Since 1923, Ireland (which consists of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, a constituent part of the United Kingdom) has produced twelve Nobel laureates: two in Physics, one in Physiology or Medicine, four in Literature and five in Peace category.[1]
| Year | Image | Laureate | Born | Died | Field | Citation | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Citizens | |||||||
| 1923 | William Butler Yeats | 13 June 1865 in Sandymount, Leinster, Ireland | 28 January 1939 in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, Alpes-Maritimes, France | Literature | "for his always inspired poetry, which in a highly artistic form gives expression to the spirit of a whole nation."[2] | ||
| 1925 | George Bernard Shaw | 26 July 1856 in Dublin, Ireland | 2 November 1950 in Ayot St Lawrence, Hertfordshire, England | Literature | "for his work which is marked by both idealism and humanity, its stimulating satire often being infused with a singular poetic beauty."[3] | ||
| 1951 | Ernest Walton | 6 October 1903 in Abbeyside, County Waterford, Ireland | 25 June 1995 in Belfast, Northern Ireland | Physics | "for their pioneer work on the transmutation of atomic nuclei by artificially accelerated atomic particles."[4] (shared with British physicist John Cockcroft) | ||
| 1969 | Samuel Beckett | 13 April 1906 in Foxrock, Dublin Ireland | 22 December 1989 in Paris, France | Literature | "for his writing, which - in new forms for the novel and drama - in the destitution of modern man acquires its elevation."[5] | ||
| 1974 | Seán MacBride | 26 January 1904 in Paris, France | 15 January 1988 in Dublin, Ireland | Peace | "for his efforts to secure and develop human rights throughout the world."[6] (shared with Japanese politician Eisaku Satō) | ||
| 1976 | Betty Williams | 22 May 1943 in Belfast, Northern Ireland | 17 March 2020 in Belfast, Northern Ireland | Peace | "for the courageous efforts in founding a movement to put an end to the violent conflict in Northern Ireland."[7] | ||
| Mairead Maguire | 27 January 1944 in Belfast, Northern Ireland | ||||||
| 1995 | Seamus Heaney | 13 April 1939 in Tamniaran, near Castledawson, Northern Ireland | 30 August 2013 in Blackrock, Dublin, Ireland | Literature | "for works of lyrical beauty and ethical depth, which exalt everyday miracles and the living past."[8] | ||
| 1998 | 18 January 1937 in Derry, Northern Ireland | 3 August 2020 in Derry, Northern Ireland | Peace | "for their efforts to find a peaceful solution to the conflict in Northern Ireland."[9] | |||
| David Trimble | 15 October 1944 in Belfast, Northern Ireland | 25 July 2022 in Belfast, Northern Ireland | |||||
| 2015 | William Cecil Campbell | 28 June 1930 in Ramelton, County Donegal, Ireland | Physiology or Medicine | "for their discoveries concerning a novel therapy against infections caused by roundworm parasites."[10] (shared with Japanese biochemist Satoshi Ōmura and Chinese malariologist Tu Youyou) | |||
| Naturalised Citizens | |||||||
| 1951 | Erwin Schrödinger | 12 August 1887 in Vienna, Austria | 4 January 1961 in Vienna, Austria | Physics | "for the discovery of new productive forms of atomic theory."[11] (shared with English theoretical physicist Paul Dirac) |
| Image | Nominee | Born | Died | Years Nominated | Citation | Nominator(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Physics | |||||||
| John Sealy Townsend | 7 June 1868 in Galway, County Galway, Ireland | 16 February 1957 in Oxford, England | 1924, 1942 | "for studies concerning the electrical conduction of gases (concerning the kinetics of electrons and ions) and directly measured the electrical charge. "[12] | Jean Baptiste Perrin (1870–1942)  France | ||
| 1944 | "for his discovery of a phenomenon of the electron avalanche in electromagnetism (Townsend discharge)." | Victor Albert Bailey (1895–1964)  Australia | |||||
| Literature | |||||||
| William Butler Yeats | 13 June 1865 in Sandymount, Leinster, Ireland | 28 January 1939 in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, Alpes-Maritimes, France | 1902 | The Land of Heart's Desire (1894) Cathleen ni Houlihan (1902) The King's Threshold (1904) Deirdre (1907) The Green Helmet (1910) The Wild Swans at Coole (1919) The Tower (1928) Last Poems and Plays (1940)[13] | William E. H. Lecky (1838–1903)  Ireland | ||
| 1914 | George Noble Plunkett (1851–1948) Ireland | ||||||
| 1915, 1918 | Per Hallström (1866–1960)  Sweden | ||||||
| 1921 | Erik Axel Karlfeldt (1864–1931) Sweden | ||||||
| 1922, 1923 | Nobel Committee | ||||||
| George Bernard Shaw | 26 July 1856 in Dublin, Ireland | 2 November 1950 in Ayot St Lawrence, Hertfordshire, England | 1911 | Candida (1898) Caesar and Cleopatra (1901) Man and Superman (1902) Major Barbara (1907) The Doctor's Dilemma (1909) Pygmalion (1913) Saint Joan (1923)[14] | Gilbert Murray (1866–1957) | ||
| 1912 | Kristian Birch-Reichenwald Aars (1868–1917)  Norway | ||||||
| 1921 | Henrik Schück (1855–1947) Sweden | ||||||
| 1924, 1925, 1926 | Tor Hedberg (1862–1931) Sweden | ||||||
| 1926 | Nathan Söderblom (1866–1931) Sweden | ||||||
| Edward Dowden | 3 May 1843 in Cork, County Cork, Ireland | 4 April 1913 in Dublin, Ireland | 1913 | Shakspere: A Critical Study of His Mind and Art (1875) Shakespeare Primer (1877) The Life of Percy Bysshe Shelley (1886)[15] | James Lindsay (1847–1913) | ||
| Darrell Figgis | 17 September 1882 in Dublin, Ireland | 27 October 1925 in London, England | 1922 | Recollections of the Irish War (1900) A Vision of Life (1909) A Chronicle of Jails (1917) The Return of the Hero (1923)[16] | Thomas Rudmose-Brown (1878–1942) Ireland | ||
| James Cousins | 22 July 1873 in Belfast, Northern Ireland | 20 February 1956 in Madanapalle, Andhra Pradesh, India | 1935 | The Sleep of the King (1902) New Ways in English Literature (1912) The Renaissance in India (1918) A Bardic Pilgrimage (1934)[17] | Rabindranath Tagore (1861–1941)  India | ||
| Seán O'Casey | 30 March 1880 Dublin, Ireland | 18 September 1964 Torquay, Devon, England | 1949, 1950 | The Shadow of a Gunman (1923) Juno and the Paycock (1924) The Plough and the Stars (1926) The Silver Tassie (1927) The End of the Beginning (1937) Red Roses for Me (1942) Cock-a-Doodle Dandy (1949)[18] | Oscar Wieselgren (1886–1971) Sweden | ||
| 1950 | Mary Elizabeth Morton (1876–1957) Ireland | ||||||
| 1955 | Una Ellis-Fermor (1894–1958) | ||||||
| 1957 | Oscar Cargill (1898–1972)  United States | ||||||
| 1959, 1961, 1962 | Geoffrey Tillotson (1905–1969) | ||||||
| 1961 | Roy Pascal (1904–1980) | ||||||
| 1963 | The English PEN Club | ||||||
| Edward Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany | July 24, 1878 in London, England | 25 October 1957 in Dublin, Ireland | 1950 | The Gods of Pegāna (1905) The King of Elfland's Daughter (1924) The Travel Tales of Mr. Joseph Jorkens (1931)[19] | The Irish PEN Club | ||
| Lennox Robinson | 4 October 1886 in Douglas, County Cork, Ireland | 15 October 1958 in Dublin, Ireland | 1957 | The Clancy Name (1908) The Whiteheaded Boy (1916) The Big House (1926) Drama at Inish (1933)[20] | |||
| Samuel Beckett | 13 April 1906 in Foxrock, Dublin Ireland | 22 December 1989 in Paris, France | 1957 | Murphy (1938) Molloy (1951) Malone Dies (1951) Waiting for Godot (1952) The Unnamable (1953) Krapp's Last Tape (1958) How It Is (1961) Happy Days (1961)[21] | Robert-Léon Wagner (1905–1982) France | ||
| 1963, 1966 | Johannes Edfelt (1904–1997) Sweden | ||||||
| 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968 | William Stuart Maguinness (1903–1983) | ||||||
| 1964 | Bengt Holmqvist (1924–2002)  Finland | ||||||
| 1966 | Léon Cellier et al. (1911–1976) France | ||||||
| 1967, 1968 | Nelly Sachs (1891–1970) Sweden | ||||||
| 1967 | The Swedish PEN Club et al. | ||||||
| 1967, 1968 | Siegbert Salomon Prawer (1925–2012) | ||||||
| 1968 | Matthew Hodgart et al. (1916–1996) | ||||||
| 1969 | Christopher Ricks et al. (born 1933) | ||||||
| Elizabeth Bowen | 7 June 1899 in Dublin, Ireland | 22 February 1973 in London, England | 1958 | The Last September (1929) The House in Paris (1936) The Heat of the Day (1949) Eva Trout (1968)[22] | Roman Jakobson (1896–1982) | ||
| Austin Clarke | 9 May 1896 in Stoneybatter, Dublin, Ireland | 19 March 1974 in Templeogue, Dublin, Ireland | 1972 | Night and Morning (1938) Ancient Lights (1955) Twice Round the Black Church (1962) A Penny in the Clouds (1968)[23] | Kenneth Deale (1907–1974) Ireland | ||
| Desmond Clarke (1907–1979) Ireland | |||||||
| Stanislaus Lynch | 1907 in Ballyjamesduff, County Cavan, Ireland | 1983 in County Cavan, Ireland | 1972 | Echoes of the Hunting Horn (1947) A Hunting Man's Rambles (1951) Hounds are Running | (1950) | ||
| Francis Stuart | 29 April 1902 in Townsville, Queensland, Australia | 2 February 2000 in Fanore, County Clare, Ireland | 1972 | The Pillar of Cloud (1948) Redemption (1949) The Flowering Cross (1950) Black List, Section H (1971) | |||
| Peace | |||||||
| Arthur Griffith | 31 March 1871 in Dublin, Ireland | 12 August 1922 in Dublin, Ireland | 1922 | "for [his role in the] peaceful negotiations with the Anglo-Irish Treaty in establishing Irish Free State."[24] | Halvdan Koht (1873–1965) Norway | ||
| Fr. William Ferris | 1881 in Rattoo, County Kerry, Ireland | 1971 in Ballylongford, County Kerry, Ireland | 1938 | "for his brochure The Democratic Constitution, in which he outlined an electoral system which guaranteed unanimity in choice of every spokesman or representative, securing perfect harmony in the counsels of all assemblies, local, national, and international."[25] | Jed O'Sullivan (?) Ireland | ||
| Raphael Armattoe | 12 August 1913 in Keta, Volta, Ghana | 22 December 1953 in Hamburg, Germany | 1948 | "for his campaigns for the unification of British Togoland, the Gold Coast and French Togoland."[26] | members of the Parliament of Ireland | ||
| The Shop Stewards of the Belfast Shipyards | Belfast, Northern Ireland | 1970 | "for their devoted efforts to prevent sectarian violence breaking out in the shipyards and contributing to inter-communal peace."[27] | members of the Parliament of Ireland | |||
| Bloody Sunday families | Bogside, Derry, Northern Ireland | 2023 | "for their commitment to peace and reconciliation during their long fight for truth and justice."[28] [29] | Colum Eastwood (born 1983) Ireland | |||