1640 in Ireland

• Monarch: Charles I

• 5 December – John Atherton, Church of Ireland Bishop of Waterford and Lismore, and his proctor are executed on a charge of buggery, on Saint Stephen's Green, Dublin.{{cite web|url=http://www.senatordavidnorris.ie/ChangingAttitudesArticle.htm |title=Changing Attitudes: address ... at the service to mark International day against homophobia ... in Christ Church Cathedral |access-date=2021-07-29 |last=Norris |first=David |date=2009-05-17 |author-link=David Norris (politician) |publisher=Senator David Norris |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090606062927/http://www.senatordavidnorris.ie/ChangingAttitudesArticle.htm |archive-date=6 June 2009 }}{{cite book |last1=Connolly |first1=S. J. |title=Divided Kingdom: Ireland 1630-1800 |date=28 August 2008 |publisher=OUP Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-156243-3 |page=28 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Divided_Kingdom/gGol2H-zE-4C?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=John+Atherton+%225+december+1640%22&pg=PA28&printsec=frontcover |access-date=9 December 2024 |language=en}}
• Approximate date – Dubhaltach Mac Fhirbhisigh transcribes the only surviving copy of the Chronicon Scotorum.

• 17 March (Saint Patrick's Day) – Henry Burnell's play Landgartha premieres at the Werburgh Street Theatre in Dublin.{{cite book |last1=Gillespie |first1=Raymond |last2=Hadfield |first2=Andrew |title=The Oxford History of the Irish Book, Volume III: The Irish Book in English, 1550-1800 |date=2 February 2006 |publisher=OUP Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-151433-3 |page=324 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Oxford_History_of_the_Irish_Book_Vol/Lnr22BpvRAIC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Landgartha+%2217+march+1640%22+werburgh&pg=PA324&printsec=frontcover |access-date=9 December 2024 |language=en}} It is one of the earliest dramatic works from a native Irish playwright.
• James Shirley's play Saint Patrick for Ireland is published.{{cite book |last1=Stelling |first1=Lieke |last2=Hendrix |first2=Harald |last3=Richardson |first3=Todd |title=The Turn of the Soul: Representations of Religious Conversion in Early Modern Art and Literature |date=5 January 2012 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-21856-7 |page=199 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Turn_of_the_Soul/EI0IJhyjNo8C?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Saint+Patrick+for+Ireland+%221640%22&pg=PA199&printsec=frontcover |access-date=9 December 2024 |language=en}} The author returns to England around 16 April.

• 29 June – Elizabeth Stanhope, Countess of Chesterfield (d. 1665 in England){{cite book |last1=Lodge |first1=John |last2=Archdall |first2=Mervyn |title=The Peerage Of Ireland: Or,A Genealogical History Of The Present Nobility Of That Kingdom: With Engravings Of Their Paternal Coats Of Arms : Collected from Public Records, Authentic Manuscripts, Approved Historians, Well-attested Pedigrees and Personal Information |date=1789 |publisher=Moore |page=57 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Peerage_Of_Ireland_Or_A_Genealogical/L9k9AAAAcAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Elizabeth+Stanhope+%2229+june+1640%22&pg=PA57&printsec=frontcover |access-date=9 December 2024 |language=en}}
• Thomas Beecher, politician and soldier (d. 1709){{cite book |last1=Johnston-Liik |first1=E. M. |title=MPs in Dublin: Companion to History of the Irish Parliament, 1692-1800 |date=2006 |publisher=Ulster Historical Foundation |isbn=978-1-903688-60-1 |page=69 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/MPs_in_Dublin/jitdluWSybIC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Thomas+Beecher+%221640%22&pg=PA69&printsec=frontcover |access-date=9 December 2024 |language=en}}
• Charles Molloy, lawyer (d. 1690){{cite book |last1=Read |first1=Charles Anderson |title=The Cabinet of Irish Literature: Selections from the Works of the Chief Poets, Orators, and Prose Writers of Ireland ; with Biographical Sketches and Literary Notices |date=1880 |publisher=Blackie |page=222 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Cabinet_of_Irish_Literature/nV4oAQAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Charles+Molloy+%221640%22&pg=PA221&printsec=frontcover |access-date=9 December 2024 |language=en}}
• Approximate date
• Thomas Knox, politician (d. 1728)
• Philip Og O'Reilly, politician (d. 1703)

• 5 December – John Atherton, Bishop of Waterford and Lismore (b. 1598)

{{reflist}}

{{Years in Ireland}}

{{Year in Europe|1640}}

Ireland

Category:Years of the 17th century in Ireland