April 20 - Michael Manning, aged 25, is executed in Mountjoy Prison. He is the last person to be judicially executed in the State.
May 5 - At its headquarters in Kingsbridge, CIÉ signs a £4.75 million contract to replace its steam locomotives with diesels.
May 16 - 30,000 march through Dublin in a huge Marian year procession, the city's greatest display of Catholic faith since the International Eucharistic Congress of 1932.
May 18 - Fianna Fáil lose four seats in the general election. The second inter-party government under John A. Costello comes to power.
June 12 - An IRA unit carries out a successful arms raid on Gough barracks in Armagh signalling the renewal of IRA activity following a long hiatus.
October 16 - A marble plaque is unveiled at Westland Row, Dublin to mark the centenary of the birth of Oscar Wilde.
Undated
Entrepreneur Joe "Spud" Murphy (1923–2001) sets up Tayto to manufacture crisps.[1]
Arts and literature
June 16 - The first public celebration of "Bloomsday" takes place in Dublin. Writers Flann O'Brien, Patrick Kavanagh and A.J. Cronin travel in a horse drawn coach stopping at numerous pubs to retrace the steps of the characters from James Joyce's novel Ulysses.
November 19 - The premier of Brendan Behan's first play The Quare Fellow opens in the Pike Theatre, Dublin, to great reviews.