De Wadden, ceases trading commercially.
• German writer Enno Stephan's book Geheimauftrag Irland: Deutsche Agenten im Irischen Untergrundkampf 1939-1945 gives the first full account of Nazi spies in the Republic of Ireland around the period of The Emergency.

  Arts and literature

• Dominic Behan's autobiography Tell Dublin I Miss Her and autobiographical novel Teems of Times are published.
• John Montague's poetry Poisoned Lands is published.
• Tom Murphy's play A Whistle In the Dark premieres at the Theatre Royal Stratford East in London.

  Sports

• St Patrick's Athletic won the FAI Cup
• Drumcondra won the League of Ireland
• Linfield won the Irish League and the Irish Cup double

  Births

• 5 January – Rachel Hardiman, Irish cricketer
• 6 January – Fergal Keane, writer and broadcast journalist.
• 19 January – Eoghan Corry, journalist and author.
• 25 January – Liam Currams, Offaly hurler and Gaelic footballer.
• 28 February – Barry McGuigan, world Featherweight champion boxer.
• 8 March – Kevin Hennessy, Cork hurler.
• 20 March – Michael O'Leary, chief executive of the low-cost airline Ryanair.
• 27 March – Mark Cohen, cricketer.
• 28 March – Orla Brady, actress.
• 17 May
• *Enya, singer.
• *Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh, fiddle player and singer.
• 21 May – John Cregan, Fianna Fáil TD for Limerick West.
• 1 June – Michael Nugent, writer and dramatist.
• 2 June – Liam Cunningham, actor.
• 3 July – Mark Keane, cognitive scientist and author.
• 7 August – Roddy Collins, soccer player and manager.
• 8 August – The Edge, guitarist with U2.
• 27 August – John Hodgins, Cork hurler.
• 30 August – Ger Cunningham, Cork hurler.
• 25 September – Ronnie Whelan, soccer player.
• 13 October – Michael Walsh, Kilkenny hurler.
• 25 October – Willie Walsh, chief executive officer of Aer Lingus and British Airways.
• 27 October – Margaret Mazzantini, writer.
• 31 October – Larry Mullen, rock drummer with U2.
• 8 November – Seán Haughey, Fianna Fáil Teachta Dála for Dublin North-East, son of Charles Haughey and Maureen Haughey, grandson of Seán Lemass.
• 11 December – Dave King, vocalist and songwriter.
• 12 December – Daniel O'Donnell, singer.
• Full date unknown
• *Michelle Rocca, socialite.
• *Kevin Sharkey, songwriter and painter.
• *John Spillane, singer songwriter.

  Deaths

• 14 January – Barry Fitzgerald, Academy Award-winning actor.
• 18 January – Joseph Connolly, Fianna Fáil politician.
• 4 February – Edward Pakenham, 6th Earl of Longford, politician, dramatist and poet.
• 7 May – Carmel Snow, journalist and editor of the American edition of Harper's Bazaar from 1934 to 1958.
• 12 August – Sir Ion Hamilton Benn, 1st Baronet, businessman and British politician.
• 25 September – James Crichton, soldier, recipient of the Victoria Cross for gallantry in 1918 at Crèvecœur, France.
• 6 October – Achey Kelly, cricketer.
• 16 November – T. C. Hammond, Anglican clergyman, Principal of Moore Theological College, Sydney.
• 8 December – Séumas Robinson, member of Irish Volunteers and Irish Republican Army.
• 24 December – Con Clifford, retired Kerry Gaelic footballer and businessman.
• Full date unknown – Patrick MacDonogh, poet.