1 February – the Currency Commission is renamed the
Central Bank of Ireland (under terms of the Central Bank Act 1942); it is not, however, given all the powers expected of a
central bank.
23 February – S.S. Kyleclare torpedoed in
North Atlantic by
U-456: eighteen die.
23–24 February –
Cavan Orphanage Fire: thirty-five girls and a cook from St Joseph's Orphanage, an
industrial school in
Cavan, are killed in a fire in their dormitories. A subsequent inquiry absolves the
Poor Clares of blame.
15 May – Irish Oak (Irish Shipping) torpedoed and sunk by U-607, 700 miles west of Ireland: crew rescued by Irish Plane eight hours later.
2 June – S.S. City of Bremen (Saorstat & Continental Steam Ship Company) bombed by a Junkers Ju 88 and sunk in the
Bay of Biscay: all eleven crew rescued by a Spanish fishing trawler.
5 October – in the largest manufacturing campaign in the history of the
Irish Sugar Company, seven hundred employees at the
Carlow Sugar Beet Factory will work in three shifts without pause for 18 weeks until all the 230,000 acres (930 km2) of beet is processed.
The National Film Institute, a predecessor of the
Irish Film Institute, is founded under the influence of the
Catholic Church to counter perceived moral corruption in imported films.[4]
Mary Lavin publishes her first book, Tales from Bective Bridge, ten short stories about life in rural Ireland, which wins the
James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction.
Kate O'Brien publishes her novel The Last of Summer.
Cathal Ó Sándair publishes his first novels, An t-eiteallán do-fheicthe and Triocha písa airgid.