1972 in Ireland

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Decades: 1950s • 1960s • 1970s • 1980s • 1990s Centuries: 18th • 19th • 20th • 21st See also: 1972 in Northern Ireland Other events of 1972 List of years in Ireland

Events

• January 22 - Taoiseach, Jack Lynch, and Minister for Foreign Affairs, Patrick Hillery, sign the Treaty of Accession to the European Communities.
• January 30 - Bloody Sunday: thirteen unarmed civilians are shot dead in Derry as British soldiers open fire on a banned civil rights march.
• January 31 - Taoiseach Jack Lynch announces a national day of mourning following the events in Derry the previous day.
• February 1 - Rioting takes place in Dublin. The British Embassy in Merrion Square is burned.
• February 9 - A day of disruption takes place in Northern Ireland as people take to the streets in protest.
• February 10 - The IRA announces a ceasefire.
• February 12 - William Craig launches the Ulster Vanguard movement in Lisburn.
• February 19 - The National Anti-EEC Committee organises a march along O'Connell Street.
• February 26 - Crowds turn out to see Pelé and his club, Santos FC, play at Dalymount Park.
• April 2 - RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta goes on the air.
• April 17 - The government launches its European Economic Community referendum campaign.
• May 5 - RTC, Carlow becomes the first Regional Technical College to install a computer - the computer is to be used for business and engineering courses and uses the Fortran and RPG languages and cost £10,000.
• May 10 - In the referendum on Ireland's membership of the EEC the poll is almost five to one in favour.
• June 13 - An Garda Síochána celebrates its 50th anniversary.
• July 6 - Dmitri Shostakovich is presented with an honorary DMus degree at a ceremony in Trinity College Dublin.
• July 12 - Over 2,000 refugees from Northern Ireland spend the marching season south of the border.
• July 21 - Bloody Friday: 9 people die and over 100 are injured in a series of IRA explosions in Belfast city centre.
• July 31
  • Operation Motorman, 4:00 AM: British Army begins to regain control of the "no-go areas" established by Irish republican paramilitaries in Belfast, Derry and Newry.
  • Claudy bombing (“Bloody Monday”), 10:00 AM: Three car bombs in Claudy, County Londonderry, kill nine. It becomes public knowledge only in 2010 that that a local Catholic priest was an IRA officer believed to be involved in the bombings but his rôle was covered up by the authorities.
• August 20 - Commemorations are held at Béal na mBláth, County Cork, to mark the 50th anniversary of the death of Michael Collins.
• September 25 - Darlington conference on the future of Northern Ireland opens.
• December 13 - President Éamon de Valera signs documents covering Ireland's entry into the EEC.

Arts and literature

• William Trevor's collection of stories The Ballroom of Romance is published.
• Gilbert O'Sullivan's song Alone Again (Naturally) hits the No 1 spot in the US singles chart.

Sports

• Olympics: Mary Peters becomes the first Irish woman to win a gold medal at the Olympics.

Births

January to June

• 15 January - Mark Carroll, runner.
• 17 January - John Byrne, cricketer.
• 21 January - Derek McGrath, soccer player.
• 27 January - Keith Wood, former International rugby player.
• 28 January - Peter McDonald, actor.
• February - Fergal Ryan, Cork hurler.
• 10 April - Ed Byrne, comedian.
• 17 April - Brian Morrisroe, soccer player.
• 30 April - Paul Stokes, soccer player.
• 20 May - Sharon Foley, athlete.
• 31 May - Karl Geary, actor.
• 16 June - Simon Coveney, Fine Gael TD representing Cork South–Central and MEP.
• 24 June - Brendan Courtney, comedian and television presenter.

July to December

• 2 July - Darren Shan, author.
• 11 July - Cormac Battle, radio DJ.
• 4 August - Joe Delaney, snooker player.
• 6 August - Jason O'Mara, actor.
• 12 August - Mark Kinsella, soccer player and coach.
• 15 August - Mikey Graham, singer.
• 18 August - Barry Egan, Cork hurler.
• 4 September - Willie Burke, soccer player.
• 8 September - Phil Laak, professional poker player.
• 9 October - John Carthy, shot dead in controversial circumstances by An Garda Síochána after a twenty-five hour siege at his home (d.2000).
• 15 October - Gary Murphy, golfer.
• 1 December - David Higgins, golfer.
• 6 December - Seán Sherlock, Labour Party (Ireland) TD for Cork East.
• 14 December - Jason Barry, actor.
• 15 December - Stuart Townsend, actor.
• 30 December - Paul Keegan, soccer player.

Full date unknown

• Julia Bradbury, television presenter.
• John Carney, film and television writer and director.
• Andy Comerford, former Kilkenny hurler, manager.
• Arlene Hunt, novelist.
• Mark Landers, Cork hurler.
• Seánie McMahon, Clare hurler.
• Kevin Murray, Cork hurler.
• Joe Quaid, former Limerick hurler.

Deaths

• 11 January - Padraic Colum, poet, novelist and dramatist (b.1881).
• 18 January - Harry Colley, Fianna Fáil TD, Seanad member (b.1891).
• 22 February - Eva McGown, Official Hostess of Fairbanks and Honorary Hostess of Alaska (b.1883).
• 26 April - Mark Deering, Fine Gael TD (b.1900).
• 22 May - Cecil Day-Lewis, poet and writer, British Poet Laureate from 1967 to 1972, (b.1904).
• 28 May - Edward, Duke of Windsor, former King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (b. 1894).
• 31 May - Alexander McCabe, Sinn Féin MP, member of 1st Dáil, Cumann na nGaedheal TD (b.1886).
• 19 June - John Blowick, co-founder St Columban's Foreign Mission Society.
• 1 September - Patricia Lynch, children's writer (b.1898).
• 29 September - Kathleen Clarke, widow of Tom Clarke, Sinn Féin and later Fianna Fáil TD, Seanad member, first female Lord Mayor of Dublin (b.1878).
• 10 November - Charles Cuffe, cricketer (b.1914).

Full date unknown

• Wattie Dunphy, Kilkenny hurler (b. c1895).