1973 in Ireland

January

• 1 January – Ireland joined the European Economic Community (EEC) along with the United Kingdom and Denmark.
• 5 January – The Fifth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland was signed into law, removing the "special position" of the Roman Catholic Church and recognition of certain other named religions.
• 6 January – Patrick Hillery was appointed Social Affairs Commissioner of the EEC.

February

• 28 February – The National Coalition of the Fine Gael party and Labour Party won the general election, ending 16 years of Fianna Fáil party government.

March

• 8 March
  • Northern Ireland sovereignty referendum (the "Border Poll"): 98.9 percent of voters wanted Northern Ireland to remain within the United Kingdom. Turnout was 58.7 percent overall, but fewer than one percent among Catholics.^[1]
  • Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) bombs exploded in Whitehall and the Old Bailey in London.
• 14 March – The new Taoiseach (prime minister), Liam Cosgrave, received his seal of office from President Éamon de Valera at the President's residence, Áras an Uachtaráin.
• 25 March – The first edition of the Sunday World newspaper, printed in Dublin, went on sale.

April

• 2 April – The Civil Authorities (Special Powers) Act (Northern Ireland) 1922 was replaced by the Northern Ireland (Emergency Provisions) Act^[2] abolishing the death penalty for murder in Northern Ireland and establishing the Diplock courts.
• 11 April – The funeral took place of the former Archbishop of Dublin, John Charles McQuaid.
• 16 April – IRA chief Seán Mac Stíofáin was freed from jail.
• 28 April – Six men, including Joe Cahill, were arrested by the Irish Naval Service off County Waterford on board a coaster carrying five tons of weapons destined for the IRA.

May

• 30 May – In the 1973 presidential election, Fianna Fáil party candidate Erskine Childers beat Fine Gael party candidate Tom O'Higgins, and was inaugurated at Dublin Castle, on his father's birthday anniversary on June 25th, as Ireland's fourth president.^[3]

June

• 6 June – Irish Continental Line (a joint venture between Irish Shipping Limited, Fearnley & Eger and Swedish company Lion Ferry) began operation with MS Saint Patrick on the Rosslare–Le Havre route.
• 24 June – President Éamon de Valera retired from office aged 90. He travelled to Boland's Mill, where he was positioned during the Easter Rising. The motorcade then proceeded to Talbot Lodge nursing home in Blackrock where he spent his retirement.
• 28 June – The Northern Ireland Assembly election took place.^[2]

July

• 10 July – The funeral of General Seán Mac Eoin took place in Ballinalee, County Longford.
• 18 July – The office of Governor of Northern Ireland, at this time held by The Lord Grey of Naunton, was abolished under Section 32 of the Northern Ireland Constitution Act.^[4] The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, a UK cabinet office created in 1972, took over the functions of the Governor on 20 December 1973 under letters patent.
• 31 July
  • The Civil Service (Employment of Married Women) Act became law, ending the marriage bar which had prevented married women from working in the civil service. The marriage bar in the wider public sector ended the following year.^[5]
  • The first sitting of the Northern Ireland Assembly took place.

September

• 1 September
  • The deepest underwater rescue ever performed took place 150 miles southwest of County Cork when the submarine Pisces III got into difficulties while laying a transatlantic telephone cable on the seabed. The crew, Roger Mallinson and Roger Chapman, were rescued by an international group of vessels after three days, having sunk to a depth of 1,575 feet below sea level on 29 August.^[6]
  • The 27 Infantry Battalion of the Irish Army was formed, with headquarters at Aiken Barracks, Dundalk.

October

• 10 October – The Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso, on his first visit to Ireland, went to Áras an Uachtaráin where he was welcomed by President Childers.^[7][8]
• 31 October – Mountjoy Prison helicopter escape: Three IRA prisoners escaped from Mountjoy Prison in Dublin in a hijacked helicopter that landed in the prison yard.

November

• 1 November – James Flanagan became the first Roman Catholic Chief Constable of the Royal Ulster Constabulary.

December

• 9 December – The Sunningdale Agreement was signed by British Prime Minister Edward Heath, Taoiseach Liam Cosgrave, Brian Faulkner, Gerry Fitt and Oliver Napier.
• 19 December – In the landmark case McGee v The Attorney General, the Supreme Court ruled that married couples enjoy the right to privacy in their relationships, thus paving the way for such couples to use contraception legally.^[9]

Association football

Single-handed sailing

• Anglo-Irish sailor Bill King completed a three-year solo world circumnavigation at the third attempt in his junk-rigged schooner Galway Blazer II.^[12]