← 1960 1959 1958 1961 in Northern Ireland → 1962 1963 1964
Centuries:	20th 21st
Decades:	1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s
See also:	1961 in the United Kingdom 1961 in Ireland Other events of 1961 List of years in Northern Ireland

Events during the year 1961 in Northern Ireland.

Incumbents

• Governor - The Lord Wakehurst
• Prime Minister - Basil Brooke

Events

• 4 March - INS Vikrant is commissioned as the Indian Navy's first aircraft carrier in Belfast, having been completed here by Harland and Wolff.
• May - The last passenger liner completed by Harland and Wolff in Belfast, SS Canberra, is delivered to her owners, P&O.
• 6 May - Northern Ireland international wing-half Danny Blanchflower captains Tottenham Hotspur F.C. to the double of the Football League First Division title and FA Cup in England - the first team in 64 years to achieve this feat.^[1]
• 8 August - Queen Elizabeth II and her husband Prince Philip arrive at Carrickfergus on HMY Britannia to begin a 2-day royal visit to Northern Ireland.
• 20 December - The last legal execution in Ireland occurs in Belfast - it is of Robert McGladdery for murder.

Arts and literature

Sport

Football

• Irish League

Winners: Linfield

• Irish Cup

Winners: Glenavon 5 - 1 Linfield

Births

• 15 January - Damian O'Neill, guitarist.
• 6 June - Bob Gilmore, musicologist and musician.
• 15 June - Dave McAuley, boxer.
• 10 September - Ian Stewart, footballer.
• 4 November - Nigel Worthington, footballer, football manager and manager of Northern Ireland national football team.
• 26 December - John Lynch, actor.
• Maureen Boyle, poet.
• Owen McCafferty, playwright.
• Eoin McNamee, novelist and screenwriter.
• Marcas Ó Murchú, traditional flute player.
• Glenn Patterson, writer.

Deaths

• 18 January - Joseph Connolly, Fianna Fáil politician (born 1885).
• 25 September - James Crichton, soldier, recipient of the Victoria Cross for gallantry in 1918 at Crèvecœur, France (born 1879).
• 8 December - Seamus Robinson, member of Irish Volunteers and Irish Republican Army (born 1890).
• 20 December - Robert McGladdery, murderer and last person to be executed in Northern Ireland.