1940 in Ireland - Events

Events

• January - The Irish Naval Service acquires the first of its six Motor Torpedo Boats, M1.
• 3 January - Tomás Óg Mac Curtain shoots and mortally wounds Detective Garda Síochána John Roche in Cork city centre. He is disarmed by Garda Pat Malone and spared the death penalty in view of his father's history.
• 17 January - Enid (Captain Wibe) of neutral Norway sailing from Steinkjer to Dublin, 10 miles north of Shetland, goes to assist SS Polzella which had been torpedoed by U-25. U25 then shells and sinks Enid.
• 7 February - Munster (Capt. R. Paisley) mined and sunk in Irish Sea entering Liverpool.
• 3 March
  • Flooding of Poulaphouca Reservoir begins by damming the River Liffey at Poulaphouca as part of the Electricity Supply Board project to build Ireland's second hydroelectricity generating station together with an improved water supply for Dublin.
  • Cato (Capt. Richard Martin), British, from Dublin to Bristol, strikes a mine 2.5 miles west of Nash Point: 13 die, 2 survive.
• 9 March - Trawler Leukos sunk by gunfire from U-38, north west of Tory Island - 11 dead. (She may have moved between the surfacing U-boat and English trawlers, in the hope that the tricolour would protect her while the English escaped).
• 10 March - City of Bremen rescues 33 crew of Amor (Dutch) in the North Sea.
• 29 March - Fire destroys the roof and upper rooms of St. Patrick's College, Maynooth.
• 24 May - First secret meeting to formulate 'Plan W', joint action in the event of a German invasion of Ireland, is held between Irish officials and British military in London.
• 27 May - Uruguay of neutral Argentina sailing from Rosario to Limerick with 6,000 tons of maize, sinks with scuttling charges by U-37 160 miles from Cape Villano: 15 die, 13 survive.
• 10 June - Violando N Goulandris of then-neutral Greece sailing from Santa Fe to Waterford with a cargo of wheat is torpedoed by U-48 off Cape Finisterre: 6 die, 22 survive.
• 12 June - U-38 lands a German spy, Karl Simon, in Dingle. He is promptly arrested and interned for the duration.
• 19 June - Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies established.
• 23 June - Minister Frank Aiken encourages everyone to store food and water and to prepare a shelter in case of a direct hit.
• 2 July - British-owned SS Arandora Star, carrying civilian internees and POWs of Italian and German origin from Liverpool to Canada, is torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U-47 off northwest Ireland with the loss of around 865 lives.
• 4 July - Taoiseach Éamon de Valera announces that the policy of neutrality adopted the previous September will not be reversed.
• 11 July - Moyalla rescues twenty survivors from Athellaird (British) off Cape Clear Island.
• 15 July - City of Limerick (Capt. R. Ferguson) bombed by aircraft and sinks in Bay of Biscay, 700 miles west of Ushant - 2 dead.
• 20 July - City of Waterford (Capt. T. Freehill) shelled by submarine in North Atlantic but escapes.
• 30 July - Kyleclare rescues 52 survivors from Clan Menzies (British) off Mayo coast.
• 1 August - Collier Kerry Head bombed off Kinsale - survives this attack, but see 22 October.
• 10 August - British armed merchantman HMS Transylvania (F56) is torpedoed off Malin Head by German submarine U-56.
• 15 August - Meath (Capt. T. MacFariane) mined and sunk off the South Stack, Holy Island, Anglesey; crew rescued by a local fishing trawler but 700 cattle lost
• 16 August - Lock Ryan (Capt. J. Nolan) bombed off Land's End but survives.
• 24 August - City of Waterford (Capt. T. Freehill) bombed in Irish Sea but survives.
• 27 August - Lanahrone rescues 18 survivors from Goathland (British) off Kerry coast.
• 4 September - Luimneach (Capt. E. Jones) sunk by gunfire from U-46 in Bay of Biscay.
• 4 September - Edenvale (Capt. N. Gillespie) machine-gunned by German plane off Waterford coast.
• 3 October - The German news agency announces that the German government is willing to pay compensation for dropping bombs on Dublin.
• 22 October - Kerry Head (Capt. C. Drummond) bombed again: all twelve hands lost, in full view of watchers on Cape Clear Island.
• November - The 'Murder of Marlhill' takes place in Knockgraffon near New Inn, County Tipperary.
• 7 November - Éamon de Valera, speaking in response to Winston Churchill's statement, says that there can be no question of handing over Irish ports for use by British forces while they retain control of Northern Ireland.
• 11 November - Ardmore (Capt. T. Ford) strikes a mine off the Saltee Islands - 24 die.
• 24 November - James Craig, the first Prime Minister of Northern Ireland, dies suddenly. He was the longest continually serving Prime Minister in Europe.
• 19 December - Lightship tender Isolda (Capt. A. Bestic) is sunk by German bombers within sight of Carnsore Point - six killed, seven wounded.
• 21 December - Innisfallen (Capt. G. Firth) hits a mine off The Wirral Peninsula near New Brighton while leaving Liverpool and sinks - four die.
• 27 December - Dr. John McQuaid is consecrated as Roman Catholic Archbishop of Dublin and Primate of Ireland, an office he will hold for more than thirty years.