1939 in Ireland
# 1939 in Ireland

Events from the year 1939 in Ireland.

## Incumbents

* President: Douglas Hyde
* Taoiseach: Éamon de Valera (Fianna Fáil)

## 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 – Irish 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.
* 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 (the Senate) Taoiseach Éamon de Valera referred to the dropping of all references to the King and Great Britain from new Irish passports.
* 30 April – The 1939 New York World's Fair opened with an Ireland pavilion designed by Michael Scott.
* 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 when Germany invaded Poland.
* 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 Nazi Germany.
   * The Marine and Coastwatching Service was set up.
   * British liner SS Athenia became the first civilian casualty of the war when she was torpedoed and sunk by German submarine German submarine U-30 between Rockall and Tory Island; the Knut Nelson (Norway) landed 450 of the survivors in Galway.
* 18 September – John F. Kennedy flew from Foynes, County Limerick for his first transatlantic flight, to Port Washington, New York, after helping with arrangements for survivors of the SS Athenia.
* 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.
* 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.
* 30 October – More than two dozen air-raid sirens, acquired by Dublin Corporation, were tested across Dublin.
* 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.
* 10 December – The German Nazi propaganda radio station Irland-Redaktion began broadcasting to Ireland in the Irish language.
* 23 December – A million rounds of ammunition were stolen from the national arsenal at the Phoenix Park by the Irish Republican Army.

## Arts and literature

* 31 January – Lord Longford began a series of Chekhov productions at the Gate Theatre in Dublin with The Cherry Orchard.
* 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.
* 18 May – Louis MacNeice's Autumn Journal: a poem was published in London.
* July – W. B. Yeats' Last Poems and Two Plays were published posthumously in London.
* 10 October – Robert Collis's play Marrowbone Lane was premiered at the Gate Theatre, Dublin, starring Wilfrid Brambell.
* 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.
* English-born Irish composer Elizabeth Maconchy returned to Ireland from England, living in Dublin for a brief period, during which she composed her Fifth String Quartet.
* 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

* 7 January – Tom Kiernan, rugby player and coach.
* 25 January – Dermot Clifford, Roman Catholic Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly.
* 2 February – Desmond O'Malley, politician, TD (1968–2002) and leader of the Progressive Democrats (1985-1993) (died 2021).
* 19 February – Ted Carroll, Kilkenny hurler (died 1995).
* 25 March – Tom Fitzgerald, Fianna Fáil Senator.
* 1 April – Joe Jacob, Fianna Fáil TD and Minister of State.
* 11 April – Joe Burke, accordionist (died 2021).
* 13 April – Seamus Heaney, poet (died 2013).
* 24 April – Joe McCartin, Member of the European Parliament, Senator.
* 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.
* 25 June – Garech Browne, patron of the arts (died 2018).
* 5 July – Hugh Byrne (died 2023).
* 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.
* 11 October – Austin Currie, founder-member of the Social Democratic and Labour Party and Fine Gael TD (died 2021).
* 16 October – Joe Dolan, singer (died 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

*   * Michael Coady, poet, short story writer, local historian, genealogist, photographer, journalist and musician.
*   * Paddy FitzGerald, Cork hurler.
*   * Alice Hanratty, painter and printmaker.
*   * Paddy Moran, Kilkenny hurler.
*   * Denis Murphy, Cork hurler.
*   * Éamonn O'Doherty, sculptor (died 2011).

## Deaths

* 28 January – W. B. Yeats, poet and dramatist, in France (born 1865).
* 2 February – Amanda McKittrick Ros, novelist and poet (born 1860).
* 9 May – Mary Williams, previously Mary, Lady Heath, aviator, athlete and writer (born 1896).
* 9 June – Owen Moore, actor (born 1886).
* 28 June – James Charles Dowdall, businessman and independent member of the 1922 Seanad (born 1873).
* 19 July – John Cassidy, sculptor and painter (born 1860).
* 20 August – Edward Bulfin, British general during World War I (born 1862).
* 8 September – Maurice George Moore, soldier and independent member of the 1922 Seanad (born 1854).
* 15 September – William MacCarthy-Morrogh, cricketer (born 1870).
* 20 September – Andrew Claude de la Cherois Crommelin, astronomer (born 1865).
* 10 November – Charlotte Despard, suffragist, novelist and Sinn Féin activist (born 1844).
* 14 December – Samuel Lombard Brown, independent member of 1922 Seanad and barrister (born 1858).
