1778 in Ireland

Events from the year 1778 in Ireland.

Incumbent

 * Monarch: George III

Events

 * 28 March – Hugh O'Reilly succeeds Daniel O'Reilly as Roman Catholic Bishop of Clogher, an office he will hold until 1801.
 * April – the Ladies of Llangollen run away from Ireland to set up a rural household together.
 * 24 April – American Revolutionary War: North Channel Naval Duel: John Paul Jones in USS Ranger (1777) captures HMS Drake (1777) in the North Channel off Carrickfergus.
 * Papists Act provides a measure of Catholic Relief: Catholics now have property rights and may intermarry; and restoration of Catholic religious institutions begins.
 * Charles Vallancey surveys West Cork.

Births

 * 4 March – Robert Emmet, nationalist, rebel against British rule in 1803 (executed 1803).
 * 18 May – Charles Stewart, 3rd Marquess of Londonderry, soldier, politician and nobleman (died 1854).
 * 29 September – Catherine McAuley, nun (died 1841).
 * 15 November – George Canning, 1st Baron Garvagh, politician (died 1840).

Deaths

 * March – Thomas Roberts, landscape painter (born 1748).
 * 28 March – Daniel O’Reilly, Roman Catholic Bishop of Clogher (born 1700).