– The Department of Foreign Affairs said that a record 822,000 Irish passports were issued in the past 12 months, up around 43,000 from 2017. Sports Association football International friendly matches 26 March – Turkey def. Ireland 1–0 in Antalya. Gaelic games 2018 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Final 19 August – Limerick 3-16 Galway 2-18 2018 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final 2 September – Dublin 2-17 Tyrone 1-14 Rugby union 10 March – Ireland beat Scotland 28–8, winning the 2018 Six Nations Championship when France beat England on the same day. 17 March – Ireland beat England 24–15, winning the Grand Slam in addition to the 2018 Six Nations Championship secured a week earlier. 23 June – Ireland beat Australia in the third test match on their summer tour, winning the series 2–1. 17 November - Ireland beat New Zealand for the first time on home soil. Women's hockey 5 August – Ireland were beaten 6-0 by the Netherlands in the 2018 Women's Hockey World Cup final. Arts and literature 23 February – Pálás cinema, Galway, designed by Tom de Paor, opened. Politics Presidential election Deaths January 1 January Mick Murphy, 99, hurler (Tipperary). Tim Sweeney, 88, hurler (Galway). 3 January – Donal Barrington, 89, judge and barrister. 5 January – Mick Murphy, 77, hurler (Tipperary), illness. 7 January – Peter Sutherland, 71, barrister, businessman and former Attorney General, illness. 8 January – Paddy Harte, 86, politician, TD (1961-1997) and Minister of State at the Department of Posts and Telegraphs (1981-1982). 9 January – Vivian Kennedy, 75, racehorse jockey and trainer. 12 January – Jim Kennedy, first president of the Ladies' Gaelic Football Association (1974–1977). 14 January – John Monaghan, 73, academic and social justice advocate, prostate cancer. 15 January – Dolores O'Riordan, 46, musician, singer-songwriter and lead singer with The Cranberries. 26 January – Pat Lynch, 84, singer, cancer. 27 January – Peter Casey, 82, horse trainer. 30 January Pat McLoughney, 68, hurler (Offaly), cancer. Richard Murphy, 90, poet. February 4 February – Séamus Pattison, 81, politician TD (1961-2007), Minister of State for Social Welfare (1983–1987) and Ceann Comhairle (1997–2002), Parkinson's disease. 5 February – Seán O'Connor, hurler and referee (b. 1935) 9 February – Liam Miller, 36, footballer (Cork City, Celtic, Manchester United, national team), pancreatic cancer. 13 February James Barrett, architect (Spire of Dublin). John Robb, 85, surgeon and politician, Senator (1982-1989). 14 February – Jamie McCarthy,