Events from the year 1941 in Ireland. Incumbents President: Douglas Hyde Taoiseach: Éamon de Valera (FF) Events 2 January – three Carlow women are killed in a night of German bombing in parts of Leinster. 3 January – further German bombing of Dublin. 13 January – the poet and novelist James Joyce dies in Zürich. 24 January – part of the old State Chambers in Dublin Castle are destroyed by fire. 20 February – emergency Scientific Research Bureau set up to seek alternatives to raw materials in short supply. 21 February – first flight by a British Royal Air Force flying boat through the "Donegal Corridor", Irish airspace between its base in Northern Ireland and the Atlantic Ocean, a concession secretly agreed by Éamon de Valera. 6 March – 3,800 animals are slaughtered after the fiftieth case of foot-and-mouth disease is announced. 20 March – bread rationing is introduced. 21 March – Glencullen (Capt. T. Waldron) and Glencree (Capt. D. McLean) machine-gunned by Luftwaffe in Bristol Channel. 22 March: 16:00 hours – collier St. Fintan (Capt. N. Hendry) attacked by two Luftwaffe bombers, off the coast of Pembrokeshire and sunk with all hands – 9 dead. 26 March – Edenvale (Capt. T. Tyrrell) bombed and machine-gunned by Luftwaffe in Bristol Channel. 27 March – Lady Belle (Capt. T. Donohue) bombed and machine-gunned by Luftwaffe in Irish Sea. 2 April – Edenvale (Capt. T. Tyrrell) bombed and machine-gunned (again) by Luftwaffe in Bristol Channel. 15 April – Belfast Blitz: 1,000 people are killed in bombing raids on Belfast. 71 firemen with 13 fire tenders from Dundalk, Drogheda, Dublin and Dún Laoghaire cross the Irish border to assist their Belfast colleagues. 18 April – An RAF Handley Page Hampden aircraft (Registration AD730) gets lost in bad weather and crashes on Black Hill (Kilbeg) above the village of Lacken, County Wicklow killing its entire crew of four. 5 May – Belfast suffers its third bombing raid during World War II. The Dublin government authorises its emergency services to assist. 7 May – Wages Standstill Order. 12 May – Menapia (Capt C Bobels) bombed and machine-gunned by Luftwaffe off Welsh coast: 2 wounded. 14 May – five further outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease are reported. 17 May – Glenageary (Capt R. Simpson) bombed and machine-gunned by Luftwaffe in Irish Sea. 19 May – City of Waterford (Capt. W. Gibbons) bombed and machine-gunned by Luftwaffe off