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««« 1980 1979 1978 1977 1976	1981 in Ireland	»»» 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986
Decades: 1960s • 1970s • 1980s • 1990s • 2000s Centuries: 18th • 19th • 20th • 21st See also: 1981 in Northern Ireland Other events of 1981 List of years in Ireland

Events

• February 14 - Forty-eight young people die in a fire at the Stardust Ballroom in Artane, Dublin.
• March 1 - Bobby Sands begins a hunger strike at the Long Kesh prison in Belfast.
• March 5 - The petrol strike ends as 800 tanker drivers resume work.
• April 4 - Ireland hosts the Eurovision Song Contest, presented by Doireann Ní Bhriain and aired on RTÉ.
• April 10 - Bobby Sands is elected Member of Parliament (MP) for Fermanagh and South Tyrone.
• May 2 - An Aer Lingus Boeing 737 en route from Dublin to London is hijacked and ordered to fly to Tehran. The flight is diverted to Paris and the hijacker, Laurence Downey, is arrested.
• May 5 - Bobby Sands dies on the 66th day of his hunger strike in the Maze Prison in Belfast.
• May 12 - Francis Hughes, previously the most wanted man in the North, dies on the 59th day of his hunger strike in Belfast.
• May 21 - Raymond McCreesh and Patsy O'Hara both die on the 61st day of their hunger strike in the Maze Prison.
• June 30 - Fine Gael leader Dr. Garret FitzGerald is elected Taoiseach.
• July 8 - IRA hunger striker Joseph McDonnell dies. He is the fifth person to die.
• August 1 - Hunger striker Kevin Lynch dies.
• August 2 - Kieran Doherty, TD for Cavan-Monaghan, dies on the 73rd day of his hunger strike.
• September 11 - The Irish Sugar Company announces that it is to close its factory in Tuam, County Galway.
• September 14 - Artist and writer Christy Brown is buried in Dublin.
• December 19 - The Arklow-bound, Dublin-registered Union Star was lost on its maiden voyage off Cornwall. 16 lives were lost, 8 from the Union Star and 8 from RNLB Solomon Browne who died while attempting rescue. Penlee lifeboat disaster
• December 27 - Supporters of the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children march in Dublin to demand a referendum for a pro-life amendment to the Constitution.

Arts and literature

• Molly Keane's novel Good Behaviour is published.

Sport

Association Football (Soccer)

• The Republic of Ireland national football team narrowly miss out on a place at the 1982 World Cup finals in Spain on goal difference.

Gaelic Football

• Kerry GAA beat Offaly GAA by 1-12 to 0-8 to win their fourth successive All-Ireland Senior Football Championship. It is only the hird time that a four-in-a-row has been achieved.

Golf

• Carroll's Irish Open is won by Sam Torrance (Scotland).

Hurling

Offaly GAA win their first All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship, beating Galway GAA by 2-12 to 0-15 in the final.

Births

January to June

• 1 January - Jonas Armstrong, actor.
• 26 January - Glen Fitzpatrick, soccer player.
• 31 January - Dan Connor, soccer player.
• 12 February - Lisa Hannigan, singer and musician.
• 13 February - Liam Miller, soccer player.
• 24 February - Brian O'Callaghan, soccer player.
• 3 March - Ger Spillane, Cork Gaelic footballer.
• 22 March - Brendan McGill, soccer player.
• 23 March - Colin Cryan, soccer player.
• 10 April - Des Byrne, soccer player.
• 18 April - John O'Hara, soccer player.
• 25 April - Thomas Butler, soccer player.
• 14 June - Dominick Joyce, cricketer.

July to December

• 1 July - Tadhg Kennelly, former Gaelic footballer, Australian rules football player.
• 25 July - Fergal Devitt, professional wrestler.
• 1 August - Stephen Hunt, soccer player.
• 12 September - Philip Hughes, soccer player.
• 14 September - Glenn Cronin, soccer player.
• 24 September - Richie Byrne, soccer player.
• 30 September - Cecilia Ahern, author, daughter of Bertie Ahern.
• 4 October - Alan Bennett, soccer player.
• 6 October - Graham Barrett, soccer player.
• 12 October - John Thompson, soccer player.
• 17 October - Steven Gray, soccer player.
• 24 October - David McGill, soccer player.
• 8 November - Niall O'Brien, cricketer.
• 15 November - Kevin Grogan, soccer player.
• 15 November - Brian Shelley, soccer player.
• 17 November - Sean Godley, poet.
• 22 November - Jonathan Douglas, soccer player.
• 8 December - Aidan Price, soccer player.
• 29 December - Paul Heffernan, soccer player.

Full date unknown

• Barry Cahill, Dublin Gaelic footballer.
• Ronan Curran, Cork hurler.
• Derek Hardiman, Galway hurler.
• Brian Hogan, Kilkenny hurler.
• Derek Kavanagh, Cork Gaelic footballer.
• Tom Kenny, Cork hurler.
• Natasha Nic Gairbheith, 2004 Miss Ireland.
• Seán O'Connor, Limerick hurler.
• Dónal O'Grady, Limerick hurler.
• Kevin Tobin, Limerick hurler.
• Orla Tobin, 2003 Rose of Tralee winner.

Deaths

• 1 January - Sir Anthony Esmonde, 15th Baronet, Fine Gael TD and MEP (b.1899).
• 21 January - Norman Stronge, Ulster Unionist Party politician and Speaker of the Northern Ireland House of Commons for 23 years (b.1894).
• 8 April - Gretta Bowen, artist.
• 17 June - Nora Connolly O'Brien, political activist, daughter of James Connolly (b.1893).
• 2 July - Billy Gillespie, soccer player (b.1891).
• 7 July - Donal Foley, Irish Times journalist.
• 21 August - Eddie Byrne, actor (b.1911).
• 7 September - Christy Brown, author, painter and poet (b.1932).
• December - Fred Kiernan, soccer player (b.1919).

Full date unknown

• James Auchmuty, historian (b.1909)
• Muriel Brandt, artist (b.1909)
• Oisín Kelly, sculptor (b.1915).
• Robin Lawler, soccer player (b.1925).
• Tommy Moroney, soccer and rugby player (b.1923).
• Nano Reid, painter (b.1905).
• Jackie Vernon, footballer (b.1918).