1923 in Ireland

none October 2012 November 2020 August 2022 1923 Events from the year 1923 in Ireland. Incumbents Governor-General: Tim Healy President of the Executive Council: W. T. Cosgrave (CnaG) Vice-President of the Executive Council: Kevin O'Higgins (CnaG) Minister for Finance: W. T. Cosgrave (CnaG) (until 21 September 1923) Ernest Blythe (CnaG) (from 21 September 1923) Dáil: 3rd (until 9 August 1923) 4th (from 19 September 1923) Seanad: 1922 Seanad Events January 13 January – Beechpark, the residence of President W. T. Cosgrave in Ballyboden, Dublin, was set on fire.14 January 1923 Cosgrave's Home is Burned. https://www.nytimes.com/1923/01/14/archives/cosgraves-home-is-burned.html 7 January 2026 The New York Times 4 Associated PressRathfarnham residence of President Cosgrave destroyed in arson attack https://www.rte.ie/centuryireland/articles/rathfarnham-residence-of-president-cosgrave-destroyed-in-arson-attack 7 January 2026 Century Ireland RTÉ 16 January – The Provisional Government of Ireland took office.January 2026 February 18 February – An amnesty for Irish Republican Army (IRA) Irregulars expired.McCarthy Kieran 8 February 2023 Recasting Cork: Amnesty, arms and advantage https://www.corkindependent.com/2023/02/08/recasting-cork-amnesty-arms-and-advantage/ 7 January 2026 Cork Independent It had been introduced by the Minister for Home Affairs, Kevin O'Higgins on 8 February. 21 February – An order was signed creating the Revenue Commissioners.Revenue Commissioners Order, 1923 1923 703 sro ifs 7 January 2026Dublin Castle in 1916 https://www.revenue.ie/en/rev-100/articles/dublin-castle.aspx 7 January 2026 Revenue Commissioners The Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revenue) was established by Government Order 2/23 on 21 February 1923... April 1 April – The Provisional Government established customs posts on the border with Northern Ireland.A customs border between North and South? What we can learn from Ireland in 1923 Cormac Moore 2016-06-21 https://www.thejournal.ie/readme/reintroduction-of-border-northern-ireland-peace-process-2836626-Jun2016/ TheJournal.ie Dublin 2021-05-13 11 April – Liam Lynch, Chief of Staff of the Irregulars, was wounded and captured by the Free State's National Army in the Knockmealdown Mountains.Peter Cottrell The War for Ireland, 1913–1923 Oxford Osprey Publishing 2009 978-1-84603-9966 His subsequent death in Clonmel was also announced by the army. 14 April – Austin Stack was captured by National Army troops at the foot of the Knockmealdown Mountains. 30 April – Thousands turned up to greet Jim Larkin as he returned to Ireland after an eight-year absence in the United States.Jim Larkin returns to Ireland after 8 years, but no labour or ITGWU officials greet him https://www.rte.ie/centuryireland/articles/jim-larkin-returns-to-ireland-after-8-years-but-no-labour-or-itgwu-official 7 January 2026 Century Ireland RTÉO'Connor Emmet April 2002 James Larkin in the United States, 1914-23 Journal of Contemporary History 37 2 196 3180681 Within weeks of his arrival in Dublin on 30 April 1923... May May–December – The Irish Transport and General Workers' Union staged a farm labourer's strike in County Waterford.A Labour history of Waterford Emmet O'Connor Waterford Council of Trade Unions 1989 0951503405 15 May – Neil 'Plunkett' Boyle was the last person to be killed during the Irish Civil War when he was shot dead while surrendering to the National Army at Knocknadruce near Valleymount, County Wicklow.Collins Róise 14 May 2023 Last man killed during Civil War remembered https://donegalnews.com/last-man-killed-during-civil-war-remembered/ 25 November 2024 Donegal NewsNicPhaidin Michelle 2 March 2022 Ceremony to take place to mark 100-year anniversary of Rosses Martyrs https://www.donegallive.ie/news/west-donegal/756731/ceremony-to-take-place-to-mark-100-year-anniversary-of-rosses-martyrs.html 25 November 2024 Donegal LiveFoley Alan 20 November 2023 Booklet published on Neil 'Plunkett' Boyle - the last man killed in the civil war https://www.donegallive.ie/news/west-donegal/1353299/booklet-published-on-neil-plunkett-boyle-the-last-man-killed-in-the-civil-war.html 8 January 2026 Donegal Live 28 May – The Government released two captured documents issued by the IRA on 24 May. The letters, signed by Éamon de Valera and Frank Aiken (the new Chief of Staff) called for the dumping of arms and the ending of armed struggle. The Civil War was officially over. 31 May – The obelisk of 1736 commemorating the Battle of the Boyne (fought in 1690 at Oldbridge, County Meath) was blown up.Moody, T. W. A New History of Ireland. 8: A Chronology of Irish History Oxford University Press 1989 978-0-19-821744-2 etal July 20 July – Éamon de Valera appealed to the American Association for the Recognition of the Irish Republic for $100,000 to fight the forthcoming general election. August August – The British Royal Navy patrol ship HMY Helga was handed over to the Irish Coastal and Marine Service as the Public Armed Ship Muirchú. 2 August – Joe Whitty died on an independent hunger strike, the first of three IRA men to die in the 1923 Irish Hunger Strikes. http://www.rollofhonourirl.com/the-civil-war.php The Civil War rootsireland.ie roots ireland 29 August 2021 Joe Whitty aged 19 who died on hunger-strike. 15 August – Éamon de Valera was arrested at an election meeting in Ennis, County Clare. 22 August – Fires at the Waterford offices of the Waterford News and Sinn Féin.Freeman's Journal 7 April 1924. 27 August – 1923 Irish general election: Cumann na nGaedheal under W. T. Cosgrave won most seats and formed a minority government.Ferriter Diarmaid Diarmaid Ferriter 7 June 2023 The legacy of the Civil War https://www.rte.ie/history/the-end-of-the-civil-war/2023/0228/1359432-the-legacy-of-the-civil-war/ 7 January 2026 RTÉ September 10 September – Ireland was admitted into the League of Nations.Kennedy Michael 2 May 2023 League of Nations: How Ireland joined 'great institution for peace' https://www.irishtimes.com/history/century/2023/05/02/league-of-nations-how-ireland-joined-a-great-institution-for-peace/ 7 January 2026 The Irish Times 17 September – Thirty-three members presented themselves at Leinster House for the swearing in of the new Dáil. No anti-Treaty republicans attended.January 2026 19 September – The Fourth Dáil met for the first time at Leinster House. Michael Hayes was elected Ceann Comhairle and W. T. Cosgrave was elected President of the Executive Council.Fourth Dáil re-elects Cosgrave as President as street protesters demand prisoner releases https://www.rte.ie/centuryireland/articles/fourth-dail-re-elects-cosgrave-as-president-as-street-protesters-demand-pri 7 January 2026 Century Ireland RTÉ19 September 1923 Dáil Éireann debate - Election of Ceann Comhairle https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/1923-09-19/5/ live https://web.archive.org/web/20220817173921/https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/1923-09-19/5/ 17 August 2022 7 January 2026 Oireachtas October 13 October – 23 November – 1923 Irish Hunger Strikes: IRA prisoners in Irish gaols staged a hunger strike; two died. 15 October – The Mallow Viaduct over the River Blackwater was officially re-opened by President of the Executive Council, W. T. Cosgrave.Re-opening of Mallow viaduct heralded as a sign of returned normality https://www.rte.ie/centuryireland/articles/re-opening-of-mallow-viaduct-heralded-as-a-sign-of-returned-normality 7 January 2026 Century Ireland RTÉWalsh Pat 15 October 2023 Blown up... then rebuilt: Story of Mallow Viaduct 100 years on https://www.echolive.ie/nostalgia/arid-41245441.html 7 January 2026 Echo Live November 14 November – The poet William Butler Yeats became the first Irish Nobel prize laureate when he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature.Nobel Prize in Literature 1923 https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1923/ 15 November 2024 NobelPrize.org 16 December 2014 https://web.archive.org/web/20141216213233/http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1923/ live Full date unknown The Royal Bank of Ireland bought the Irish Free State business of the Belfast Banking Company (now Danske Bank),24 June 2020 Black ties and red carnations hail start of 50-year bank account https://www.newsletter.co.uk/heritage-and-retro/heritage/black-ties-and-red-carnations-hail-start-of-50-year-bank-account-2891704 7 January 2026 News Letter In 1923, following secret negotiations, they transferred their business in the Republic of Ireland to the Royal Bank of Ireland Limited along with 20 branches and their staff. which in turn bought the Northern Ireland business of the Royal Bank of Ireland. See Allied Irish Banks. The General Assembly of the Church of Scotland called for curbs on the immigration of Irish Catholics.The church published a booklet entitled The Menace of the Irish Race to Our Scottish Nationality. Scotland: the autobiography Goring, Rosemary New London Penguin 2014 978-0-241-96916-8 308–11 Arts and literature 12 April – Seán O'Casey's drama The Shadow of a Gunman, the first of his "Dublin Trilogy" (set in 1920), opened at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin.Welch Robert The Abbey Theatre, 1899-1999: Form and Pressure 3 October 2011 Oxford University Press 9780191671364 Online 83 Sean O'Casey's The Shadow of a Gunman opened on 12 April, with the theatre still under armed guard. 21 October 1999 Oxford Academic 14 November – W. B. Yeats won the 1923 Nobel Prize in Literature for his poetry.Nobel Prize in Literature 1923 https://www.nobelprize.org/nomination/archive/show_people.php?id=10345 7 January 2026 Nobel PrizePaterson Adrian 14 November 2023 The story of WB Yeats' Nobel Prize win 100 years ago today https://www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2023/1114/1408977-william-butler-yeats-nobel-prize-literature-1923/ 7 January 2026 RTÉ Brainstorm RTÉ Elizabeth Bowen published her first book, a collection of short stories, Encounters, in London.Coughlan Patricia A History of Modern Irish Women's Literature August 2018 Cambridge University Press 9781316442999 Ingman H. 1st 6 Elizabeth Bowen 10.1017/9781316442999.012 10468/14892 A first story-collection, Encounters, appeared in 1923... Ó Gallchoir C. Q71019767 Liam O'Flaherty published his first novel, Thy Neighbour's Wife.O'Brien James Howard Liam O'Flaherty Associated University Presses 1973 9780838777732 11, 23 78126291 OL4767371M Mainie Jellett's Decoration was among the first abstract paintings shown in Ireland when exhibited at the Society of Dublin Painters Group Show.Rooney Brendan 16 April 2025 How two defiantly modern – and Modernist – women changed Irish art https://www.rte.ie/culture/2025/0416/1507957-how-2-defiantly-modern-and-modernist-women-changed-irish-art/ 7 January 2026 RTÉ Sports Association football League of Ireland Winners: Shamrock Rovers FAI Cup Winners: Alton United 1–0 Shelbourne. Played at Dalymount Park, Dublin, on 17 March 1923.29 September 2023 FAI Cup: Trophy finally comes to Belfast 100 years after Alton United's shock success https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/66950486 7 January 2026 BBC Sport22 March 2023 Alton United: North Belfast based club that won FAI Cup 100 years ago to be remembered https://www.irishnews.com/news/northernirelandnews/2023/03/22/news/north_belfast_based_club_that_won_fai_cup_100_years_ago_to_be_remembered-3155124/ 7 January 2026 The Irish News Belfast side Alton United of the Falls District League were shock winners of the Free State Cup beating Shelbourne 1–0 in the final at Dalymount Park. Clubs and leagues in nationalist areas of Northern Ireland had affiliated to the FA of the Irish Free State after the 1921 split from the Belfast-based Irish Football Association. Boxing World light heavyweight championship Winners: Mike McTigue defeated Battling Siki for the title on St Patrick's Day, 1923, at La Scala Theatre, Dublin.O'Hanlon Oliver The story of Battling Siki's historic boxing fight in Dublin on St Patrick's Day 1923 https://www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2024/0313/1363349-battling-siki-mike-mctigue-dublin-st-patricks-day-1923/ 7 January 2026 RTÉ Brainstorm RTÉMcGoldrick Sean 17 March 2023 Centenary of Mike McTigue's famous World title win over 'Battling Siki' in Dublin marked by Kilnamona ceremony https://www.independent.ie/sport/other-sports/boxing/centenary-of-mike-mctigues-famous-world-title-win-over-battling-siki-in-dublin-marked-by-kilnamona-ceremony/42390598.html 7 January 2026 Irish Independent Gaelic football The 1923 All-Ireland SFC winner was Dublin.Dublin 1923 Football All-Ireland Champions https://www.gaa.ie/centenary/all-ireland-winners/1923-gaa-football-champions 7 January 2026 GAA29 September 1924 Dublin still champions https://www.gaa.ie/centenary/match-reports/1923-match-report-all-ireland-football-final 7 January 2026 Irish Independent RTÉ 10 309 June – 1921 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship completed. October – 1922 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship completed. Hurling The 1923 All-Ireland SHC winner was Galway.Galway 1923 Hurling All-Ireland Champions https://www.gaa.ie/centenary/all-ireland-winners/1923-gaa-hurling-champions 7 January 2026 GAASassone Erika 19 September 2024 Family of a legendary Galway hurling captain gather to mark 100th anniversary of 1924 All-Ireland https://www.independent.ie/regionals/galway/news/family-of-a-legendary-galway-hurling-captain-gather-to-mark-100th-anniversary-of-1924-all-ireland/a646020002.html 7 January 2026 Irish Independent The All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship that began in May 1923 ended on September 14, 1924 when Galway defeated Limerick (7-3 to 4-5) at Croke Park, in Dublin. March – 1921 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship completed, with the Liam MacCarthy Cup first presented after the 1921 final.Diallo Raf 25 December 2022 8 December 2022 Irish sport in 1923: FAI joins FIFA and delayed deciders https://www.rte.ie/sport/other-sport/2022/1208/1340852-irish-sport-in-1923-fai-joins-fifa-delayed-deciders/ 7 January 2026 RTÉ September – 1922 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship completed. Births 2 January – Cathal Goulding, Chief of Staff of the IRA and the Official IRA (died 1998).White Lawrence William Dictionary of Irish Biography Dictionary of Irish Biography October 2009 Royal Irish Academy Goulding, Cathal 10.3318/dib.003552.v1 7 January 2026 https://www.dib.ie/biography/goulding-cathal-a3552 15 January – Tommy Eglington, association football player (died 2004). 31 January – Joseph Burke, cricketer (died 2005). 9 February – Brendan Behan, poet, novelist and playwright (died 1964).Kearney Colbert Dictionary of Irish Biography Dictionary of Irish Biography October 2009 Royal Irish Academy Behan, Brendan Francis 10.3318/dib.000540.v1 7 January 2026 https://www.dib.ie/biography/behan-brendan-francis-a0540Littlewood Joan Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Oxford Dictionary of National Biography 17 September 2015 Oxford University Press Behan, (Francis) Brendan 10.1093/ref:odnb/59868 7 January 2026 23 September 2004 https://www.oxforddnb.com/display/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-59868 20 March – Con Martin, association football player and manager (died 2013). 8 April – Edward Mulhare, actor (died 1997). 2 May – Patrick Hillery, Fianna Fáil party Teachta Dála (TD), cabinet minister, European Commissioner and sixth President of Ireland (died 2008). 24 May – Siobhán McKenna, actress (died 1986). May – Seán Óg Ó Ceallacháin, journalist, author and broadcaster (died 2013). 3 June – Maureen Flavin Sweeney, postmistress (died 2023).6 January 2024 Maureen Flavin obituary: Blacksod postmistress whose weather report changed the course of history https://www.irishtimes.com/obituaries/2024/01/06/maureen-flavin-obituary-blacksod-postmistress-whose-weather-report-changed-the-course-of-history/ 7 January 2026 The Irish TimesMaureen Sweeney (1923-2023) https://www.met.ie/maureen-sweeney-1923-2023 7 January 2026 Met Éireann Maureen (née Flavin) was working in Blacksod post office at the time and took that vital hourly reading on her 21st birthday, 3rd June 1944. 11 June – Seán Condon, Cork hurler (died 2001). 17 June – W. M. Gorman, economist (died 2003). 23 June – Peter Corr, international association football player and father of The Corrs members (died 2001). 8 July – John Wilson, Fianna Fáil TD and Cabinet Minister, previously Cavan Gaelic footballer (died 2007). 10 September – Mickey Byrne, Tipperary hurler (died 2016). 23 September – Seán Treacy, Labour Party TD for Tipperary South, Ceann Comhairle of Dáil Éireann (died 2018). 8 October – Kathleen Mills, camogie player (died 1996). 29 October – Paddy Donegan, Fine Gael party TD and cabinet minister (died 2000). 10 November – Tommy Moroney, association football and rugby player (died 1981). 17 December – Dennis Flynn, soldier in Canada, Chairman of the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto (died 2003). 21 December – Scott Huey, cricketer (died 2012). 25 December – Jim Tunney, Fianna Fáil TD, Minister of State and Lord Mayor of Dublin (died 2002). 28 December – Anthony Cronin, poet (died 2016). Deaths 28 January – George Richardson, soldier, recipient of the Victoria Cross for gallantry in 1859 at Kewane Trans-Gogra, India (born 1831). 25 March – Thomas Crean, surgeon, rugby player and soldier, recipient of the Victoria Cross for gallantry in 1901 at Tygerkloof Spruit, South Africa (born 1873). 10 April – Liam Lynch, commanding general of the anti-Treaty IRA during the Irish Civil War, shot and killed (born 1893).Shannon Gerard 31 May 2023 'If we stand united, victory is certain': Liam Lynch's final days https://www.rte.ie/history/the-end-of-the-civil-war/2023/0425/1379049-if-we-stand-united-victory-is-certain-liam-lynchs-final-days/ 7 January 2026 RTÉ Lynch was conveyed to St Joseph's Hospital where he died less than three hours later, just before 9pm on 10 April 1923.30 March 2023 Argentinian band honour Liam Lynch https://www.corkindependent.com/2023/03/30/argentinian-band-honour-liam-lynch/ 7 January 2026 Cork Independent Lynch was killed on 10 April 1923, when more than 1,000 Free State soldiers began a roundup in Tipperary to try to entrap the leadership of the IRA which was holding a meeting in a safe house at the foot of the Knockmealdown Mountains. 17 April – Laurence Ginnell, nationalist, lawyer and politician, member of First Dáil (born 1852).Dempsey Pauric J. Dictionary of Irish Biography Dictionary of Irish Biography Boylan Shaun October 2009 Royal Irish Academy Ginnell, Laurence 10.3318/dib.003488.v1 7 January 2026 https://www.dib.ie/biography/ginnell-laurence-a3488 23 April – Seán Etchingham, Sinn Féin politician, member of First Dáil, cabinet minister (born 1868).Ua Cearnaigh Seán 2019 Seán Etchingham https://www.jstor.org/stable/26663238 The Past: The Organ of the Uí Cinsealaigh Historical Society 33 51 26663238 He died on 23 April 1923. JSTOR 29 April – Robert Carew, 3rd Baron Carew (born 1860). 11 June – Herbert Trench, poet (born 1865). 16 July – Sydney Mary Thompson, geologist and botanist (born 1847). 9 August – O'Moore Creagh, soldier, recipient of the Victoria Cross for gallantry in 1879 at Kam Dakka, Afghanistan (born 1848). 20 October – Thomas MacPartlin, trade union official, elected to 1922 Seanad (born 1879). 9 November – Maurice Healy, lawyer, politician and Member of Parliament (born 1859). 20 November – Denny Barry, Irish Republican, in 1923 Irish Hunger Strikes (born 1883).McInerney Anne-Marie Dictionary of Irish Biography Dictionary of Irish Biography December 2019 Royal Irish Academy Barry, Denis 10.3318/dib.010116.v1 7 January 2026 https://www.dib.ie/biography/barry-denis-a10116#:~:text=On%2017%20November%2C%20Barry%20fell,family%20due%20to%20safety%20concerns.29 November 2023 Recasting Cork: The death of Denis Barry https://www.corkindependent.com/2023/11/29/recasting-cork-the-death-of-denis-barry/ 7 January 2026 Cork Independent 22 November – Andy O'Sullivan, agriculturalist and Irish Republican, died after 40 days on hunger strike in St. Bricin's Military Hospital, Dublin in 1923 Irish Hunger Strikes (born 1882).Flynn Barry Pawns in the Game The Collins Press 2011 978-1-84889-116-6 Cork 83Aiken Síobhra The men will talk to me: Ernie O'Malley's interviews with the Northern Divisions Mac Bhloscaidh Fearghal Ó Duibhir Liam Ó Tuama Diarmuid Merrion Press 2018 9781785371677 226 Commandant Denis Barry died on 11 November 1923, Andy O'Sullivan on 22 November, and Joe Lacey on 24 December.McCarney Damian 27 November 2022 Ferriter dwells on complexity and empathy in Civil War talk https://www.anglocelt.ie/2022/11/27/ferriter-dwells-on-complexity-and-empathy-in-civil-war-talk/ 8 January 2026 The Anglo-Celt He delved into a litany of grim post civil war experiences, and mentioned detainee Andy O'Sullivan of Dennbawn who died after over 40 days of hunger-strike towards the end of in 1923. 5 December – Edward Martyn, playwright and activist (born 1859). References 1923 Category:1920s in Ireland Ireland Category:Years of the 20th century in Ireland