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Breaks the indoor mile record, 3 mins 50.6 secs
Permanent historical records · Updated 2026-11-03
1981 in Ireland
Explore 25 historical events and records for Ireland in 1981.
Historical records for Ireland in 1981
Sorted by month and day. Records with no month are shown last. Showing 25 of 25 unique records.
25Unique records
1 of 1Page
14Named events on this page
8Named people on this page
2Places on this page
February
June
Taoiseach of Ireland
FitzGerald takes office leading a coalition between Fine Gael and Labour.
November
International Agreement at Dublin
Agrees with Margaret Thatcher to establish the Anglo-Irish inter-Governmental Council
London European Council
Represents Ireland as leaders consider budget disputes and renewed European integration.
European Political Cooperation
Supports stronger European political cooperation during the London European Council.
Other events (month unknown)
Dirty Protest
IRA prisoners convicted after March 1976 did not have Special Category Status applied in prison, in response, over 500 prisoners refuse to wash or wear prison clothes
Election
Hunger strike leader Bobby Sands and Anti H-Block activist Owen Carron are elected to the British Parliament, and two other protesting prisoners are elected to the Irish Doil
Election
After the success of IRA hunger strikers in mobilising support and winning elections on an Anti H-Block platform in 1981, republicans increasingly devote time and resources to electoral politics, through the Sinn Fein party
Election
After the success of IRA hunger strikers in mobilising support and winning elections on an Anti H-Block platform in 1981, republicans increasingly devote time and resources to electoral politics, through the Sinn Fein party
H-Block
Hunger strike leader Bobby Sands and Anti H-Block activist Owen Carron are elected to the British Parliament, and two other protesting prisoners are elected to the Irish Doil
H-Block
Hunger strike leader Bobby Sands and Anti H-Block activist Owen Carron are elected to the British Parliament, and two other protesting prisoners are elected to the Irish Doil
H-Block
After the success of IRA hunger strikers in mobilising support and winning elections on an Anti H-Block platform in 1981, republicans increasingly devote time and resources to electoral politics, through the Sinn Fein party
H-Block
After the success of IRA hunger strikers in mobilising support and winning elections on an Anti H-Block platform in 1981, republicans increasingly devote time and resources to electoral politics, through the Sinn Fein party
INLA
Hunger strike leader Bobby Sands and Anti H-Block activist Owen Carron are elected to the British Parliament, and two other protesting prisoners are elected to the Irish Doil
INLA
Hunger strike leader Bobby Sands and Anti H-Block activist Owen Carron are elected to the British Parliament, and two other protesting prisoners are elected to the Irish Doil
IRA
Danny Morrison sums up the new political policy at a 1981 Sinn Fein Ard Fheis (annual meeting) as a "ballot paper in this hand and an Armalite in the other"
IRA
IRA prisoners convicted after March 1976 did not have Special Category Status applied in prison, in response, over 500 prisoners refused to wash or wear prison clothes (see Dirty protest and Blanket protest)
IRA
After the success of IRA hunger strikers in mobilising support and winning elections on an Anti H-Block platform in 1981, republicans increasingly devote time and resources to electoral politics, through the Sinn Fein party
IRA
After the success of IRA hunger strikers in mobilising support and winning elections on an Anti H-Block platform in 1981, republicans increasingly devote time and resources to electoral politics, through the Sinn F‚in party
Prime Minister of Ireland
Appointed Prime Minister of Ireland, 2nd term
Renegade
Records Renegade as Thin Lizzy experiments with a more polished early-1980s sound.
Sinn Fein
Danny Morrison sums up the new political policy at a 1981 Sinn Fein Ard Fheis (annual meeting) as a "ballot paper in this hand and an Armalite in the other"
Sinn Fein
Danny Morrison sums up the new political policy at a 1981 Sinn Fein Ard Fheis (annual meeting) as a "ballot paper in this hand and an Armalite in the other". After the success of IRA hunger strikers in mobilising support and winning elections on an Anti H-Block platform in 1981, republicans increasingly devote time and resources to electoral politics, through the Sinn Fein party
Strike
IRA prisoners convicted after March 1976 did not have Special Category Status applied in prison, in response, over 500 prisoners refuse to wash or wear prison clothes
Strike
Over 100,000 people attend the funeral of Sands, the first hunger striker to die
How these records were prepared
Generated from the World History Database historical_events table. Identical display records are collapsed; descriptions otherwise retain the stored text. Coverage and source quality vary. Check primary and specialist sources before citing individual historical claims.