1902 in Ireland

Events

• 2 January – South Irish Horse formed as the South of Ireland Imperial Yeomanry.
• 7 January – Waterford Corporation passes a motion to confer the freedom of the city on John Redmond.
• 8 January – the Great National Convention takes place in the Round Room of the Rotunda in Dublin. Motions are passed regarding coercion, the Irish language and evicted tenants.
• 2 April – John Redmond is awarded the freedom of the City of Dublin.
• Spring to autumn – the Cork International Exhibition is held.
• 22 May – the White Star Liner SS Ionic is launched by Harland and Wolff in Belfast.
• 2 June – the centenary of the Congregation of Christian Brothers is celebrated with High Mass in the Holy Name Cathedral, Chicago.
• 22 July – Thomas Croke dies at the age of 78 at Thurles. Roman Catholic Archbishop of Cashel since 1875, he was the first patron of the Gaelic Athletic Association and a supporter of the Gaelic League and the Land League.
• August – first part of the cliff path at The Gobbins, Islandmagee, is opened.
• 26 November – Ireland's Own magazine launched.
• Dunraven land conference starts.
• The Roman Catholic St Brendan's Cathedral, Loughrea, is completed.
• Michael McCarthy's Priests and People in Ireland is published.

  Arts and literature

• 2 April – first performance of W. B. Yeats's play Cathleen Ní Houlihan in Dublin.
• The Irish Literary Theatre project ends.
• Padraic Colum's anti-enlistment play, The Saxon Shillin' , is awarded a prize by Cumann na nGaedheal.
• Percy French writes the comic song Are Ye Right There Michael?
• Augusta, Lady Gregory, publishes Cuchulain of Muirthemne, a retelling of Irish mythology in English.
• Walter Osborne paints his last work, Tea in the Garden, in Dublin.

  Sport

Football

• ;International
• :22 February Wales 0–3 Ireland
• :1 March Ireland 1–5 Scotland
• :22 March Ireland 0–1 England
• ;Irish League
• :Winners: Linfield
• ;Irish Cup
• :Winners: Linfield 5–0 Distillery

  Births

• 2 January – Dan Keating, Ireland's oldest man and last surviving veteran of the Irish War of Independence.
• 13 January – Francis Connell, cricketer.
• 20 January – Kevin Barry, Irish Republican Army member.
• 26 February – Jim Hurley, veteran of the Irish War of Independence, Cork Gaelic footballer and hurler.
• 25 April – Cormac Breslin, Fianna Fáil TD and Ceann Comhairle of Dáil Éireann.
• 29 April – Francis Stuart, writer.
• 20 July – Jimmy Kennedy, songwriter.
• 21 July – William Bernard Barry, politician in the United States.
• 16 August – Arthur Douglas, cricketer and rugby player.
• 4 September – Patrick Lenihan, Fianna Fáil TD.
• 11 September – Frank Ryan, member of the Irish Republican Army, editor of An Phoblacht, leftist activist and leader of Irish volunteers on the Republican side in the Spanish Civil War.
• 16 September – James Dillon, former leader of Fine Gael, TD and Minister.
• 2 October – Alexander Montagu, 10th Duke of Manchester, born Viscount Mandeville, British Royal Navy officer and hereditary peer.
• 16 December – Billy King, cricketer.
• 29 December – Edward Pakenham, 6th Earl of Longford, politician, dramatist and poet.
• December – Maurice Gerard Moynihan, civil servant and writer.
• ;Full date unknown
• :*Thekla Beere, civil servant.
• :*Frank Carney, playwright and civil servant.
• :*Maurice Gorham, journalist and broadcasting executive.
• :*Patrick MacDonogh, poet.

  Deaths

• 20 January – Aubrey Thomas de Vere, poet and critic.
• 12 February – Frederick Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, 1st Marquess of Dufferin and Ava, politician, diplomat and traveller.
• 10 March – C. Y. O'Connor, engineer in Australia.
• 21 April – Ethna Carbery, writer and poet.
• 29 May – Edward Harrington, Member of Parliament for West Kerry 1885–1892
• 20 July – John William Mackay, businessman in America.
• 22 July – Thomas Croke, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Cashel and Emly, founder patron of the Gaelic Athletic Association.
• 23 December – Lucius Gwynn, cricketer.
• ;Full date unknown
• :*John O'Hart, genealogist.