1939 in Northern Ireland
Encyclopedia
Events
- 17 April - The Prime Minister of Northern IrelandPrime Minister of Northern IrelandThe Prime Minister of Northern Ireland was the de facto head of the Government of Northern Ireland. No such office was provided for in the Government of Ireland Act 1920. However the Lord Lieutenant, as with Governors-General in other Westminster Systems such as in Canada, chose to appoint someone...
, Lord Craigavon, dismisses the Dublin government's position of neutrality as cowardly. - 4 May - The Prime Minister of Northern IrelandPrime Minister of Northern IrelandThe Prime Minister of Northern Ireland was the de facto head of the Government of Northern Ireland. No such office was provided for in the Government of Ireland Act 1920. However the Lord Lieutenant, as with Governors-General in other Westminster Systems such as in Canada, chose to appoint someone...
announces that conscription will not be extended to Northern IrelandNorthern IrelandNorthern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
. - 3 September - The UK declares war on GermanyGermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
following the German invasion of PolandInvasion of Poland (1939)The Invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign or 1939 Defensive War in Poland and the Poland Campaign in Germany, was an invasion of Poland by Germany, the Soviet Union, and a small Slovak contingent that marked the start of World War II in Europe...
on 1 September.
Football
- Irish League
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- Winners: Belfast CelticBelfast CelticBelfast Celtic Football Club was a football club in Northern Ireland that was founded in 1891, and was one of the most successful teams in Ireland until forced to withdraw from the Irish League in 1949.-History:...
- Winners: Belfast Celtic
- Irish CupIrish CupFor the equivalent tournament in the Republic of Ireland, see FAI Cup.The Irish Cup is the national cup knock-out competition in Northern Irish football. Inaugurated in 1881, it is the fourth oldest national cup competition in the world...
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- Winners: LinfieldLinfield F.C.Linfield F.C. , is a semi-professional, Northern Irish football club, whose home ground is Windsor Park in Belfast, which is also the home of the Northern Ireland international team....
2 - 0 Ballymena UnitedBallymena United F.C.Ballymena United, is a semi-professional, Northern Irish football club playing in the IFA Premiership. The club hails from the town of Ballymena, County Antrim and plays its home matches at Ballymena Showgrounds. Club colours are sky blue and white. Away Colours are Red and BlackThe club was...
- Winners: Linfield
Births
- 1 January - Billy ReidBilly Reid (Irish republican)William "Billy" Reid was a volunteer and Staff Officer in C Company, Third Battalion of the Belfast Brigade of the Provisional Irish Republican Army...
, volunteerVolunteer (Irish republican)Volunteer, often abbreviated Vol., is a term used by a number of Irish republican paramilitary organisations to describe their members. Among these have been the various forms of the Irish Republican Army and the Irish National Liberation Army...
in Provisional Irish Republican ArmyProvisional Irish Republican ArmyThe Provisional Irish Republican Army is an Irish republican paramilitary organisation whose aim was to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and bring about a socialist republic within a united Ireland by force of arms and political persuasion...
, killed in gunfight with British Army (d.19711971 in Northern Ireland-Events:*6 February - Gunner Robert Curtis becomes the first British soldier to die in the Troubles.*15 February - Decimal Day: The United Kingdom and Ireland both switch to decimal currency....
). - 13 April - Seamus HeaneySeamus HeaneySeamus Heaney is an Irish poet, writer and lecturer. He lives in Dublin. Heaney has received the Nobel Prize in Literature , the Golden Wreath of Poetry , T. S. Eliot Prize and two Whitbread prizes...
, poet, writer and winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature. - 17 May - Eddie MagillEddie MagillEdward James Magill is a Northern Irish former footballer.Magill began his career with Portadown but moved to London club Arsenal in May 1959. He made his debut for the side against Sheffield Wednesday on 19 December 1959...
, footballer and football manager. - 6 July - Mary PetersMary Peters (athlete)Dame Mary Elizabeth Peters, DBE, DL is a former British athlete, competing mainly in the pentathlon and shot put.-Biography:Mary Peters was born in Halewood, Lancashire, but moved to Ballymena at age eleven...
, pentathlete and 1972 Summer Olympics1972 Summer OlympicsThe 1972 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from August 26 to September 11, 1972....
gold medal winner. - 27 July - Michael LongleyMichael LongleyMichael Longley, CBE is a Northern Irish poet from Belfast.-Life and career:Longley was educated at the Royal Belfast Academical Institution and subsequently read Classics at Trinity College, Dublin, where he edited Icarus...
, poet. - 9 August - Vincent HannaVincent HannaVincent Leo Martin Hanna was a Northern Irish television journalist famed for his coverage of United Kingdom by-elections.-Background:...
, televisionTelevisionTelevision is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
journalistJournalismJournalism is the practice of investigation and reporting of events, issues and trends to a broad audience in a timely fashion. Though there are many variations of journalism, the ideal is to inform the intended audience. Along with covering organizations and institutions such as government and...
(d.19971997 in Northern Ireland-Events:*March - The first phase of the Forestside Shopping Centre in Belfast opens with a new Sainsbury's store.*1 May- United Kingdom general election, 1997*3 July - Taoiseach Bertie Ahern meets Prime Minister Tony Blair for the first time....
). - 16 August - Seán BradySeán BradySeán Baptist Brady is an Irish cardinal of the Catholic Church. He is the current Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 2007.-Early life and education:...
, Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland - 11 October - Austin CurrieAustin CurrieAustin Currie is a former politician who was elected to the parliaments of both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland....
, founder-member of the Social Democratic and Labour PartySocial Democratic and Labour PartyThe Social Democratic and Labour Party is a social-democratic, Irish nationalist political party in Northern Ireland. Its basic party platform advocates Irish reunification, and the further devolution of powers while Northern Ireland remains part of the United Kingdom...
(SDLP) and former Fine GaelFine GaelFine Gael is a centre-right to centrist political party in the Republic of Ireland. It is the single largest party in Ireland in the Oireachtas, in local government, and in terms of Members of the European Parliament. The party has a membership of over 35,000...
TDTeachta DálaA Teachta Dála , usually abbreviated as TD in English, is a member of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas . It is the equivalent of terms such as "Member of Parliament" or "deputy" used in other states. The official translation of the term is "Deputy to the Dáil", though a more literal...
. - 8 December - James GalwayJames Galway- External links : IMGArtists.com 15 September 2008. AllAboutJazz.com 5 August 2008.*...
, flautist. - 22 December - Seamus RobinsonSeamus Robinson (songwriter)Seamus Robinson was an Irish composer born in the Carrick Hill area of Belfast, Northern Ireland. Working in the English or Irish language, he composed many patriotic ballads and folk-songs....
, songwriter and composer.
Deaths
- 20 September - Andrew Claude de la Cherois CrommelinAndrew Claude de la Cherois CrommelinAndrew Claude de la Cherois Crommelin was a Irish-born, British astronomer of Huguenot descent. He was born in Cushendun, County Antrim, and educated in England at Marlborough College and Trinity College, Cambridge. He worked at the Royal Greenwich Observatory and went on several solar eclipse...
, astronomer (b.18651865 in Ireland-Events:*Work begins on the building of the Albert Memorial Clock, Belfast, as a memorial to Queen Victoria's late Prince Consort, Prince Albert.-Births:*6 February — Andrew Claude de la Cherois Crommelin, astronomer ....
). - Amanda McKittrick Ros, novelist and poet (b.18601860 in Ireland-Events:*Deasy's Land Act, intended to reform tenants' rights.*Construction began on St Peter's Cathedral, Belfast.*11 November: Kildare Street Club, Dublin, destroyed by fire.-Births:*1 January - John Cassidy, sculptor and painter ....
).