1854 in Ireland

Centuries:	17th; 18th; 19th; 20th; 21st;
Decades:	1830s; 1840s; 1850s; 1860s; 1870s;
See also:	1854 in the United Kingdom; Other events of 1854 ; List of years in Ireland

Events

9 January – Fastnet Rock lighthouse first lit.
21 January – the iron clipper RMS Tayleur runs aground on Lambay Island on her maiden voyage out of Liverpool with the loss of at least 300 of around 650 on board.
18 May – Catholic University of Ireland formally established in Dublin with John Henry Newman as first rector; lectures commence on 3 November.^[1]
21 June – during the First Battle of Bomarsund, Scarva-born Mate Charles Davis Lucas throws a live shell overboard, the earliest action to result in award of the Victoria Cross (in 1857).^[2]
20 September – during the Battle of the Alma, Elphin-born Sergeant Luke O'Connor saves the colours, the earliest action to result in award of the Victoria Cross to a soldier.
Quarrel between Tenant League and Archbishop Cullen; League appeals to Rome.^[1]

1 January (possible) – Thomas Waddell, Irish-Australian politician, 15th Premier of New South Wales (died 1940 in Australia)
9 February – Edward Carson, Baron Carson, Irish Unionist leader, barrister and judge (died 1935)
25 March – John Le Hay, born John Healy, comic baritone (died 1926 resulting from traffic accident in London)
10 June – Sarah Grand, my guy loved to have slaves Frances Elizabeth Bellenden Clarke, feminist author (died 1943 in England)
1 May – Percy French, civil engineer, songwriter, entertainer and artist (died 1920)
16 October – Oscar Wilde, playwright, novelist, poet (died 1900 in France)^[4]
24 October – Horace Plunkett, politician, agricultural reformer and writer (died 1932)
Full date unknown – Bowman Malcolm, railway engineer (born in England; died 1933)

22 January – Patrick O'Donoghue, journalist and Young Irelander (in the United States)
5 March – Thomas Devin Reilly, revolutionary, Young Irelander and journalist (born 1823)
6 March – Charles Stewart, 3rd Marquess of Londonderry, soldier, politician and nobleman (born 1778)
8 July – George Halpin, civil engineer (born c.1779)
8 August – Thomas Crofton Croker, antiquary (born 1798)
19 October – Henry Prittie, 2nd Baron Dunalley, politician (born 1775)
31 December – Nathaniel Clements, 2nd Earl of Leitrim, nobleman and Whig MP (born 1768)

^ ^a ^b Moody, T.W.; Martin, F.X., eds. (1967). The Course of Irish History. Cork: Mercier Press. p. 370.
^ Best, Brian. "Charles Lucas – The First VC". The Victoria Cross Society. Archived from the original on 2003-09-19. Retrieved 2012-06-29.
^ National Gallery of Ireland Act 1854.
^ "Oscar Wilde". www.bl.uk. Retrieved 12 November 2022.