title: 1640 in Ireland
text: # 1640 in Ireland
  
  Events from the year 1640 in Ireland.
  
  ## Incumbent
  
  * Monarch: Charles I
  
  ## Events
  
  * 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.
  * Approximate date – Dubhaltach Mac Fhirbhisigh transcribes the only surviving copy of the Chronicon Scotorum.
  
  ## Arts and literature
  
  * 17 March (St. Patrick's Day) – Henry Burnell's play Landgartha premieres at the Werburgh Street Theatre in Dublin. It is one of the earliest dramatic works from a native Irish playwright.
  * James Shirley's play Saint Patrick for Ireland is published. The author returns to England around 16 April.
  
  ## Births
  
  * 29 June – Elizabeth Stanhope, Countess of Chesterfield (d. 1665 in England)
  * Thomas Beecher, politician and soldier (d. 1709)
  * Charles Molloy, lawyer (d. 1690)
  * Approximate date
     * Thomas Knox, politician (d. 1728)
     * Philip Og O'Reilly, politician (d. 1703)
  
  ## Deaths
  
  * 5 December – John Atherton, Bishop of Waterford and Lismore (b. 1598)
  