Events from the year 1921 in Ireland. Events 1 February Captain Con Murphy from near Millstreet, County Cork is executed by British authorities, the first man to be executed in front of a firing squad since the 1916 Rising. The Irish White Cross is established to distribute funds raised by the American Committee for Relief in Ireland. 4 February – Irish War of Independence: Irish Republican Army sets fire to Summerhill House in County Meath, destroying it. 5 February – in Brighton, England, the widow of Charles Stewart Parnell, Katherine Parnell, dies aged 76. 5 March – Irish War of Independence: Clonbanin Ambush: Irish Republican Army kills Brigadier General Cumming. 16–17 March – Irish War of Independence: Irish Republican Army kills two Royal Irish Constabulary constables in Clifden; Black and Tans, called in, kill one civilian, seriously injure another, burn 14 houses and damage several others. 19 March – Irish War of Independence: Crossbarry Ambush: British troops fail to encircle an outnumbered column of Irish Republican Army volunteers in County Cork, with at least ten British and three IRA deaths. 21 March – Irish War of Independence: Headford Ambush: Irish Republican Army kills at least nine British troops. 27 April – Viscount FitzAlan of Derwent is appointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, the first Roman Catholic granted the office since 1685. 3 May – the state of Northern Ireland is created within the United Kingdom under terms of the Government of Ireland Act 1920. 13 May – Irish elections, under terms of the Government of Ireland Act 1920: At close of nomination for elections to the new Parliament of Southern Ireland, all 128 candidates are returned unopposed and deemed elected. All 124 Sinn Féin candidates regard themselves as elected to the Second Dáil. 24 May – Irish elections, under terms of the Government of Ireland Act 1920: In the Northern Ireland general election for the new Parliament of Northern Ireland (held by single transferable vote), it is apparent by 29 May that the Unionists have a substantial majority (40 out of 52 seats). 25 May – Irish War of Independence: The Irish Republican Army occupies and burns The Custom House in Dublin, the centre of local government in Ireland. Five IRA men are killed and over eighty captured by the British Army which surrounds the building. 7 June – the forty elected Unionist Members of Parliament gather in Belfast City Hall.