The Irish calendar does not observe the typical astronomical seasons (beginning, in the Northern Hemisphere, on the equinoxes and solstices), or the meteorological seasons (beginning on March 1, June 1, September 1 and December 1), but rather centres the seasons around the solstices and equinoxes (so that, for instance, midsummer falls on the summer solstice), beginning the seasons at the approximate halfway points between solstice and equinox, following the seasons of the ancient Celts (see below) which are pre-Christian in origin. This Celtic origin is particularly evident in the Irish naming of many of the months: some names, like May (Bealtaine), August (Lughnasadh/Lúnasa) and November (Samhain) were the names of pagan Celtic festivals. In addition, the names for September and October (Meán Fómhair and Deireadh Fómhair respectively) translate directly as "middle of autumn" and "end of autumn". Christianity has also left its mark on the Irish months: December is Nollaig, a word also meaning Christmastide.
Seasons
Winter - An Geimhreadh
November - Samhain / Mí na Samhna
- November 1 - Samhain, All Saints' Day and Lá Samhna (November Day), the first day of Winter and of the Celtic New Year
- November 2 - All Souls' Day
- November 3 - 1796 first court sittings at the Four Courts, Dublin
- November 6 - Feast of All the Saints of Ireland
- November 7 - 1791: The Custom House, Dublin, opened
- November 8 - 1847: birth of Bram Stoker
- November 10 - 1728: birth of Oliver Goldsmith
- November 11 - 1933: Abolition of appeal from courts of the Irish Free State to the Privy Council.
- November 14 - 1923 - Senator William Butler Yeats awarded Nobel Prize for Literature
- November 15 - 1951: Nobel Prize for Physics awarded to Professor Ernest Walton of Trinity College, Dublin
- November 16 - 1965: death of W. T. Cosgrave, first President of the Executive Council of the Irish Free State
- November 17 - 1974: death in office of Erskine Hamilton Childers, President of Ireland.
- November 18 - 1982 death of Hilton Edwards, actor, director and co-founder of the Gate Theatre
- November 19 - 1798: death of Wolfe Tone
- November 20 - 1949: students and staff celebrate centenary of University College Galway
- November 21 - 1920: Bloody Sunday (1920) in Dublin
- November 22 - 1963 death of C. S. Lewis, novelist
- November 24 - 1922: Execution of Robert Erskine Childers by the Irish Free State during the Irish Civil War.
- November 25 - 1913: Irish Volunteers founded
- November 27 - 1906 death of Michael Cusack, founder of the Gaelic Athletic Association
- November 28 - 1905 founding of Sinn Féin
- November 29 - 1944 - County Dublin awarded a coat of arms by the Chief Herald of Ireland
- November 30 - 1667: birth of Jonathan Swift
December - Nollaig
- December 1 - 1494: Poynings Law enacted
- December 3 - 1925 Report of the Boundary Commission (Ireland) made public
- December 6 - Feast of Saint Nicholas, chief patron of the City of Galway
- December 7 - 1972 - Fourth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland, (Voting age reduced to 18)
- December 8 - Feast of the Immaculate Conception, for Irish Roman Catholics, a Holy Day of Obligation
- December 9 - 1922: First meeting of the first Senate of the Irish Free State
- December 10 - 1974: Seán McBride former Minister for External Affairs presented with Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo
- December 11 - 1921 Sack of Cork by Black and Tans
- December 12 - 1927 first independent Irish coinage circulated
- December 13 - Feast of Saint Lucy (the following Wednesday, Friday and Saturday were observed as Quarter tense)
- December 14 - 1918: Last all-Ireland general election to the UK House of Commons
- 1955: Ireland admitted to UN
- 1982: First meeting of the 24th Dáil
- 1992: First meeting of the 27th Dáil
- December 15 - 1993: Downing Street Declaration issued by UK and Irish Governments
- December 17 - 1834: opening of the first Irish railway - the Dublin and Kingstown Railway
- December 18 - Feast of Saint Flannan patron of the Diocese of Killaloe, County Clare
- December 19 - 1974: Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh inaugurated as President of Ireland.
- December 21, 1948 The Republic of Ireland Act is signed into law by President Seán T. O'Kelly at Áras an Uachtaráin in the presence of the Government of Ireland (see April 18, 1949)
- December 22 - 1989: death of Samuel Beckett, Saoi of Aosdána
- December 23 - 1920: Government of Ireland Act passed
- December 25 - Christmas Day (Public Holiday), one of the four Irish Quarter days
- December 26 - St. Stephen's Day (Public Holiday)
- December 29 - 1937: Constitution of Ireland comes into operation.
- December 31 - 1961: RTÉ, then Telefís Éireann, begins programming
January - Eanáir
- January 1 - New Year's Day, one of the public holidays in the Republic of Ireland.
- January 2 - St. Munchin, Patron of the Diocese of Limerick
- January 4 - 1986 death of Phil Lynott, member of Thin Lizzy
- January 3 - 1946: execution of William Joyce, Lord Haw-Haw
- January 5 - Twelfth Night
- January 6 - Little Christmas (Nollaig Bheag) and/or Women's Christmas (Nollaig na mBan)
- January 7 - 1922: Anglo-Irish Treaty ratified by Dáil Éireann
- January 8 - 1968: Taoiseach Jack Lynch meets Terence O'Neill in Dublin
- January 10 - 1910 marriage of Sinéad Flanagan and Éamon de Valera
- January 13 - 1941: death of James Joyce
- January 14 - 1961 death of Barry Fitzgerald, actor
- January 15 - 1988 death of Nobel Peace Prize winner, Seán McBride
- January 16 - 1922: Michael Collins accepts surrender of Dublin Castle from the Viceroy, Lord Fitzalan
- January 17 - 1860: birth of Douglas Hyde
- January 20 - 1915 death of Arthur Guinness, 1st Baron Ardilaun of Ashford Castle
- January 21 - 1919: Meeting of the First Dáil in the Mansion House, Dublin
- January 22 - 1971: Ireland signs Treaty of Accession to European Economic Community in Brussels
- January 24 - 1901 - Proclamation of Edward VII as King in Dublin Castle
- January 27 - 1967: Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association founded
- January 28 - 1939: death of William Butler Yeats
- January 30 - 1808 work begins on Nelson's Pillar, Dublin.
- January 31 - St. Aidan, Patron of the Diocese of Ferns
- 1922 First edition of Iris Oifigiúil (the Irish State Gazette), is published
Spring - An tEarrach (February, March and April)
February - Feabhra
- February 1 - Imbolc, Feast of St Brigid (Secondary Patron of Ireland) and Lá Feabhra, the first day of Spring
- February 2 - Candlemas, more commonly, in Ireland, called the Presentation of the Lord
- February 3 - feast of Saint Blaise
- February 4 - 1948: Irish general election for the 13th Dáil
- February 5 - 1921 death of Katherine Parnell (Kitty O'Shea), widow of Charles Stewart Parnell
- February 6 - Feast of St. Mel, patron of the Diocese of Ardagh
- February 8 - 1933: First meeting of the 8th Dáil
- February 9 - 1926 birth of Garret FitzGerald, future Taoiseach
- February 13 - 1893: Gladstone introduces second Home Rule bill
- February 14 - St. Valentine's Day (relics of St. Valentine held in Whitefriar Street Carmelite Church in Dublin.
- February 15 - 1971: Decimal Day- Ireland abandons £sd.
- February 16 - 1932: Irish general election for the 7th Dáil
- February 17 - 1987: Irish general election for the 25th Dáil
- February 18 - 1948 First meeting of the 13th Dáil
- February 19 - 1366: Statutes of Kilkenny promulgated
- February 24 - 1582: Bull of Pope Gregory XIII, for reform of calendar, issued at Rome
- February 25 - 1949: Noel Browne announces emergency drive to eliminate tuberculosis
- February 28 - 1965 state funeral begins (with reinterment on March 1) of Roger Casement who was executed in 1916
- February 28 - 1973: Irish general election for the 20th Dáil
March - Márta
- March 1 - 1981: Bobby Sands begins hunger strike in HM Prison Maze
- March 3 - Charter of Trinity College, Dublin granted.
- March 4 - 1986 death of Edward McLysaght, former Chief Herald of Ireland
- March 5 - Feast of St. Kieran, patron of the Diocese of Ossory
- March 6 - 1152: Synod of Kells convenes.
- March 7 - 1848: first unveiling of the Irish tricolour (in Waterford).
- 1965 - following the liturgical changes of the Second Vatican Council, Mass in Ireland is read for the first time in the English and Irish languages
- March 8 - 1966: Nelson's Pillar destroyed in explosion
- March 9 - 1932: First meeting of the 7th Dáil
- March 10 - 1894: Ireland wins Rugby Triple Crown for first time
- March 11 - 1987: Dr. Garret FitzGerald resigns as leader of Fine Gael. Succeeded by Alan Dukes
- March 13 - 1979: Ireland joins new European Monetary System (EMS)
- March 14 - 1973: First meeting of the 20th Dáil
- March 17 - Saint Patrick's Day (public holiday), and for Irish Roman Catholics, a Holy Day of Obligation
- 1799 and 1940 - Palm Sunday and St. Patrick's Day fall on same date - "the palm and the shamrock worn together".
- March 18 - 1899: Ireland wins Rugby Triple Crown for 2nd time
- March 19 - 1921: An IRA column escaped from British troops at the Crossbarry Ambush
- March 20 - 1920 assassination by the British of Thomas McCurtain, Lord Mayor of Cork
- March 21 - 1978 death of Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh former President of Ireland
- March 22 - 1987 Launch of Irish National Lottery
- March 23 - 1971: Brian Faulkner elected PM of Northern Ireland
- March 24 - Feast of Saint Macartan, patron of the Diocese of Clogher
- March 25 - One of the four Irish Quarter days
- March 26 - 1931 death of Timothy Michael Healy, first Governor-General of the Irish Free State
- March 28 - 1985 Gaisce, (The President's Awards]], created
- 2002 - Dáil resolution passed setting up the Morris Tribunal to investigate complaints against some Gardaí in the Donegal Division
- March 29 - 1859: first issue of The Irish Times
- 2004: Smoking ban in all work places introduced in Ireland
- March 30 - 1979: Ireland announces ending of one-for-one parity with sterling.
- March 31 - 1931 death of Lord Glenavy, (Sir James Henry Mussen Campbell), lawyer, Lord Chancellor of Ireland 1918-1921, Cathaoirleach of the 1922 Seanad and of the 1925 Seanad
The last days of March and the first three days of April are known as The Old Cows Days/The Days of the Brindled Cow or, in the Irish language, Laethanta na Riabhaí.
April - Aibreán
Summer - An Samhradh (May, June and July)
May - Bealtaine
The first Monday in May is a public holiday.
- May 1 - Beltane and Lá Bealtaine, the first day of Summer
- May 2 - 1872: St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin becomes the National Cathedral of the Church of Ireland
- May 3 - Feast of Saint Conleth, patron of Kildare Diocese of Kildare and Leighlin
- May 4 - Leaders of the Easter Rising, Joseph Plunkett, Michael O'Hanrahan, Edward Daly and Willie Pearse executed
- May 5 - 1916 - Easter Rising leader John McBride executed by the British
- May 6 - 1074: death of Dúnán, first bishop of Dublin
- May 7 - 1915: Lusitania sunk off Old Head of Kinsale
- May 8 - 1916 Easter Rising leaders Eamon Ceannt, Con Colbert, Michael Mallin and Seán Heuston executed by the British
- May 10 - 1972, Third Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland, (EU membership)
- May 11 - 1967: Ireland applies to join European Economic Community
- May 12 - 1916 execution of Easter Rising leaders Seán MacDiarmada and James Connolly by the British
- May 13 - 653 (Pentecost Sunday): Monastery founded on Iona by Saint Columcille
- May 14 - Feast of Saint Mochuda (Carthage), patron of Lismore Diocese of Waterford and Lismore
- May 15 - 1847: death of Daniel O'Connell at Genoa
- May 16 - Feast of Saint Brendan, patron of the Diocese of Clonfert
- May 17 - 2002 - Irish general election for the 29th Dáil
- May 18 - 1939 - the Earl of Iveagh presents his Dublin townhouse, Iveagh House to the people of Ireland - it becomes the headquarters of the Department of Foreign Affairs
June - Meitheamh
The first Monday in June is a public holiday.
- June 2 - 1954 - First meeting of the 15th Dáil
- June 3 - Feast of St. Kevin (Abbot of Glendalough) and patron of the Archdiocese of Dublin,
- June 4 - 1798: death of Lord Edward Fitzgerald
- June 5 - 1798: Battle of New Ross
- June 6 - Feast of St. Jarlath patron of the Archdiocese of Tuam
- June 7 - 1921: first meeting of House of Commons of Northern Ireland
- June 8 - First Home Rule bill defeated
- June 9 - Feast of Saint Columcille (Secondary Patron of Ireland)
- June 11 - 1999: Twentieth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland, (Local Government)
- June 10 - 1642: first regularly constituted presbytery meets in Carrickfergus.
- June 11 - 1981: Irish general election for the 22nd Dáil
- June 12 - 1997: Mary Robinson appointed UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
- June 13 - 1713: Jonathan Swift installed as Dean of St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin.
- June 14 - 1939: First of the Offences against the State Acts 1939-1998 passed
- June 15 - 1919 first non-stop trans-Atlantic flight by Alcock and Brown lands near Clifden, Connemara
- 1989 - Irish general election for the 26th Dáil
- June 16 - Bloomsday
- June 16 - 1922: Elections held for Third Dáil
- June 17 - 1938 - Irish general election for the 10th Dáil
- June 18 - 1541: Henry VIII declared King of Ireland by Irish Parliament.
- June 19 - 1940 establishment o the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies
- June 20 - 1763: birth of Wolfe Tone
- 1990 - IR£1 punt coin replaces one-punt note
- June 21 - 1798: 15,000 British troops disperse rebel army at Battle of Vinegar Hill and Enniscorthy, Co. Wexford, during 1798 Rebellion
- June 22 - 1866: creation of first Irish Cardinal, Paul Cullen, Archbishop of Dublin.
- June 23 - St. John's Eve / Bonfire Night / Lá Fhéile Eoin
- June 24 - One of the four Irish Quarter days
- June 25 - 1731: Royal Dublin Society founded.
- June 26 - 1963: John F. Kennedy begins state visit to Ireland
- June 27 - 1939 death of Tom Crean, Arctic explorer
- June 28 - 1922: Irish Civil War begins when Michael Collins bombards the Four Courts in Dublin
- June 29 - 1315: Edward Bruce inaugurated as High King of Ireland
- June 30 - 1938: First meeting of the 10th Dáil
July - Iúil
Autumn - An Fómhar (August, September and October)
August - Lúnasa
The first Monday in August is a public holiday.
|
