1946 in Ireland

Events from the year 1946 in Ireland.

Incumbents

 * President: Seán T. O'Kelly
 * Taoiseach: Éamon de Valera (FF)
 * Tánaiste: Seán Lemass (FF)
 * Minister for Finance: Frank Aiken (FF)
 * Chief Justice:
 * Timothy Sullivan (until 1 June 1946)
 * Conor Maguire (from 1 June 1946)
 * Dáil: 12th
 * Seanad: 5th

Events

 * 3 January – William Joyce, alias Lord Haw Haw, is hanged in Wandsworth Prison for treason.
 * 7 January – the Minister for Education, Thomas Derrig, announces that because refugee children who arrived in Ireland during the war do not have a sufficient knowledge of the Irish language they cannot obtain the Leaving Certificate.
 * 21 January – work starts on a comprehensive Irish-English dictionary.
 * 4 February – it is announced that George Bernard Shaw is to be awarded the freedom of Dublin.
 * 17 June – Aer Lingus inaugurates a Dublin-Paris air service.
 * 6 July – a new republican political party, Clann na Poblachta, is formed in Dublin.
 * 25 July – Éamon de Valera's motion to apply for membership of the United Nations is accepted in the Dáil.
 * 6 August – on the first anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing, Captain Bob Lewis, the co-pilot of the Enola Gay, the aircraft which dropped the bomb, arrives at Shannon Airport, completing his first flight as a civil aviation pilot.
 * 12 August – a plane bringing 23 French Girl Guides to Dublin crashes on Djouce in the Wicklow Mountains with no fatalities.
 * 29 August – George Bernard Shaw is honoured by being made a freeman of Dublin.
 * 2 September – the Emergency Powers Act 1939 expires. The Defence Forces (Requisitions of Emergency) Order, 1940, is also revoked by Order (signed 28 August) with effect from this date.
 * September – the Marine Service is formally disbanded and replaced by the Naval Service as a permanent component of the Irish Defence Forces.
 * 6 October – seventy primary school teachers protest about low pay on the pitch at Croke Park at half-time during the Kerry–Roscommon All-Ireland Football Final.
 * 22 November – Walt Disney arrives in Dublin. He has a meeting with the Irish Folklore Commission to further his investigation of leprechauns for a forthcoming film.
 * 18 December – the government announces the release of 24 internees, including Brendan Behan.

Arts and literature

 * 5 August – Frank Carney's religious melodrama The Righteous are Bold opens at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin, where it runs for an unprecedented 14 weeks.
 * Denis Devlin publishes his Lough Derg and Other Poems in New York.
 * Patrick Kavanagh publishes his poem "On Raglan Road" (under the title "Dark Haired Miriam Ran Away") in The Irish Press (3 October).
 * Mervyn Wall publishes his first novel, The Unfortunate Fursey.
 * Jack Butler Yeats paints Men of Destiny and The Whistle of a Jacket.

Football

 * League of Ireland
 * Winners: Cork United


 * FAI Cup
 * Winners: Drumcondra 2–1 Shamrock Rovers.

Golf

 * Irish Open is won by Fred Daly (Northern Ireland).

Births

 * 2 February – Tony Byrne, soccer player (died 2016).
 * 2 April – Ruairi Quinn, leader of the Labour Party and Cabinet Minister, TD for Dublin South-East.
 * 9 April – Charlie O'Connor, Fianna Fáil TD for Dublin South-West.
 * 15 April – Michael Neary, Archbishop of Tuam (1995– ).
 * 17 April – Henry Kelly, journalist, writer and television presenter.
 * 25 April – Peter Sutherland, barrister, businessman and politician (died 2018).
 * May – Mary Upton, Labour Party TD for Dublin South-Central.
 * 18 June – Ray Treacy, soccer player and manager.
 * 12 July – Seán Keane, fiddle player with The Chieftains (died 2023).
 * 18 July – John Naughton, journalist, author and academic
 * 6 August – Brendan Ryan, Independent then Labour Party Senator.
 * 10 August – Jimmy Conway, soccer player (died 2020).
 * 24 August – BP Fallon, author and photographer.
 * 12 September – Pat Moylan, Fianna Fáil politician, Cathaoirleach of Seanad Éireann (2007– ).
 * 29 September – Michael Keating, Fine Gael TD and Minister, Deputy Leader of the Progressive Democrats and Lord Mayor of Dublin.
 * 2 October – Terry Conroy, soccer player.
 * 19 October – Jim Mitchell, Fine Gael TD and Cabinet Minister (died 2002).
 * 21 November – Jim Fahy, journalist and broadcaster (died 2022)
 * 29 November – Eamonn Campbell, folk guitarist/singer with The Dubliners (died 2017).
 * 1 December – Gilbert O'Sullivan, pop singer/songwriter.
 * 20 December – Tom McGurk, poet, journalist and broadcaster.
 * 27 December – Joe Kinnear, soccer player and manager (died 2024).
 * 31 December – Martin Mansergh, historian and Fianna Fáil TD for Tipperary South.
 * Full date unknown
 * Tom Foley, racehorse trainer (died 2021).
 * Séamus Horgan, Limerick hurler.
 * Charlie McCarthy, Cork hurler.
 * Con Roche, Cork hurler.

Deaths

 * 16 January – Bill O'Callaghan, Cork hurler (b. c1869).
 * 19 January – Pádraic Ó Máille, Sinn Féin MP and TD, Fianna Fáil Senator (born 1878).
 * 21 January – James Crowley, Sinn Féin TD, member 1st Dáil and Cumann na nGaedheal TD.
 * 2 February – Jack White, soldier, trade unionist, co-founder of the Irish Citizen Army (born 1879).
 * 27 February – James Cecil Parke, international rugby player, tennis player, golfer and Olympic medallist (born 1881).
 * 9 March – John J. Glennon, Roman Catholic Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Saint Louis and cardinal (born 1862).
 * 20 March – Frederic Trench, 3rd Baron Ashtown, peer (born 1868).
 * 20 April – Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington, feminist, suffragette and writer (born 1877).
 * 5 April – Martin Moffat, soldier, recipient of the Victoria Cross (born 1882).
 * 22 August – John Philip Bagwell, general manager Great Northern Railway, Seanad member (born 1874).
 * 23 August – Samuel Cunningham, politician and Irish Privy Councillor (born 1862).
 * 28 August – Rudolph Lambart, 10th Earl of Cavan, British Army commander in World War I, later Chief of the Imperial General Staff and Field Marshal (born 1865).
 * 20 October – William Bernard Barry, politician in the United States (born 1902).
 * 13 November – Patrick McLane, Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania (born 1875).
 * 16 December – Blayney Hamilton, cricketer (born 1872).
 * 30 December – Mick Ahern, Cork hurler (born 1905).