• March 13 - Irish artists leave Dublin Airport for the Congo to entertain United Nations troops there.
• March 17 - President Éamon de Valera and Mrs. Sinéad de Valera have a private audience with Pope John XXIII in Rome.
• April 5 - A final train is run on the west Cork railway.
• May 8 - Irish troops leave for a peace-keeping mission in the Congo.
• July 6 - Gay Byrne presents the very first edition of the Late Late Show.
• July 13 - Secretary General of the United Nations U Thant arrives in Dublin. He pays tribute to Irish soldiers who fought in the Congo.
• August 21 - Former United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower arrives in Belfast on a four-day visit to Ireland.
• November 13 - Aer Lingus air hostesses receive new uniforms. The colours are fern-green and St. Patrick's blue.

Arts and literature

• December 4 - The first Jacob's Awards ceremony takes place in Dublin.
• The band The Dubliners is formed at O'Donoghue's Pub in Dublin.

Sports

• Shelbourne win the League of Ireland championship for the seventh time with a 1-0 play-off victory over Cork Celtic thanks to a Ben Hannigan goal.

Births

January to June

• 9 January - Ray Houghton, former international soccer player.
• 13 April - Harry Kenny, soccer player.
• 7 May - Paul Kimmage, cyclist and sports journalist.
• 9 June - Bobby Browne, soccer player.
• 15 June - Martin Earley, road bicycle racer.
• 26 June - Cyprian Brady, Fianna Fáil TD for Dublin Central. July to December

• 11 July - Pauline McLynn, actress and writer.
• 14 July - Eamon Delaney, author and journalist.
• 19 July - Caitríona Ruane, Sinn Féin MLA and Minister for Education in Northern Ireland.
• 14 August - Dan Boyle, former Green Party (Ireland) TD, Senator.
• 14 August - Peter Eccles, soccer player.
• 1 September - Tony Cascarino, former international soccer player.
• 11 October - Eddie Hobbs, financial adviser and television presenter.
• 11 October - Anne Enright, Booker Prize-winning author.
• 2 December - Kevin Brady, soccer player.

Full date unknown

• Martin Hayes, fiddle player.
• Jamie O'Neill, author.
• Kevin Sharkey, songwriter and painter.
• Tom Spillane, former Kerry Gaelic footballer.

Deaths

• 1 February - Thomas Westropp Bennett, Cumann na nGaedheal member of the Seanad, Cathaoirleach of Seanad (b.1867).
• 14 March - Eileen Costello, Independent member of 1922 Seanad.
• 25 June - Robert Gwynn, cricketer (b.1877).
• 4 July - William Harman, cricketer (b.1869).
• 24 July - Margaret Buckley, president of Sinn Féin from 1937 to 1950 (d.1879).
• October - Emily Anderson, British Foreign Office official and scholar of German (b.1891).

Full date unknown

• Anne Acheson, sculptor (b.1882)
• Frank Gallagher, Irish Volunteer and author (b.1893).