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List of events in Ireland in 1968
Events in the year 1968 in Ireland.
Incumbents
Events
- 8 January –
Taoiseach
Jack Lynch and
Northern Ireland Prime Minister
Terence O'Neill met for talks in
Dublin.
[1]
- 10 March –
Minister for Education
Donogh O'Malley died while campaigning in
County Clare.
- 17 March – A seat to commemorate the poet
Patrick Kavanagh was unveiled beside the
Grand Canal in Dublin.
- 24 March – The
Aer Lingus aircraft, St Phelim, plunged into the
Irish Sea near the
Tuskar Rock lighthouse killing all 57 passengers.
- 14 May –
King Baudouin and
Queen Fabiola of Belgium began a
state visit to Ireland.
[2] A
state dinner was held in their honour at
Áras an Uachtaráin this evening.
[3]
- 15 May – The King and Queen of Belgium visited
Trinity College Dublin,
[4]
University College Dublin,
[5] and the
National Museum.
[6] They also visited the
Lord Mayor of Dublin,
Frank Cluskey, at the
Mansion House,
[7] and attended a state banquet at
Dublin Castle in the evening.
[8]
- 16 May – The King and Queen of Belgium attended a party at the
Abbey Theatre in Dublin.
[9]
- 17 May – The King and Queen of Belgium paid a second visit to Áras an Uachtaráin where Baudouin played
hurling with
President
Éamon de Valera and
Taoiseach
Jack Lynch.
[10]
[11]
[12] The royal couple each planted a tree in the garden of the residence.
[13]
[14] The President, the Taoiseach, and
Minister for External Affairs,
Frank Aiken later accompanied the king and queen to a farewell ceremony at
Dublin Airport.
[15]
[16]
- 29 May – President de Valera opened the
John F. Kennedy Arboretum and Memorial Park in
New Ross, County Wexford.
- 6 June – Ireland mourned the loss of assassinated
United States Senator
Robert F. Kennedy.
Dáil Éireann paid tribute and a book of condolence was opened.
- 5 October – Police in
Derry
baton-charged a Northern Ireland civil rights march.
- 8 October – Twenty new traffic wardens were introduced on Dublin's streets.
- 16 October – The
1968 Irish constitutional referendum was held proposing changes to the electoral system. The proposals were rejected.
- 25 October – The
New University of Ulster opened in
Coleraine, County Londonderry.
- 27 October – The
Standard Time Act 1968
[17] stipulated that
Irish Standard Time is
UTC+1 (
Central European Time) and clocks were not to be turned back one hour during winter.
- 13 December – According to the
Economic and Social Research Institute 60 percent of undergraduates in Ireland would emigrate upon graduation.
-
County Hall, Cork was opened; at the time it was the
tallest storeyed building in Ireland.
Arts and literature
Sports
Births
- 12 January –
Michael Moynihan,
Fianna Fáil
Teachta Dála (TD) for
Cork North-West.
- 15 January –
Tom Murphy, actor (died 2007).
- 19 January –
Fiona O'Malley,
Progressive Democrats TD,
Senator.
- 20 January
- 23 January –
Simon Cumbers, journalist (murdered 2004 in
Saudi Arabia).
- 21 February –
Michael Duignan,
Offaly hurler and Gaelic footballer, manager.
- 24 March –
Conor Hoey, cricketer.
- 26 March –
Nick Sweeney, discus thrower.
- 24 April –
Aidan Gillen, born Murphy, actor.
- May –
Linda Doyle, electrical engineer, provost of Trinity College Dublin.
- 22 May –
Graham Linehan, television writer and director.
- 31 May –
John Connolly, novelist.
- 7 June –
Robbie Horgan, association football player.
- 28 July –
Eoin Collins, tennis player.
- 11 August –
Alan Kelly, Jr., English-born Irish international footballer.
- 24 August –
Keelin Shanley, television news presenter (died 2020).
- 10 September –
Mark Little, journalist and television presenter.
- 15 September –
James O'Higgins Norman, academic and author.
- 23 October –
Eddie Gormley, association football player and manager.
- 24 October –
Tom McEllistrim, Fianna Fáil party TD for
Kerry North.
- 12 November –
Sharon Shannon, accordion player and musician.
- 20 December –
Paul Gogarty,
Green Party TD.
- 16 November –
Panti (Rory O'Neill),
drag queen.
- 27 November –
Cecilia Keaveney, Fianna Fáil party TD,
Senator.
- Full date unknown
-
Deaths
- 1 January –
Donagh MacDonagh, writer and judge (born 1912).
- 19 January – Sir
Alfred Chester Beatty, mining magnate and benefactor (born 1875).
- February –
Joan de Sales La Terriere, socialite, equestrienne and divorcée (born 1889).
- 8 February –
Louise McIlroy, Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the London School of Medicine for Women (born 1874).
- 10 March –
Donogh O'Malley, Fianna Fáil TD and Cabinet minister (born 1921).
- 24 March –
Gladys Wynne, artist (born 1876).
- 16 July –
William John Leech, painter (born 1881).
- 11 September –
Denis McCullough, member of the
Irish Volunteers elected to the
fourth Dáil (born 1883).
- 31 October –
William O'Brien, politician and trade unionist (born 1881).
- 2 November
- 7 November –
Margaret Mary Pearse, Fianna Fáil TD and
Seanad Éireann member, sister of
Patrick Pearse (born 1878).
- 24 December –
Eamon Bulfin, Irish republican (born 1892).
- Full date unknown
-
See also
References