1923 in Ireland

← 1922 1921 1920 1919 1918 1923 in Ireland → 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928
Centuries:	18th 19th 20th 21st
Decades:	1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s
See also:	1923 in Northern Ireland Other events of 1923 List of years in Ireland

Events from the year 1923 in Ireland.

Incumbents

• Governor-General: Tim Healy
• President of the Executive Council: W. T. Cosgrave (CnaG)
• Vice-President of the Executive Council: Kevin O'Higgins (CnaG)
• Minister for Finance:
  • W. T. Cosgrave (CnaG) (until 21 September 1923)
  • Ernest Blythe (CnaG) (from 21 September 1923)
• Dáil:
  • 3rd (until 9 August 1923)
  • 4th (from 19 September 1923)
• Seanad: 1922 Seanad

Events

January

• 13 January – Beechpark, the residence of President W. T. Cosgrave in Ballyboden, Dublin, was set on fire. ^{[1] [2]}
• 16 January – The Provisional Government of Ireland took office.^{[ citation needed ]}

February

• 18 February – An amnesty for Irish Republican Army (IRA) Irregulars expired. ^[3] It had been introduced by the Minister for Home Affairs, Kevin O'Higgins on 8 February.
• 21 February – An order was signed creating the Revenue Commissioners. ^{[4] [5]}

April

• 1 April – The Provisional Government established customs posts on the border with Northern Ireland. ^[6]
• 11 April – Liam Lynch, Chief of Staff of the Irregulars, was wounded and captured by the Free State's National Army in the Knockmealdown Mountains. ^[7] His subsequent death in Clonmel was also announced by the army.
• 14 April – Austin Stack was captured by National Army troops at the foot of the Knockmealdown Mountains.
• 30 April – Thousands turned up to greet Jim Larkin as he returned to Ireland after a eight-year absence in the United States. ^{[8] [9]}

May

• May–December – The Irish Transport and General Workers' Union staged a farm labourer's strike in County Waterford. ^[10]
• 15 May – Neil 'Plunkett' Boyle was the last person to be killed during the Irish Civil War when he was shot dead while surrendering to the National Army at Knocknadruce near Valleymount, County Wicklow. ^{[11] [12] [13]}
• 28 May – The Government released two captured documents issued by the IRA on 24 May. The letters, signed by Éamon de Valera and Frank Aiken (the new Chief of Staff) called for the dumping of arms and the ending of armed struggle. ^[7] The Civil War was officially over.
• 31 May – The obelisk of 1736 commemorating the Battle of the Boyne (fought in 1690 at Oldbridge, County Meath) was blown up. ^[14]

July

• 20 July – Éamon de Valera appealed to the American Association for the Recognition of the Irish Republic for $100,000 to fight the forthcoming general election.

August

• August – The British Royal Navy patrol ship HMY Helga was handed over to the Irish Coastal and Marine Service as the Public Armed Ship Muirchú.
• 2 August – Joe Whitty died on an independent hunger strike, the first of three IRA men to die in the 1923 Irish Hunger Strikes. ^[15]
• 15 August – Éamon de Valera was arrested at an election meeting in Ennis, County Clare.
• 22 August – Fires at the Waterford offices of the Waterford News and Sinn Féin. ^[16]
• 27 August – 1923 Irish general election: Cumann na nGaedheal under W. T. Cosgrave won most seats and formed a minority government. ^[17]

September

• 10 September – Ireland was admitted into the League of Nations. ^[18]
• 17 September – Thirty-three members presented themselves at Leinster House for the swearing in of the new Dáil. No anti-Treaty republicans attended.^{[ citation needed ]}
• 19 September – The Fourth Dáil met for the first time at Leinster House. Michael Hayes was elected Ceann Comhairle and W. T. Cosgrave was elected President of the Executive Council. ^{[19] [20]}

October

• 13 October – 23 November – 1923 Irish Hunger Strikes: IRA prisoners in Irish gaols staged a hunger strike; two died. ^[7]
• 15 October – The Mallow Viaduct over the River Blackwater was officially re-opened by President of the Executive Council, W. T. Cosgrave. ^{[21] [22]}

November

• 14 November – The poet William Butler Yeats became the first Irish Nobel prize laureate when he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. ^[23]

Full date unknown

• The Royal Bank of Ireland bought the Irish Free State business of the Belfast Banking Company (now Danske Bank), ^[24] which in turn bought the Northern Ireland business of the Royal Bank of Ireland. See Allied Irish Banks.
• The General Assembly of the Church of Scotland called for curbs on the immigration of Irish Catholics. ^[25]

Arts and literature

• 12 April – Seán O'Casey's drama The Shadow of a Gunman , the first of his "Dublin Trilogy" (set in 1920), opened at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin. ^[26]
• 14 November – W. B. Yeats won the 1923 Nobel Prize in Literature for his poetry. ^{[27] [28]}
• Elizabeth Bowen published her first book, a collection of short stories, Encounters, in London. ^[29]
• Liam O'Flaherty published his first novel, Thy Neighbour's Wife . ^[30]
• Mainie Jellett's Decoration was among the first abstract paintings shown in Ireland when it is exhibited at the Society of Dublin Painters Group Show. ^[31]

Sports

Association football

• League of Ireland

  Winners: Shamrock Rovers ^[32]

  FAI Cup

  Winners: Alton United 1–0 Shelbourne. Played at Dalymount Park, Dublin, on 17 March 1923. ^{[33] [34]}

  Belfast side Alton United of the Falls District League were shock winners of the Free State Cup beating Shelbourne 1–0 in the final at Dalymount Park. ^[34] Clubs and leagues in nationalist areas of Northern Ireland had affiliated to the FA of the Irish Free State after the 1921 split from the Belfast-based Irish Football Association. ^[32]

Boxing

• World light heavyweight championship

  Winners: Mike McTigue defeated Battling Siki for the title on St Patrick's Day, 1923, at La Scala Theatre, Dublin. ^{[35] [36]}

Gaelic football

• The 1923 All-Ireland SFC winner was Dublin. ^{[37] [38]}
• June – 1921 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship completed. ^[32]
• October – 1922 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship completed. ^[32]

Hurling

• The 1923 All-Ireland SHC winner was Galway. ^{[39] [40]}
• March – 1921 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship completed, with the Liam MacCarthy Cup first presented after the 1921 final. ^[32]
• September – 1922 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship completed. ^[32]

Births

• 2 January – Cathal Goulding, Chief of Staff of the IRA and the Official IRA (died 1998). ^[41]
• 15 January – Tommy Eglington, association football player (died 2004).
• 31 January – Joseph Burke, cricketer (died 2005).
• 9 February – Brendan Behan, poet, novelist and playwright (died 1964). ^{[42] [43]}
• 20 March – Con Martin, association football player and manager (died 2013).
• 8 April – Edward Mulhare, actor (died 1997).
• 2 May – Patrick Hillery, Fianna Fáil party Teachta Dála (TD), cabinet minister, European Commissioner and sixth President of Ireland (died 2008).
• 24 May – Siobhán McKenna, actress (died 1986).
• May – Seán Óg Ó Ceallacháin, journalist, author and broadcaster (died 2013).
• 3 June – Maureen Flavin Sweeney, postmistress (died 2023). ^{[44] [45]}
• 11 June – Seán Condon, Cork hurler (died 2001).
• 17 June – W. M. Gorman, economist (died 2003).
• 23 June – Peter Corr, international association football player and father of The Corrs members (died 2001).
• 8 July – John Wilson, Fianna Fáil TD and Cabinet Minister, previously Cavan Gaelic footballer (died 2007).
• 10 September – Mickey Byrne, Tipperary hurler (died 2016).
• 23 September – Seán Treacy, Labour Party TD for Tipperary South, Ceann Comhairle of Dáil Éireann (died 2018).
• 8 October – Kathleen Mills, camogie player (died 1996).
• 29 October – Paddy Donegan, Fine Gael party TD and cabinet minister (died 2000).
• 10 November – Tommy Moroney, association football and rugby player (died 1981).
• 17 December – Dennis Flynn, soldier in Canada, Chairman of the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto (died 2003).
• 21 December – Scott Huey, cricketer (died 2012).
• 25 December – Jim Tunney, Fianna Fáil TD, Minister of State and Lord Mayor of Dublin (died 2002).
• 28 December – Anthony Cronin, poet (died 2016).

Deaths

• 28 January – George Richardson, soldier, recipient of the Victoria Cross for gallantry in 1859 at Kewane Trans-Gogra, India (born 1831).
• 25 March – Thomas Crean, surgeon, rugby player and soldier, recipient of the Victoria Cross for gallantry in 1901 at Tygerkloof Spruit, South Africa (born 1873).
• 10 April – Liam Lynch, commanding general of the anti-Treaty IRA during the Irish Civil War, shot and killed (born 1893). ^{[46] [47]}
• 17 April – Laurence Ginnell, nationalist, lawyer and politician, member of 1st Dáil (born 1852). ^[48]
• 23 April – Seán Etchingham, Sinn Féin politician, member of 1st Dáil, cabinet minister (born 1868). ^[49]
• 29 April – Robert Carew, 3rd Baron Carew (born 1860).
• 11 June – Herbert Trench, poet (born 1865).
• 16 July – Sydney Mary Thompson, geologist and botanist (born 1847).
• 9 August – O'Moore Creagh, soldier, recipient of the Victoria Cross for gallantry in 1879 at Kam Dakka, Afghanistan (born 1848).
• 20 October – Thomas MacPartlin, trade union official, elected to 1922 Seanad (born 1879).
• 9 November – Maurice Healy, lawyer, politician and Member of Parliament (born 1859).
• 20 November – Denny Barry, Irish Republican, in 1923 Irish Hunger Strikes (born 1883). ^{[50] [51]}
• 22 November – Andy O'Sullivan, agriculturalist and Irish Republican, died after 40 days on hunger strike in St. Bricin's Military Hospital, Dublin in 1923 Irish Hunger Strikes (born 1882). ^{[52] [53] [54]}
• 5 December – Edward Martyn, playwright and activist (born 1859).

References

1. "Cosgrave's Home is Burned". The New York Times . Associated Press. 14 January 1923. p. 4. Retrieved 7 January 2026.
2. "Rathfarnham residence of President Cosgrave destroyed in arson attack". Century Ireland. RTÉ . Retrieved 7 January 2026.
3. McCarthy, Kieran (8 February 2023). "Recasting Cork: Amnesty, arms and advantage". Cork Independent . Retrieved 7 January 2026.
4. Revenue Commissioners Order, 1923 ( S.R.O. No. 703 of 1923 ). Statutory Rules and Orders of the Executive Council .Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 7 January 2026.
5. "Dublin Castle in 1916". Revenue Commissioners . Retrieved 7 January 2026. The Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revenue) was established by Government Order 2/23 on 21 February 1923...
6. Moore, Cormac (21 June 2016). "A customs border between North and South? What we can learn from Ireland in 1923". TheJournal.ie . Dublin. Retrieved 13 May 2021.
7. Cottrell, Peter (2009). The War for Ireland, 1913–1923. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. ISBN   978-1-84603-9966.
8. "Jim Larkin returns to Ireland after 8 years, but no labour or ITGWU officials greet him". Century Ireland. RTÉ . Retrieved 7 January 2026.
9. O'Connor, Emmet (April 2002). "James Larkin in the United States, 1914-23". Journal of Contemporary History . 37 (2): 196. JSTOR   3180681. Within weeks of his arrival in Dublin on 30 April 1923...
10. O'Connor, Emmet (1989). A Labour history of Waterford. Waterford Council of Trade Unions. ISBN   0951503405.
11. Collins, Róise (14 May 2023). "Last man killed during Civil War remembered". Donegal News . Retrieved 25 November 2024.
12. NicPhaidin, Michelle (2 March 2022). "Ceremony to take place to mark 100-year anniversary of Rosses Martyrs". Donegal Live . Retrieved 25 November 2024.
13. Foley, Alan (20 November 2023). "Booklet published on Neil 'Plunkett' Boyle - the last man killed in the civil war". Donegal Live . Retrieved 8 January 2026.
14. Moody, T. W.; et al., eds. (1989). A New History of Ireland. 8: A Chronology of Irish History. Oxford University Press. ISBN   978-0-19-821744-2.
15. "The Civil War". rootsireland.ie. roots ireland. Retrieved 29 August 2021. Joe Whitty aged 19 who died on hunger-strike.
16. Freeman's Journal 7 April 1924.
17. Ferriter, Diarmaid (7 June 2023). "The legacy of the Civil War". RTÉ . Retrieved 7 January 2026.
18. Kennedy, Michael (2 May 2023). "League of Nations: How Ireland joined 'great institution for peace'". The Irish Times . Retrieved 7 January 2026.
19. "Fourth Dáil re-elects Cosgrave as President as street protesters demand prisoner releases". Century Ireland. RTÉ . Retrieved 7 January 2026.
20. "Dáil Éireann debate - Election of Ceann Comhairle". Oireachtas . 19 September 1923. Archived from the original on 17 August 2022. Retrieved 7 January 2026.
21. "Re-opening of Mallow viaduct heralded as a sign of returned normality". Century Ireland. RTÉ . Retrieved 7 January 2026.
22. Walsh, Pat (15 October 2023). "Blown up... then rebuilt: Story of Mallow Viaduct 100 years on". Echo Live . Retrieved 7 January 2026.
23. "Nobel Prize in Literature 1923". NobelPrize.org. Archived from the original on 16 December 2014. Retrieved 15 November 2024.
24. "Black ties and red carnations hail start of 50-year bank account". News Letter . 24 June 2020. Retrieved 7 January 2026. In 1923, following secret negotiations, they transferred their business in the Republic of Ireland to the Royal Bank of Ireland Limited along with 20 branches and their staff.
25. The church published a booklet entitled The Menace of the Irish Race to Our Scottish Nationality. Goring, Rosemary, ed. (2014). Scotland: the autobiography (New ed.). London: Penguin. pp. 308–11. ISBN   978-0-241-96916-8.
26. Welch, Robert (3 October 2011) [21 October 1999]. The Abbey Theatre, 1899-1999: Form and Pressure (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 83. ISBN   9780191671364 – via Oxford Academic. Sean O'Casey's The Shadow of a Gunman opened on 12 April, with the theatre still under armed guard.
27. "Nobel Prize in Literature 1923". Nobel Prize . Retrieved 7 January 2026.
28. Paterson, Adrian (14 November 2023). "The story of WB Yeats' Nobel Prize win 100 years ago today". RTÉ Brainstorm. RTÉ . Retrieved 7 January 2026.
29. Coughlan, Patricia (August 2018). "Elizabeth Bowen". In Ingman, H.; Ó Gallchoir, C. (eds.). A History of Modern Irish Women’s Literature (1st ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 6. doi:10.1017/9781316442999.012. hdl:10468/14892. ISBN   9781316442999 – via CORA: UCC Institutional Repository (Q71019767). A first story-collection, Encounters, appeared in 1923...
30. O'Brien, James Howard (1973). Liam O'Flaherty. Associated University Presses. pp. 11, 23. ISBN   9780838777732. LCCN   78126291. OL   4767371M.
31. Rooney, Brendan (16 April 2025). "How two defiantly modern – and Modernist – women changed Irish art". RTÉ . Retrieved 7 January 2026.
32. Diallo, Raf (25 December 2022) [8 December 2022]. "Irish sport in 1923: FAI joins FIFA and delayed deciders". RTÉ . Retrieved 7 January 2026.
33. "FAI Cup: Trophy finally comes to Belfast 100 years after Alton United's shock success". BBC Sport . 29 September 2023. Retrieved 7 January 2026.
34. "Alton United: North Belfast based club that won FAI Cup 100 years ago to be remembered". The Irish News . 22 March 2023. Retrieved 7 January 2026.
35. O'Hanlon, Oliver. "The story of Battling Siki's historic boxing fight in Dublin on St Patrick's Day 1923". RTÉ Brainstorm. RTÉ . Retrieved 7 January 2026.
36. McGoldrick, Sean (17 March 2023). "Centenary of Mike McTigue's famous World title win over 'Battling Siki' in Dublin marked by Kilnamona ceremony". Irish Independent . Retrieved 7 January 2026.
37. "Dublin 1923 Football All-Ireland Champions". GAA . Retrieved 7 January 2026.
38. "Dublin still champions". Irish Independent . Vol. 10, no. 309. 29 September 1924. Retrieved 7 January 2026– via RTÉ.
39. "Galway 1923 Hurling All-Ireland Champions". GAA . Retrieved 7 January 2026.
40. Sassone, Erika (19 September 2024). "Family of a legendary Galway hurling captain gather to mark 100th anniversary of 1924 All-Ireland". Irish Independent . Retrieved 7 January 2026. The All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship that began in May 1923 ended on September 14 1924 when Galway defeated Limerick (7-3 to 4-5) at Croke Park, in Dublin.
41. White, Lawrence William (October 2009). "Goulding, Cathal". Dictionary of Irish Biography. Royal Irish Academy. doi:10.3318/dib.003552.v1 . Retrieved 7 January 2026.
42. Kearney, Colbert (October 2009). "Behan, Brendan Francis". Dictionary of Irish Biography. Royal Irish Academy. doi:10.3318/dib.000540.v1 . Retrieved 7 January 2026.
43. Littlewood, Joan (17 September 2015) [23 September 2004]. "Behan, (Francis) Brendan". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/59868 . Retrieved 7 January 2026.
44. "Maureen Flavin obituary: Blacksod postmistress whose weather report changed the course of history". The Irish Times . 6 January 2024. Retrieved 7 January 2026.
45. "Maureen Sweeney (1923-2023)". Met Éireann . Retrieved 7 January 2026. Maureen (née Flavin) was working in Blacksod post office at the time and took that vital hourly reading on her 21st birthday, 3rd June 1944.
46. Shannon, Gerard (31 May 2023). "'If we stand united, victory is certain': Liam Lynch's final days". RTÉ . Retrieved 7 January 2026. Lynch was conveyed to St Joseph's Hospital where he died less than three hours later, just before 9pm on 10 April 1923.
47. "Argentinian band honour Liam Lynch". Cork Independent . 30 March 2023. Retrieved 7 January 2026. Lynch was killed on 10 April 1923, when more than 1,000 Free State soldiers began a roundup in Tipperary to try to entrap the leadership of the IRA which was holding a meeting in a safe house at the foot of the Knockmealdown Mountains.
48. Dempsey, Pauric J.; Boylan, Shaun (October 2009). "Ginnell, Laurence". Dictionary of Irish Biography. Royal Irish Academy. doi:10.3318/dib.003488.v1 . Retrieved 7 January 2026.
49. Ua Cearnaigh, Seán (2019). "Seán Etchingham". The Past: The Organ of the Uí Cinsealaigh Historical Society (33): 51. JSTOR   26663238 – via JSTOR. He died on 23 April 1923.
50. McInerney, Anne-Marie (December 2019). "Barry, Denis". Dictionary of Irish Biography. Royal Irish Academy. doi:10.3318/dib.010116.v1 . Retrieved 7 January 2026.
51. "Recasting Cork: The death of Denis Barry". Cork Independent . 29 November 2023. Retrieved 7 January 2026.
52. Flynn, Barry (2011). Pawns in the Game. Cork: The Collins Press. p. 83. ISBN   978-1-84889-116-6.
53. Aiken, Síobhra; Mac Bhloscaidh, Fearghal; Ó Duibhir, Liam; Ó Tuama, Diarmuid (2018). The men will talk to me: Ernie O’Malley’s interviews with the Northern Divisions. Merrion Press. p. 226. ISBN   9781785371677. Commandant Denis Barry died on 11 November 1923, Andy O'Sullivan on 22 November, and Joe Lacey on 24 December.
54. McCarney, Damian (27 November 2022). "Ferriter dwells on complexity and empathy in Civil War talk". The Anglo-Celt . Retrieved 8 January 2026. He delved into a litany of grim post civil war experiences, and mentioned detainee Andy O'Sullivan of Dennbawn who died after over 40 days of hunger-strike towards the end of in 1923.