1948 in Northern Ireland

Centuries:

Decades:

Events

7 March – The Republic of Ireland's Minister for External Affairs, Seán MacBride, recommends an economic or customs union between the two parts of Ireland.
22 June – British Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Bulwark (R08) (laid down May 1945) is launched at the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast.
5 July – The National Health Service launches in Northern Ireland
7 September – In Ottawa, Taoiseach John A. Costello announces that the Republic of Ireland government intends to repeal the 1936 External Relations Act, thus severing the last constitutional link with the United Kingdom.
2 September – Ulster Transport Authority set up.
13 September – 500 people attend a 1798 Rebellion commemoration on the hills overlooking Belfast.
17 October – At the request of the British Prime Minister Clement Attlee, the Irish Minister for Finance, Seán MacBride, and the Minister for External Affairs, Patrick McGilligan, meet representatives from the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand to discuss the repeal of the External Relations Act.
17 November – The Republic of Ireland Act, which involves the repeal of the External Relations Act, is introduced in Dáil Éireann.
25 November – The Republic of Ireland Bill is passed in Dáil Éireann.
21 December – President Seán T. O'Kelly signs the Republic of Ireland Bill at a ceremony at Áras an Uachtaráin.
Short Brothers (aircraft manufacturers) transfer their headquarters and all operations to their Belfast factory.

BBC begins broadcasting the weekly radio comedy drama series The McCooeys, written by Joseph Tomelty, from Belfast.
The poet John Hewitt publishes No Rebel Word, The Lint Pulling and Fibres, Fabric and Cordage.
The science fiction fanzine Slant, edited by Walt Willis with James White, begins publication.^[1]

Winners: Belfast Celtic

Winners: Linfield 3–0 Coleraine

26 December - Belfast Celtic F.C. play their last competitive match at Celtic Park.

9 January – John McMichael, Ulster Defence Association Brigadier (died 1987).
18 January – Shaun Davey, composer.
30 January – Paul Magee, volunteer in the Provisional Irish Republican Army, imprisoned a number of times.
22 February – Brian Kerr, a Justice of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom (died 2020).
4 April – Derek Thompson, actor.
17 May – Roy Torrens, cricketer and footballer (died 2021).
25 May
- Marianne Elliott, historian and academic.
- David McNarry, Ulster Unionist Party MLA.
6 June – Cedric Wilson, Ulster Unionist politician.