1918 in Ireland

Events

*January 18 - Count Plunkett, Seán T. O'Kelly and others protest at the forcible feeding of Sinn Féin prisoners in Mountjoy Jail.
*March 2 - In Skibbereen, County Cork Ernest Blythe is arrested for non-compliance with a military rule directing him to reside in Ulster.
*March 6 - In the House of Commons in Westminster, tributes are paid to John Redmond, Irish Nationalist leader, who has died in London.
*April 18 - The Military Service Bill, which includes conscription in Ireland, becomes law. A conference of nationalist parties, Sinn Féin and labour movements meets in Dublin to organise an all-Ireland opposition to conscription
*April 20 - The Irish Parliamentary Party holds a meeting in Dublin to oppose conscription.
*May 5 - 15,000 people attend an anti-conscription meeting in County Roscommon. John Dillon, leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party and Éamon de Valera of Sinn Féin share the platform in a united cause.
*May 20 - A special anti-conscription convention is held in Dublin. It condemns the deportations of many Sinn Féin members.
*July 3 - The Lord-Lieutenant issues a proclamation banning Sinn Féin, the Irish Volunteers, the Gaelic League and Cumann na mBan.
*October 10 - The Irish mail boat RMS Leinster was sunk by a German submarine with the loss of 500 lives.
*November 11 - At 5.00am an armistice dictated by the Allies is signed by the Germans. Six hours later World War I officially ends. A total of 140,000 Irishmen were killed during the war.
*December 22 - Ireland voices a united invitation to US President Woodrow Wilson to visit.
*December 28 - Sinn Féin have a landslide victory in the general election, winning 73 of the 105 seats in Ireland. The Irish Parliamentary Party is nearly wiped out.
*December 30 - The "Irish Independent" strongly criticises Countess Markiewicz, the first female Member of Parliament elected to Westminster.

Arts and literature

port

Football

*Irish League::Winners: Linfield

*Irish Cup::Winners: Belfast Celtic 0 - 0, 0 - 0, 2 - 0 Linfield

Births

January to June

*23 January - Charlie Kerins, Chief of Staff of the IRA, convicted of murder of Garda Siochána officer and hanged (d.1944).
*26 January - Louis Jacobson, cricketer.
*7 February - Markey Robinson, artist (d.1999).
*14 February - Thomas J. Fitzpatrick, former Ceann Comhairle and Fine Gael TD and Cabinet Minister (d.2006).
*5 March - Denis J. O'Sullivan, Fine Gael TD (d.1987).
*17 March - Frederick Blaney, cricketer (d.1988).
*12 March - Pádraig Faulkner, former Fianna Fáil TD for Louth and Cabinet Minister.
*16 April - Spike Milligan, comedian, poet and writer (d.2002).
*22 May - Alan Clodd, book collector, dealer and publisher (d.2002).
*27 June - Marie Kean, actress (d.1993).

July to December

*9 August - Luke Belton, former Fine Gael TD (d.2006).
*12 September - Valerie Goulding, former Senator and campaigner for the disabled (d.2003).
*17 September - Chaim Herzog, sixth President of Israel (1983–1993) (d.1997).
*26 September - Jackie Vernon, footballer (d.1981).
*29 September - Douglas Gageby, journalist and newspaper editor (d.2004).
*13 October - Jack MacGowran, actor (d.1973).
*October - Hugh McLaughlin, publisher and inventor (d.2006).
*19 November - Brendan Corish, Irish Labour Party TD and former leader, Cabinet Minister and Tánaiste (d.1990).
*24 December - Willie Clancy, uileann piper (d.1973).

Full date unknown

*Valentin Iremonger, poet and diplomat (d.1991).
*Jim Langton, former Kilkenny hurler.
*Terry Leahy, Kilkenny hurler (d.1988).
*Jimmy Phelan, Kilkenny hurler (d.2006).
*A. J. Potter, composer (d.1980).
*James Young, comedian (d.1974).

Deaths

January to June

*23 January - Robert Gregory, cricketer and artist (b.1881).
*1 February - William Melville, police officer and first chief of the British Secret Service (b.1850).
*13 February - Henry Arthur Blake, British colonial administrator and Governor of Hong Kong (b.1840).
*27 March - Martin Sheridan, Olympic gold medallist for the United States (b.1881).
*28 March - Arthur Bateman, cricketer (b.1890).
*8 April - David Nelson, soldier, recipient of the Victoria Cross for gallantry in 1914 at Néry, France (b.1886).
*18 April - Samuel Young, 96 year old MP for East Cavan
*7 May - James Somers, soldier, recipient of the Victoria Cross for gallantry in 1915 at Gallipoli, Turkey (b.1884).
*10 June - William Parsons, 5th Earl of Rosse, soldier (b.1873).

July to December

*19 July - William McDonnell, 6th Earl of Antrim, peer (b.1851).
*26 July - Edward Mannock, First World War flying ace and posthumous recipient of the Victoria Cross (b.1887).
*31 July - George McElroy, Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force pilot during World War I, killed in action (b.1893).
*18 September - Claude Joseph Patrick Nunney, recipient of the Victoria Cross for gallantry in 1918 on the Drocourt-Queant Line, France (b.1892).
*25 September - John Ireland, third Bishop and first Archbishop of Saint Paul, Minnesota (b.1838).
*1 October - Martin Joseph Sheehan, soldier and Royal Air Service Observer in World War I, killed in action (b.1896).
*14 October - Louis Lipsett, British Army and Canadian Expeditionary Force senior officer during the First World War, killed in action (b.1874).

Full date unknown

*Dora Sigerson Shorter, poet (b.1866).