1831 in Ireland

Events

• January – agrarian unrest breaks out in counties Clare and Limerick.
• February – at a public meeting in Maryborough, Queen's County, farmer Patrick "Patt" Lalor declares that he will no longer pay tithes.
• 3 March – the first clash of the Tithe War takes place at Graiguenamanagh, County Kilkenny, when a force of 120 yeomanry tries to enforce seizure orders on cattle belonging to a Roman Catholic priest.
• 30 May – the first statistics for religion in Ireland are gathered in this year's Census. Around 80% of the population is Roman Catholic, 11% belong to the Church of Ireland and 8% are Presbyterian.
• 1 September – Zoological Gardens, Dublin, open.
• Autumn – first Catholic mass said in the new Ballina Cathedral.
• 15 October – Board of Works formed as a department of state by merger of the Office of the Surveyor-General for Ireland, the Barracks Board, and the Navigation Board.
• 23 October – George Joseph Plunket Browne is consecrated as first Bishop of the new Roman Catholic Diocese of Galway, created by the Holy See following abolition of the Wardenship of Galway.
• 7 November – Ralahine commune established at Newmarket-on-Fergus, County Clare.
• 14 December – the Carrickshock incident: Forty policemen confront a mob of over 2,000 in Carrickshock, County Kilkenny, protesting against the collection of tithes. Sixteen policemen are killed and seven wounded in the clash.
• Sisters of Mercy established in Dublin by Catherine McAuley.
• First of a series of annual meetings on prophecy at Powerscourt House which give rise to the Plymouth Brethren.

  Arts and literature

• African American actor Ira Aldridge tours Ireland.
• James Hardiman's Irish Minstrelsy, or Bardic remains of Ireland with English poetical translations published.

  Births

• 22 January – Samuel Hill Lawrence, recipient of the Victoria Cross for gallantry in 1857 at Lucknow, India.
• 26 January – Hugh Annesley, 5th Earl Annesley, British military officer and MP.
• 11 February – Henry Mitchell Jones, recipient of the Victoria Cross for gallantry in 1855 at Sebastopol, Crimea.
• 1 August – George Richardson, soldier, recipient of the Victoria Cross for gallantry in 1859 at Kewane Trans-Gogra, India.
• September – Peter Gill, recipient of the Victoria Cross for gallantry in 1857 in Benares, India.
• September – Jeremiah O'Donovan Rossa, Fenian leader.
• 28 November – John William Mackay, businessman in America.
• 3 December – James Graham Fair, part-owner of the Comstock Lode, United States Senator and real estate and railroad speculator.
• 17 December – William George Nicholas Manley, recipient of the Victoria Cross for gallantry in 1864 near Tauranga, New Zealand.
• December – Richard Fitzgerald, recipient of the Victoria Cross for gallantry in 1857 at Bolandshahr, India.
• ;Full date unknown
• :*Daniel Connor, convict transported to Western Australia, businessman.
• :*John Dunlay, recipient of the Victoria Cross for gallantry in 1857 at Lucknow, India.
• :*Frederick Falkiner, lawyer, judge and author.

  Deaths

• 30 January – William Hales, clergyman and scientific writer.
• 8 December – James Hoban, architect, designed the White House in Washington, D.C..
• ;Full date unknown
• :*Alexander Macomb, Sr., merchant and land speculator with Macomb's Purchase in New York.