1968 in Ireland

Incumbents

• President: Éamon de Valera
• Taoiseach: Jack Lynch
• Tánaiste: Frank Aiken
• Minister for Finance: Charles Haughey
• Chief Justice: Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh
• Dáil: 18th
• Seanad: 11th

  Events

• 8 January – Taoiseach Jack Lynch and Northern Ireland Prime Minister Terence O'Neill meet for talks in Dublin.
• 10 March – Minister for Education Donogh O'Malley collapses and dies while campaigning in County Clare.
• 17 March – a seat to commemorate the poet Patrick Kavanagh is unveiled alongside the Grand Canal in Dublin.
• 24 March – an Aer Lingus aircraft, St Phelim, plunges into the Irish Sea off the Tuskar Rock killing all 57 passengers.
• 14 May – King Baudouin and Queen Fabiola of Belgium begin a state visit to Ireland. A state dinner is held in their honour at Áras an Uachtaráin this evening.
• 15 May – the King and Queen of Belgium visit Trinity College, Dublin, University College Dublin, and the National Museum. They also visit the Lord Mayor of Dublin, Frank Cluskey, at the Mansion House, and attend a state banquet at Dublin Castle in the evening.
• 16 May – the King and Queen of Belgium attend a party at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin.
• 17 May – the King and Queen of Belgium pay a second visit to Áras an Uachtaráin where Baudouin plays hurling with President Éamon de Valera and Taoiseach Jack Lynch. The royal couple each plant a tree in the garden of the residence. The President, the Taoiseach, and Minister for External Affairs, Frank Aiken later accompany the king and queen to a farewell ceremony at Dublin Airport.
• 29 May – President de Valera opens the John F. Kennedy Arboretum and Memorial Park in New Ross, County Wexford.
• 6 June – Ireland mourns the loss of assassinated United States Senator Robert Kennedy. Dáil Éireann pays tribute and a book of condolence is opened.
• 5 October – police in Derry baton-charge a Northern Ireland civil rights march.
• 8 October – 20 new traffic wardens are introduced on Dublin's streets.
• 16 October – 1968 Irish constitutional referendum.
• 25 October – the New University of Ulster is opened in Coleraine, County Londonderry.
• 27 October – the Standard Time Act 1968 stipulates that Irish Standard Time is UTC+1 and clocks are not turned back one hour during winter.
• 13 December – according to the Economic and Social Research Institute 60% of undergraduates in this country will emigrate on graduation.
• County Hall, Cork is opened; at this time it is the tallest storeyed building in Ireland.

  Arts and literature

• 28 February – first English language production of Samuel Beckett's Come and Go at the Peacock Theatre, Dublin.
• Tom Murphy's plays Famine and The Orphans are first produced in Dublin.

  Sports

• 1 September - Wexford beat Tipperary 5–8 to 3–12 in the All Ireland Senior Hurling Final at Croke Park, Dublin.
• 18 September – George Best is the star attraction as Manchester United beat Waterford City 3–1 at Lansdowne Road.
• 22 September - Down defeat Kerry 2–12 to 1–13 in the All Ireland Senior Football Final.
• Tony Dunne and George Best become the first Irish footballers to pick up European Cup winners medals as Manchester United defeat Benfica in the final at Wembley Stadium.

  Births

• 12 January – Michael Moynihan, Fianna Fáil TD for Cork North-West.
• 15 January – Tom Murphy, actor.
• 19 January – Fiona O'Malley, Progressive Democrats TD, Senator.
• 20 January
• *TS O'Rourke, writer.
• *Charlie Swan, jockey and trainer.
• 23 January – Simon Cumbers, journalist.
• 21 February – Michael Duignan, Offaly hurler and Gaelic footballer, manager.
• 24 March – Conor Hoey, cricketer.
• 26 March – Nick Sweeney, discus thrower.
• 24 April – Aidan Gillen, born Murphy, actor.
• 22 May – Graham Linehan, television writer and director.
• 31 May – John Connolly, novelist.
• 7 June – Robbie Horgan, soccer player.
• 28 July – Eoin Collins, tennis player.
• 11 August – Alan Kelly, Jr., English-born Irish international footballer.
• 24 August – Keelin Shanley, television news presenter.
• 10 September – Mark Little, journalist and television presenter.
• 15 September – James O'Higgins Norman, academic and author.
• 23 October – Eddie Gormley, soccer player and manager.
• 24 October – Tom McEllistrim, Fianna Fáil TD for Kerry North.
• 12 November – Sharon Shannon, accordion player and musician.
• 20 December – Paul Gogarty, Green Party TD.
• 16 November – Panti, drag queen.
• 27 November – Cecilia Keaveney, Fianna Fáil TD, Senator.

Deaths

• 1 January – Donagh MacDonagh, writer and judge.
• 19 January – Sir Alfred Chester Beatty, mining magnate and benefactor.
• February – Joan de Sales La Terriere, socialite, equestrienne and divorcée.
• 8 February – Louise McIlroy, Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the London School of Medicine for Women.
• 10 March – Donogh O'Malley, Fianna Fáil TD and Cabinet Minister.
• 24 March – Gladys Wynne, artist.
• 16 July – William John Leech, painter.
• 11 September – Denis McCullough, member of the Irish Volunteers elected to the 4th Dáil Éireann.
• 31 October – William X. O'Brien, politician and trade unionist.
• 2 November – Don Davern, Fianna Fáil TD for Tipperary South from 1965 until his death.
• 7 November – Margaret Mary Pearse, Fianna Fáil TD and Seanad Éireann member, sister of Patrick Pearse.
• 24 December – Eamon Bulfin, Irish republican.