A

Chronology

C. 3000 B.C.E. Organized farming and food production at the Céide Fields in County Mayo.

3000 B.C.E. Megalithic period begins.

C. 2500 B.C.E. Passage tombs at Newgrange, Knowth, and Dowth constructed.

C. 2000 B.C.E. Bronze Age begins.

THIRD CENTURY B.C.E. Iron Age begins.

297–C. 450 Irish launch raids on Roman Britain.

431 Pope Celestine sends Palladius to Ireland as first bishop of Ireland.

432 Reputed date of St. Patrick's mission to Ireland.

C. 490 Earliest Irish monastery on Aran founded by St. Éndae.

493 Reputed death of St. Patrick.

520–C. 620 High point of early Irish monastic period.

546 St. Colum Cille (Columba) founds Derry.

547/48 St. Ciarán founds Clonmacnoise.

C. 550–C. 600 Earliest Irish texts written.

563 Iona founded.

C. 590 St. Columbanus undertakes Irish mission to the Continent.

C. 597 The oldest known Irish manuscript, the Cathach, written.

C. 650–750 Period of fine Irish metal and stonework, including construction of early high crosses. High point of the Brehon legal system.

C. 668–730 Dynastic polity gradually replaces old tribal social structure.

C. 700–C. 900 Classical Old Irish linguistic period.

C. 750–800 St. Gall Gospels and the Book of Kells illuminated at Iona.

C. 770–C. 840 Céle Dé reform movement.

795 First Viking raids.

807–813 Vikings raid west coast of Ireland.

837–876 Period of intense Viking activity in Ireland.

841 Vikings establish permanent camps at Dublin and Annagassen, Co. Louth.

876–916 Period of relative peace ("40-year peace").

900–1100 While Latin learning goes into decline, native Irish traditions are elaborated. Monastic schools are increasingly secularized. Middle Irish literature flourishes.

C. 909–C. 924 Scripture-based high crosses constructed at Monasterboice, Co. Meath, Clonmacnoise, Co. Offaly, and elsewhere.

916–937 Renewed period of Viking activity.

978 Brian Bóruma mac Cennétig (Brian Boru) becomes king of Munster after defeating Máel Muad mac Brain.

999 Máel Morda, king of Leinster, and Sitric Silkbeard are defeated by Brian Boru at Glen Máma.

1000 Dublin captured by Brian Boru.

1002 Brian Boru acknowledged as high king of Ireland.

1005 On a visit to Armagh, Brian Boru confirms primacy of see of Armagh.

1006 After claiming hostages from the north, Brian Boru becomes undisputed high king of Ireland.

23 APRIL 1014 After Brian Boru's death at the Battle of Clontarf, Máel Sechnaill II assumes high kingship.

1022–1072 High kingship dormant.

C. 1090–1120 Irish Romanesque metalwork flowers.

1101 First Synod of Cashel.

1111 Synod of Ráith Bressail—diocesan organization of Irish church planned.

1124 Round tower at Clonmacnoise finished.

1127–1226 Flourishing of Romanesque architecture and sculpture.

1132 St. Malachy made archbishop of Armagh.

1134 Consecration of Cormac's chapel at Cashel.

1142 Foundation of Mellifont Abbey, Ireland's first Cistercian house.

1152 Synod of Kells convened, later moved to Mellifont.

29 SEPTEMBER 1155 Invasion of Ireland considered and rejected at the Council of Winchester.

NOVEMBER 1155–JULY 1156 John of Salisbury visits Rome and attains papal approval for planned invasion of Ireland by Henry II.

1162 Synod of Clane reaffirms primacy of Armagh and orders that only alumni of Armagh should be recognized as lectors in Irish churches.
Control of Dublin attained by Diarmait Mac Murchada.

1166 Tigernán Ua Ruairc marches to Ferns and sacks Diarmait Mac Murchada's castle.
Mac Murchada flees to Bristol after being banished from Ireland by Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair.

1167 After returning to Ireland with a small Flemish force commanded by Richard fitz Godebert of Rhos, Mac Murchada reclaims kingdom of Uí Chennselaig.

1169 Mac Murchada captures Wexford with Norman assistance.

23 AUGUST 1170 Strongbow (Richard de Clare) lands at Wexford.

25 AUGUST 1170 Strongbow captures Wexford and marries Diarmait Mac Murchada's daughter Aoife.

21 SEPTEMBER 1170 Mac Murchada and Norman allies capture Dublin.

1 MAY 1171 After Mac Murchada's death his son-in-law Strongbow succeeds him.

17 OCTOBER 1171 Henry II of England lands near Waterford.

11 NOVEMBER 1171 The English Pale is shaped when Henry II arrives in Dublin and receives submission of kings of north Leinster, Bréifne, Áirgialla, and Ulster.

1 APRIL 1172 Henry II grants Meath to Hugh de Lacy.

20 SEPTEMBER 1172 Pope Alexander III asks Irish kings to offer fealty to Henry II.

6 OCTOBER 1175 Treaty of Windsor.

MAY 1177 John, Henry II's ten-year-old son, made "Lord of Ireland."

25 APRIL–17 DECEMBER 1185 John, lord of Ireland, visits Ireland.

C. 1200 Bardic schools standardize classical Modern Irish grammar.

1204 Center of royal administration established at Dublin Castle.

1207 Minting of first national coinage to feature the harp.

20 JUNE 1210 King John lands at Waterford.

28 JULY 1210 The de Lacys flee after Carrickfergus is captured by King John.

1216–1227 "Conspiracy of Mellifont."

12 NOVEMBER 1216 Magna Carta issued for Ireland.

1224 Dominicans establish their first foundations at Dublin and Drogheda.

C. 1224–1230 Irish Franciscans establish their first foundations at Youghal and Cork.

21 MAY 1227 Richard de Burgh is given all of Connacht as a fief.

1257 Battle of Credran, Co. Sligo; O'Donnells stop northward advance of Maurice FitzGerald, lord of Sligo.

1258 The sons of the kings of Thomond and of Connacht acknowledge Brian O'Neill as king of Ireland at Caeluisce, Co. Sligo.

16 MAY 1260 Battle of Downpatrick.

1261 Battle of Callan.

1262–1263 Haakon IV, king of Norway, is offered high kingship of Ireland in exchange for support in expelling English from Ireland.

18 JUNE 1264 Parliament of Castledermot.

1270 Battle of Áth in Chip.

1297 Widespread political representation begins at the parliament in Dublin where liberties and counties are both represented.

9 FEBRUARY 1310 Parliament of Kilkenny passes a statute banning the reception of Irishmen into Anglo-Irish religious houses.

26 MAY 1315 Edward Bruce arrives at Larne.

29 JUNE 1315 Edward Bruce inaugurated "high king" after capturing Dundalk.

1315–1317 Widespread famine in western Europe and Ireland.

C. 1 MAY 1316 Edward Bruce crowned king of Ireland.

14 OCTOBER 1318 Bruce defeated and killed by John de Bermingham at Battle of Faughart.

C. 1327–1328 "Divers men of Ireland" submit petition to Edward III asking that English law be available to Irishmen without special charter.

1331 Ordinances for conduct of Irish government decree that there should be one law for the Irish and the Anglo-Irish.

AUGUST 1348 Plague strikes at Howth and Drogheda.

19 FEBRUARY 1366 Parliament of Kilkenny: "Statute of Kilkenny" announced.

1394 First visit of Richard II to Ireland.

1399 Second visit of Richard II to Ireland.

1 APRIL 1435 Irish poets and musicians banned from Anglo-Irish areas.

1446 "Pale" used for the first time to describe area under Dublin control.

8 FEBRUARY 1460 Parliament at Drogheda.

30 DECEMBER 1460 Duke of York killed at Battle of Wakefield.

29 MARCH 1461 After Henry VI is deposed on 4 March, Edward IV, son of Richard, duke of York, replaces him as king.

1 APRIL 1463 Thomas Fitzgerald appointed lord deputy by Edward IV after succeeding his father as eighth earl of Desmond.

22 AUGUST 1485 Richard III killed at the Battle of Bosworth (England) and succeeded by Henry VII.

1 DECEMBER 1494 Poynings' Law enacted.

23 MAY 1520 Thomas Howard, earl of Surrey and lord lieutenant of Ireland, travels to Ireland with 500 troops.

SEPTEMBER 1520 Surrey ordered to subdue Irish by legal means.

30 JUNE 1521 Surrey submits program to the king for reconquest of Ireland.

1–3 MAY 1536 "Reformation parliament" meets in Dublin.

OCTOBER–DECEMBER 1537 Acts passed by parliament against authority of the pope.

1539 Beginning of dissolution of monasteries within the Pale.

AUGUST 1539 Lord Deputy Grey routes O'Neill and O'Donnell at Bellahoe.

1540–1543 Initiation of "surrender and regrant."

18 JUNE 1541 Act of Irish parliament makes Henry VIII "king of Ireland."

1542 First Jesuit mission to Ireland.

1547–1553 Edwardian Reformation in Ireland.

14 MARCH 1549 First English Act of Uniformity.

1555 Beginning of plantation of Offaly and Laois as King's and Queen's Counties.

14 APRIL 1552 Second English Act of Uniformity.

1553–1558 Marian reaction in Ireland.

JULY 1559 Shane O'Neill succeeds Conn O'Neill as The O'Neill.

11 JANUARY–12 FEBRUARY 1560 Elizabeth's first Irish parliament restores royal supremacy.

1561–1567 Shane O'Neill's rebellion.

1568–1573 First Desmond rebellion.

JUNE 1571 First Irish-language printing in Dublin.

1573–1576 Attempt by earl of Essex to establish colony in Antrim.

26 JULY 1575 Rathlin Island massacre by Essex's soldiers.

1579–1583 Second Desmond rebellion.

26 APRIL–25 MAY 1586 Hugh O'Neill takes seat in House of Lords as earl of Tyrone.

DECEMBER 1585 Scheme for plantation of Munster.

SEPTEMBER 1588 Some 25 ships from Spanish Armada wrecked off Irish coasts.

3 MARCH 1592 Incorporation of Trinity College, Dublin.

14 AUGUST 1598 Battle of Yellow Ford: Victory of Hugh O'Neill over English army led by Henry Bagenal.

1595–1603 Hugh O'Neill, earl of Tyrone, leads rebellion.

OCTOBER 1598 Earl of Desmond attacks Munster plantation.

24 DECEMBER 1601 Battle of Kinsale.

24 MARCH 1603 Accession of James I.

30 MARCH 1603 Tyrone surrenders at Mellifont and is pardoned in exchange for surrender.

JANUARY–FEBRUARY 1606 Gavelkind banned by royal judges.

4 SEPTEMBER 1607 "Flight of the Earls."

DECEMBER 1607 Departed earls declared traitors and their lands forfeit.

1608–1610 Beginning of plantation of six Ulster counties found forfeit.

APRIL–MAY 1610 British undertakers assigned lands in Ulster.

18 MAY 1613 Dublin parliament opened.

20 JANUARY 1621 Approval of plantations in parts of Leitrim, King's County, Queen's County, and Westmeath.

24 MAY 1628 Charles I grants fifty-one "Graces" in return for financial subsidy.

1632–1640 Thomas Wentworth, first earl of Strafford from 1640, becomes lord deputy and then lord lieutenant of Ireland.

AUGUST 1640 War breaks out in Scotland.

23 OCTOBER 1641 Rising in Ulster begins.

19 MARCH 1642 "Adventurers' Act" offers Irish land in return for loans.

SUMMER 1642 First Civil War begins in England.

14 OCTOBER 1642 "Confederate Catholics" convene at Kilkenny.

15 SEPTEMBER 1643 Truce between Confederates and royalists.

1646 End of First Civil War in England.

28 MARCH 1646 "Ormond Peace."

12 AUGUST 1646 Rinuccini and O'Neill condemn "Ormond Peace."

19 JUNE 1647 Dublin surrendered to parliamentary forces.

MAY–AUGUST 1648 Second English Civil War.

17 JANUARY 1649 Second Ormond Peace.

30 JANUARY 1649 Charles I executed.

15 AUGUST 1649 Oliver Cromwell arrives in Dublin.

11 SEPTEMBER 1649 Cromwell takes Drogheda.

11 OCTOBER 1649 Cromwell takes Wexford.

19 OCTOBER 1649 New Ross surrenders to Cromwell.

12 AUGUST 1652 "Act for the Settling of Ireland."

JUNE–SEPTEMBER 1653 Arrangements for "Transplantation to Connacht."

3 SEPTEMBER 1658 Death of Cromwell.

FEBRUARY 1660 Dublin parliament restored.

14 MAY 1660 Charles II made king.

13 SEPTEMBER 1660 Navigation Act; Ireland and England made one economic unit.

27 JULY 1663 "Cattle Act" protects English producers from Irish exports.

28 SEPTEMBER 1678 Popish Plot alleged.

1 JULY 1681 Oliver Plunkett executed in London.

6 FEBRUARY 1685 James II crowned.

5 NOVEMBER 1688 William of Orange arrives in England; James II flees.

18 APRIL 1689 Siege of Derry begins.

22 JUNE 1689 Temporary repeal of Cromwellian land settlement.

28 JULY 1689 Siege of Derry ends.

1 JULY 1690 Battle of the Boyne (12 July on modern calendar).

9–30 AUGUST 1690 First siege of Limerick.

26 SEPTEMBER 1690 First meeting of Presbyterian Synod of Ulster.

12 JULY 1691 Battle of Aughrim.

SEPTEMBER–OCTOBER 1691 Second siege of Limerick.

3 OCTOBER 1691 Treaty of Limerick.

1691–1703 Williamite land confiscations.

7 SEPTEMBER 1695 First "Penal Laws" enacted in Irish parliament.

25 SEPTEMBER 1697 Irish parliament banishes Catholic bishops and regular clergy, that is, those in orders.

26 JANUARY 1699 Export of Irish woolens restricted by English and Irish parliaments.

4 MARCH 1704 Sacramental test imposed for public office on both Catholics and Protestants, excluding both Catholics and Dissenters.

2 NOVEMBER 1719 Toleration Act for Protestant Dissenters (Protestants not taking communion in the Church of Ireland).

7 APRIL 1720 "Declaratory Act" passed by British parliament.

JUNE 1726 Non-subscribing Presbyterians separate from Synod of Ulster to form presbytery of Antrim.

6 MAY 1728 Catholics lose franchise.

14 JUNE 1739 Duties on imports of Irish woolen yarn into Britain removed.

1739–1741 Catastrophic famine.

DECEMBER 1753 Money Bill crisis.

20 JUNE 1758 Importation of Irish cattle into Britain legalized.

MARCH 1760 Formation of Catholic Committee.

OCTOBER–DECEMBER 1761 Whiteboy movement develops in Munster.

1763 Oakboy disturbances in Ulster.

7 JUNE 1766 Tumultuous Risings Act.

14 OCTOBER 1767 Lord Townshend begins viceroyalty.

16 FEBRUARY 1768 Octennial Act.

JULY 1769 Steelboy disturbances begin in Ulster.

2 JUNE 1772 Catholics attain right to lease bog land.

27 OCTOBER 1775 Henry Flood appointed vice-treasurer.

15 DECEMBER 1775 Henry Grattan delivers his maiden speech in House of Commons and inherits Flood's place as leader of opposition.

APRIL 1776 New anti-Whiteboy legislation.

17 MARCH 1778 Volunteer movement begins (Belfast).

14 AUGUST 1778 Catholic Relief Act grants right to lease land and inherit property.

4 NOVEMBER 1779 Volunteers march as champions of free trade.

24 FEBRUARY 1780 Free-trade legislation passes.

15 FEBRUARY 1782 Dungannon convention.

16 APRIL 1782 Grattan proposes Irish legislative independence for the third time and the motion is carried unanimously in the Irish parliament.

4 MAY 1782 Catholic Relief Act gives Catholics right to own land outside parliamentary boroughs.

4 MAY 1782 Bank of Ireland established.

21 JUNE 1782 Declaratory Act repealed.

27 JULY 1782 Yelverton's Act.
Catholic Relief Act grants Catholics education rights.

17 APRIL 1783 Renunciation Act.

8 SEPTEMBER 1783 Second Volunteer convention at Dungannon.

10 NOVEMBER–2 DECEMBER 1783 National Volunteer convention in Dublin.

19 NOVEMBER 1783 Rejection of Volunteers' parliamentary-reform bill.

14 MAY 1784 Corn Law imposes sliding scale for export subsidies based on domestic prices.

JULY 1784 Emergence of Defenders and Peep o' Day Boys in Ulster.

SEPTEMBER 1785 Renewed Whiteboy (or Rightboy) disturbances.

AUGUST 1785 Antiburgher Seceding Presbyterian Synod founded.

5 NOVEMBER 1788–10 MARCH 1789 Regency crisis.

AUGUST 1791 Publication of Theobald Wolfe Tone's Argument on Behalf of the Catholics of Ireland.

14 OCTOBER 1791 Foundation of the Society of United Irishmen in Belfast.

9 NOVEMBER 1791 Formation of the Dublin branch of the United Irishmen.

18 APRIL 1792 Catholic Relief Act grants Catholics the right to practice law.

25 JULY 1792 Tone made assistant secretary of the Catholic Committee.

3–8 DECEMBER 1792 Catholic Convention.

DECEMBER 1792 Deputation from Catholic Convention presents civil-rights petition to the king.

11 MARCH 1793 Suppression of the Volunteers.

9 APRIL 1793 Catholic Relief Act—Catholics receive franchise if qualified, the right to serve in the military, and other benefits.

15 FEBRUARY 1794 Publication of the United Irishmen's plans for parliamentary reform.

1 MARCH 1794 Catholics given statutory right to attend Trinity College, Dublin.

23 MAY 1794 Suppression of the Dublin branch of the United Irishmen.

4 JANUARY–23 MARCH 1795 Fitzwilliam affair.

21 SEPTEMBER 1795 Battle of the Diamond.

1 FEBRUARY 1796 Tone arrives in France.

24 MARCH 1796 Insurrection Act.

22 NOVEMBER 1796 French fleet, including Tone, sails into Bantry Bay.

7 DECEMBER 1796 French forced to leave by stormy weather.

SUMMER AND AUTUMN 1797 Severe measures taken by government to disarm the disaffected in the North.

8 MARCH 1798 Orange Order meets in Dublin and begins nationwide movement.

12 MARCH 1798 Arrest of leaders of United Irishmen.

MAY–JUNE 1798 Rising of United Irishmen in Leinster.

21 JUNE 1798 Wexford rebels finally defeated at Vinegar Hill.

8 SEPTEMBER 1798 French invasion force defeated near Ballinamuck.

19 NOVEMBER 1798 Tone dies six days after cutting his throat rather than be hanged for treason.

21 MAY 1800 Consideration of Act of Union begins in Irish parliament.

1 JANUARY 1801 Union of Great Britain and Ireland takes effect.

23 JULY 1803 Robert Emmet leads rising in Dublin.

MAY–SEPTEMBER 1808 Controversy about royal veto over Catholic episcopal appointments brings Daniel O'Connell to prominence.

AUGUST 1808 Edmund Rice founds the Christian Brothers in Waterford.

30 APRIL 1811 Grattan introduces Catholic Relief Bill at Westminster. It is narrowly defeated on 24 May.

AUGUST–OCTOBER 1816 Potato-crop failure leads to famine, made worse by outbreak of typhus.

1817 Typhus epidemic continues, claiming 50,000 lives.

1818 Wesleyan Methodist connexion formed; Primitive Wesleyan Methodists remain in communion with Church of Ireland.

10 JULY 1818 Burgher and Antiburgher Presbyterians unite to form Secession Synod.

SEPTEMBER–NOVEMBER 1821 Potato-crop failure.

12 MAY 1823 Daniel O'Connell founds Catholic Association.

24 JANUARY 1824 "Catholic rent" introduced.

19–29 JUNE 1826 General election returns pro-Catholic Members of Parliament (MPs) following extensive efforts by O'Connell to mobilize voters.

24 JUNE 1828 O'Connell wins County Clare byelection.

13 APRIL 1829 Catholic Relief Act provides Catholic emancipation.

30 JULY 1829 O'Connell returned to parliament unopposed.

25 MAY 1830 Remonstrant Synod of Ulster formed by non-subscribing Presbyterians forced out of Synod of Ulster.

3 MARCH 1831 Tithe war begins.

NOVEMBER 1831 National Education system initiated.

7 AUGUST 1832 Parliamentary Reform Act increases Irish seats from 100 to 105 and enlarges the electorate to 1.2 percent of the population.

29 AUGUST 1833 Tithe Arrears Act.

22–30 APRIL 1834 House of Commons debates Repeal following a motion by O'Connell.

17 DECEMBER 1834 First railway in Ireland opens between Dublin and Kingstown.

18 FEBRUARY 1835 First meeting leading to "Lichfield House Compact."

14 APRIL 1836 Dissolution of the Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland.

20 MAY 1836 Irish Constabulary formed.

10 APRIL 1838 Father Mathew and William Martin found total-abstinence movement.

31 JULY 1838 Poor Law extended to Ireland.

15 APRIL 1840 Daniel O'Connell forms National Association. Organization renamed Loyal National Repeal Association on 16 July.

10 JULY 1840 Synod of Ulster and Seceding Synod unite to form General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Ireland.

10 AUGUST 1840 Municipal Reform Act.

17 APRIL 1841 Thomas Davis joins Repeal Association.

JANUARY 1842 Having attracted three million people, Father Mathew's total-abstinence movement reaches its peak.

15 OCTOBER 1842 First issue of the Nation published.

15 AUGUST 1843 Huge throng attends "Monster Meeting" at the Hill of Tara.

7 OCTOBER 1843 "Monster meeting" at Clontarf prohibited. O'Connell cancels it rather than face violent confrontation with crown forces.

10 FEBRUARY 1844 Daniel O'Connell and others convicted of conspiracy and other charges. Sentence overturned on 4 September.

9 SEPTEMBER 1845 Dublin newspaper reports appearance of the potato blight.

9–10 NOVEMBER 1845 Peel orders purchase of Indian corn from America to provide famine relief.

18 NOVEMBER 1845 Government appoints relief commission.

5 MARCH 1846 Parliament authorizes county relief works to alleviate distress in Ireland.

26 JUNE 1846 Peel secures "repeal" of the corn laws.

30 JUNE 1846 Lord John Russell succeeds Peel as prime minister.

28 JULY 1846 O'Connell and Young Irelanders split over question of physical force. Young Irelanders soon form Irish Confederation.

26 FEBRUARY 1847 "Soup Kitchen Act" allows outdoor relief. More than 3 million fed at soup kitchens by July.

8 JUNE 1847 Poor Relief Act permits outdoor relief to non-able-bodied but incorporates the "Gregory Clause" facilitating mass evictions.

29 JULY 1848 William Smith O'Brien leads Confederate (Young Ireland) "rising" at Boulagh Commons near Ballingarry, Co. Tipperary.

28 SEPTEMBER–23 OCTOBER 1848 Confederate leaders tried and convicted of treason. Death sentences commuted to transportation for life on 5 June 1849.

NOVEMBER 1848 Beginning of cholera outbreak.

12 JULY 1849 Sectarian riot at Dolly's Brae in County Down.

OCTOBER 1849 Queen's Colleges of Belfast, Cork, and Galway opened.

9 AUGUST 1850 Foundation of Irish Tenant League.

22 AUGUST–10 SEPTEMBER 1850 Synod of Thurles led by Archbishop Paul Cullen initiates major reforms within Catholic Church.

19 AUGUST 1851 Formation of Catholic Defence Association.

JULY 1852 General election returns roughly 40 MPs favoring the Tenant League.

DECEMBER 1853 Queen's Island shipyard opens in Belfast.

JULY–SEPTEMBER1857 Sectarian rioting in Belfast follows controversial street preaching.

17 MARCH 1858 James Stephens founds what is later called Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) in Dublin.

MARCH–NOVEMBER 1859 Religious revival occurs in Belfast.

APRIL 1859 John O'Mahony founds Fenian Brotherhood in New York.

10 NOVEMBER 1861 Funeral for Terence Bellew McManus held at Glasnevin by the IRB.

7 AUGUST 1862 Poor Relief Act abolishes "Gregory Clause."

8–25 AUGUST 1864 Sectarian rioting in Belfast precipitated by Protestant reaction against unveiling in Dublin of O'Connell monument.

22 JUNE 1866 Archbishop Cullen becomes first Irish cardinal.

5–6 MARCH 1867 Fenian rising in Munster counties and around Dublin.

20 JUNE 1867 Foundation of Clan na Gael in New York City.

17 AUGUST 1867 Colonel Thomas J. Kelly succeeds Stephens as head of the IRB.

18 SEPTEMBER 1867 IRB rescue of Kelly and Captain Timothy Deasy in Manchester.

23 NOVEMBER 1867 "Manchester Martyrs" (Allen, Larkin, and O'Brien) executed.

13 JULY 1868 Irish Parliamentary Reform Act extends borough franchise.

26 JULY 1869 Irish Church Disestablishment Act.

19 MAY 1870 Isaac Butt launches Home Rule movement Dublin.

1 AUGUST 1870 Gladstone's first Land Act.

16 JUNE 1871 "Westmeath Act."

18 JULY 1872 Ballot Act.

18–21 NOVEMBER 1873 Home Rule League founded in Dublin.

FEBRUARY 1874 General election returns 60 Home Rulers.

30 JUNE–2 JULY 1874 Butt's Home Rule motion debated and defeated at Westminster.

19 APRIL 1875 Charles Stewart Parnell returned to parliament as MP for County Meath.

31 JULY–1 AUGUST 1877 Parnell and other MPs engage in parliamentary obstruction.

28 AUGUST 1877 Parnell becomes president of the Home Rule Confederation of Great Britain at Liverpool.

1877–1879 Major agricultural depression.

27 OCTOBER 1878 American Fenian leaders announce the "New Departure."

20 APRIL 1879 Land war begins with meeting at Irishtown, Co. Mayo.

21 OCTOBER 1879 Foundation of Irish National Land League in Dublin.

MARCH–APRIL 1880 General election provides substantial victory for Parnell, Home Rule, and the Land League.

17 MAY 1880 Parnell becomes chairman of the Irish Parliamentary Party.

24 SEPTEMBER–25 NOVEMBER 1880 "Boycotting" employed by tenants after Captain Charles C. Boycott attempts to enforce payment of rents due to Lord Erne.

26 JANUARY 1881 Land League establishes Ladies' committee under Anna Parnell. Forerunner of Ladies' Land League in Ireland.

2 MARCH 1881 Protection of Person and Property Act.

21 MARCH 1881 Peace Preservation Act.

22 AUGUST 1881 Second Gladstone Land Act legalizes the "three Fs."

13 OCTOBER 1881 Arrest of Parnell and other Land League leaders.

18 OCTOBER 1881 No Rent Manifesto.

20 OCTOBER 1881 Land League declared illegal.

APRIL 1882 Parnell agrees to "Kilmainham Treaty." On 2 May the cabinet approves it.

2 MAY 1882 Release of Parnell and other Land League leaders.

6 MAY 1882 Phoenix Park murders.

12 JULY 1882 New Coercion Act.

18 AUGUST 1882 Arrears of Rent Act.

17 OCTOBER 1882 Irish National League founded to succeed banned Land League.

JUNE 1884 Fenians launch "dynamite campaign" in England.

1 NOVEMBER 1884 Gaelic Athletic Association founded.

6 DECEMBER 1884 Franchise Act triples Irish electorate.

1 MAY 1885 Foundation of Irish Loyal and Patriotic Union.

21 NOVEMBER 1885 Parnell calls on Irish in Great Britain to vote against Liberals.

23 NOVEMBER–19 DECEMBER 1885 Home Rule party wins 86 seats in general election and seems to hold balance of power at Westminster.

8 APRIL 1886 Introduction of Gladstone's Home Rule bill at Westminster.

8 JUNE 1886 Home Rule bill defeated by 30 votes.

3 JUNE–25 OCTOBER 1886 Rioting in Belfast, occasioned by Home Rule bill, causes 32 fatalities, £90,000 in property damage.

23 OCTOBER 1886 Plan of Campaign—a rent strike—announced.

APRIL–DECEMBER 1887 The Times publishes "Parnellism and Crime" articles.

13 NOVEMBER 1887 Over 100 injured during clash of radicals and Irish nationalists with police in London: "Bloody Sunday."

20 APRIL 1888 Rome condemns Plan of Campaign and boycotting.

13 AUGUST 1888 Special commission created to investigate charges by The Times against Parnell.

20–22 FEBRUARY 1889 Special commission finds that articles published in The Times were forged.

24 DECEMBER 1889 Captain William O'Shea files petition for divorce, citing his wife's adultery with Parnell.

13 FEBRUARY 1890 Parnell and associates exonerated of weightiest charges made in Times articles.

17 NOVEMBER 1890 O'Shea divorce granted.

25 NOVEMBER 1890 Parnell re-elected chairman of Irish parliamentary party.

25 NOVEMBER 1890 Publication of Gladstone-Morley letter pressuring Parnell to resign as party leader.

1–6 DECEMBER 1890 Committee Room 15 debates leading to Irish party split.

10 MARCH 1891 Irish National Federation (anti-Parnellite body) launched.

25 JUNE 1891 Parnell marries Katharine O'Shea.

5 AUGUST 1891 Arthur Balfour's Land Purchase Act.

6 OCTOBER 1891 Parnell dies in Brighton.

11 OCTOBER 1891 Parnell buried at Glasnevin after massive Dublin funeral.

DECEMBER 1891 John Redmond succeeds Parnell as leader of Irish party minority.

17 JUNE 1892 Ulster Unionist Convention in Belfast.

29 SEPTEMBER 1892 Formation of Belfast Labour Party.

13 FEBRUARY 1893 Introduction of Gladstone's second Home Rule bill.

25 FEBRUARY 1893 Report of Evicted Tenants Commission.

21–22 APRIL 1893 Second reading of Home Rule bill leads to disturbances in Belfast.

31 JULY 1893 Gaelic League founded.

2 SEPTEMBER 1893 Home Rule bill passes House of Commons by 301 to 267.

9 SEPTEMBER 1893 House of Lords rejects Home Rule bill by 419 to 41.

27–28 APRIL 1894 First Irish Trade Union Congress.

29 MAY 1896 Irish Socialist Republican Party formed.

12 AUGUST 1898 Local Government Act.

8 MAY 1899 Irish Literary Theatre (founded 1898) debuts in Dublin; it becomes the Abbey Theatre in 1904.

6 FEBRUARY 1900 Redmond elected leader of newly united Irish party.

30 SEPTEMBER 1900 Arthur Griffith founds Cumann na nGaedheal.

11 JUNE 1903 Independent Orange Order set up in Belfast.

14 AUGUST 1903 "Wyndham Act" passed—greatly extends land purchase.

27 DECEMBER 1904 Abbey Theatre opens in Dublin.

3 MARCH 1905 Ulster Unionist Council formed.

5 MAY 1906 Griffith's Sinn Féin first published.

21 APRIL 1907 Sinn Féin League established.

28 AUGUST 1907 Evicted Tenants Act.

5 SEPTEMBER 1907 National Council and Sinn Féin League combine to create new body—called Sinn Féin from September 1908.

29 DECEMBER 1908 Irish Transport and General Workers' Union formed.

29 APRIL 1909 "People's Budget" introduced by David Lloyd George.

16 AUGUST 1909 Fianna Éireann—a movement of girl scouts—formed.

JANUARY–FEBRUARY 1910 Irish party holds balance of power after general election.

21 FEBRUARY 1910 Sir Edward Carson elected chairman of Irish unionist MPs.

DECEMBER 1910 Irish party once again holds balance of power after another general election.

18 AUGUST 1911 Parliament Act removes absolute veto power of House of Lords and grants suspensive veto of two years.

9 APRIL 1912 Andrew Bonar Law promises Tory support for Ulster unionists.

28 SEPTEMBER 1912 Ulster unionists sign Solemn League and Covenant in opposition to Home Rule—"Ulster Day" ceremony.

16 JANUARY 1913 Third Home Rule bill narrowly passes House of Commons.

30 JANUARY 1913 Third Home Rule bill defeated in House of Lords by large margin.

31 JANUARY 1913 Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) established.

JULY 1913 Home Rule bill again passes Commons but fails in Lords.

30 AUGUST–1 SEPTEMBER 1913 Labor disturbances in Dublin.

3 SEPTEMBER 1913 "Lock–out" by Dublin employers begins against Irish Transport and General Workers' Union.

24 SEPTEMBER 1913 Unionist leaders plan "provisional government" for Ulster.

19 NOVEMBER 1913 Irish Citizen Army founded.

25 NOVEMBER 1913 Irish Volunteers founded under Eoin MacNeill.

JANUARY–FEBRUARY 1914 "Lock-out" ends in heavy defeat for workers.

20 MARCH 1914 "Curragh Incident"—a nearmutiny against Home Rule.

2 APRIL 1914 Cumann na mBan—female branch of Irish Volunteers—founded.

24–25 APRIL 1914 Larne gun-running—UVF now well armed.

25 MAY 1914 Home Rule bill passes the House of Commons for the third time.

21–24 JULY 1914 Buckingham Palace conference fails to solve Ulster question.

26 JULY 1914 Howth gun-running brings some arms to nationalists.

3–4 AUGUST 1914 First World War begins.

18 SEPTEMBER 1914 Third Home Rule bill suspended after receiving royal assent.

20 SEPTEMBER 1914 Redmond calls on Irish Volunteers to support British war effort.

24 SEPTEMBER 1914 Redmond's leadership rejected by small minority (Irish Volunteers) but accepted by vast majority (National Volunteers).

20 APRIL 1916 Aud captured by Royal Navy—German arms for rising lost.

24 APRIL 1916 Easter Rising begins.

29 APRIL 1916 Pearse orders rebels to surrender. Casualties amount to about 3,000 (450 killed).

3–12 MAY 1916 Fifteen leaders of the Easter Rising shot by British military.

5 FEBRUARY 1917 Count Plunkett elected as Sinn Féin candidate for Roscommon North.

9 MAY 1917 Joseph McGuinness elected as Sinn Féin candidate for Longford South.

10 JULY 1917 Eamon de Valera elected as Sinn Féin candidate for Clare East.

23 APRIL 1918 General strike against conscription—part of furious nationalist opposition to threat of enforced enlistment.

11 NOVEMBER 1918 First World War ends.

14–28 DECEMBER 1918 General election returns large Sinn Féin majority (73 seats won).

21 JANUARY 1919 Two policemen are killed at Soloheadbeg in Tipperary—later viewed as start of war for independence.

21 JANUARY 1919 First meeting of Dáil Éireann.

20 AUGUST 1919 Dáil decides that the Volunteers must pledge allegiance to the "Irish Republic" and to the Dáil itself. The Irish Volunteers gradually become known as the Irish Republican Army (IRA).

12 SEPTEMBER 1919 Dáil Éireann proscribed by British government.

2 JANUARY 1920 First British recruits join Irish police units later called "Black and Tans."

21 JUNE–4 JULY 1920 Catholics expelled from Belfast shipyards and engineering works.

25 OCTOBER 1920 IRA commander and Cork May or Terence MacSwiney dies on hunger strike.

21 NOVEMBER 1920 "Bloody Sunday": following IRA killings of the "Cairo Gang," police "Auxiliaries" fire on a crowd at Croke Park, killing twelve.

23 DECEMBER 1920 Government of Ireland Act attempts to confer Home Rule separately on North and South.

4 FEBRUARY 1921 Sir James Craig elected leader of Ulster unionists.

24 MAY 1921 General election in Northern Ireland returns a unionist majority. Southern nationalists in effect boycott Dublin parliament.

7 JUNE 1921 James Craig elected prime minister of Northern Ireland.

11 JULY 1921 Truce between British army and IRA comes into effect.

16 AUGUST 1921 Sinn Féin MPs elected in the South meet as second Dáil Éireann.

6 DECEMBER 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty signed in London.

7 JANUARY 1922 Dáil Éireann approves Anglo-Irish Treaty by 64 to 57. Anti-treatyites storm out.

7 APRIL 1922 Special Powers Act (Northern Ireland).

31 MAY 1922 Royal Ulster Constabulary formed.

16 JUNE 1922 General election in South returns protreaty majority to Dáil Éireann.

22 JUNE 1922 IRA assassinates Field Marshall Sir Henry Wilson in London.

28 JUNE 1922 Civil War begins with attack on IRA garrison in the Four Courts.

12 AUGUST 1922 Arthur Griffith, president of Dáil Éireann, dies.

22 AUGUST 1922 Michael Collins, commander in chief of the National (Free State) Army, killed in ambush at Béal na mBláth, Co. Cork.

9 SEPTEMBER 1922 William Cosgrave elected president of provisional government.

25 OCTOBER 1922 Constitution of Irish Free State approved by Dáil.

17 NOVEMBER 1922–2 MAY 1923 77 "Irregulars" (members of the antitreaty forces) executed by Free State government.

5 DECEMBER 1922 British government approves Free State Constitution Act.

6 DECEMBER 1922 Irish Free State formally established. T. M. Healy sworn in as first governor general of Free State.

7 DECEMBER 1922 Both houses of Northern Ireland parliament opt out of Free State.

31 MARCH 1923 Customs barriers become effective between Free State and United Kingdom (including Northern Ireland).

24 MAY 1923 Civil War ends with de Valera's order to "Irregulars."

16 JULY 1923 Censorship of Films Act becomes law in Free State.

8 AUGUST 1923 Gárda Siochána (Civic Guard, or police) founded.

27 AUGUST 1923 Cumann na nGaedheal wins plurality in Free State elections.

10 SEPTEMBER 1923 Free State joins League of Nations.

15 SEPTEMBER 1923 Belfast branch of BBC radio opened (2BE).

6 JUNE 1924 Incorporation of Irish Tourist Association.

6 NOVEMBER 1924 First meeting of the Boundary Commission.

10 DECEMBER 1923 W. B. Yeats receives Nobel Prize for Literature.

1925 George Bernard Shaw wins Nobel Prize for Literature; his prize announced in 1926.

4 JULY 1925 Authorization of the Shannon hydroelectric scheme.

3 DECEMBER 1925 Free State, United Kingdom, and Northern Ireland agree to existing borders and termination of the Boundary Commission.

1 JANUARY 1926 2RN, later RTÉ, begins radio broadcasts in Dublin.

16 MAY 1926 De Valera launches Fianna Fáil party.

10 JULY 1927 Assassination of justice minister Kevin O'Higgins.

11 AUGUST 1927 Fianna Fáil TDs take seats in Dáil Éireann.

16 APRIL 1929 Proportional representation abolished for elections to Northern Ireland parliament.

12 FEBRUARY 1930 Censorship board appointed under Censorship of Publications Act.

17 SEPTEMBER 1930 Free State joins League of Nations council.

5 SEPTEMBER 1931 De Valera's Irish Press begins publication.

11 DECEMBER 1931 Statute of Westminster confers broad powers on dominions.

16 FEBRUARY 1932 Fianna Fáil wins Free State general election. De Valera heads Executive Council.

30 JUNE 1932 De Valera withholds payment of land annuities owed to Britain and thus launches the "Economic War."

4–13 OCTOBER 1932 Labor unrest in Belfast.

16 NOVEMBER 1932 Parliament buildings at Stormont open near Belfast.

22 FEBRUARY 1933 Eoin O'Duffy dismissed as Gárda Siochána head.

20 JULY 1933 Army Comrades Association ("Blueshirts") adopts name "National Guard."

22 AUGUST 1933 National Guard proclaimed illegal.

2 SEPTEMBER 1933 United Ireland party (later called Fine Gael) launched on amalgamation of Cumann na nGaedheal, National Guard, and the Centre party.

21 DECEMBER 1934 Coal-Cattle Pact between Free State and Britain.

18 JUNE 1936 IRA banned in Free State.

14 AUGUST 1936 Aer Lingus established by law as national airline.

12 DECEMBER 1936 External Relations Act recognizes crown for purposes of external relations only.

14 JUNE 1937 De Valera's constitution bill approved by the Dáil.

1 JULY 1937 Voters approve new constitution in referendum.

25 APRIL 1938 Anglo-Irish agreement returns "treaty ports" to Irish control.

25 JUNE 1938 Douglas Hyde becomes first president of Ireland.

16 JANUARY 1939 Yearlong IRA bombing campaign in Britain begins.

14 JUNE 1939 Offences against the State Act becomes law.

27 JULY 1939 Irish Tourist Board established.

2 SEPTEMBER 1939 De Valera announces Irish neutrality in wartime.

3 JANUARY 1940 Oireachtas receives two emergency anti-IRA bills.

25 NOVEMBER 1940 J. M. Andrews becomes prime minister of Northern Ireland.

27 DECEMBER 1940 Consecration of John Charles McQuaid as archbishop of Dublin.

15–16 APRIL 1941 German air-raids on Belfast kill over 700 and badly wound 400.

1 MAY 1943 Sir Basil Brooke becomes prime minister of Northern Ireland.

8 DECEMBER 1943 Córas Iompair Éireann (CIE) established.

14 JANUARY 1944 National Labour party founded.

25 APRIL 1945 Fifteen trade unions form Congress of Irish Unions.

8 MAY 1945 War ends in Europe—"VE Day."

16 JUNE 1945 Seán T. O'Kelly elected president of Ireland.

1 JUNE 1946 Bord na Móna (Turf Board) established.

6 JULY 1946 Clann na Poblachta (republican party) founded.

JULY–AUGUST 1946 Ireland applies for membership in United Nations (UN).

4 FEBRUARY 1948 General election deals defeat to de Valera; John A. Costello soon becomes taoiseach (prime minister) and head of first interparty government.
Health Services Act introduces British-style National Health Service to Northern Ireland.

7 SEPTEMBER 1948 Costello announces forthcoming repeal of External Relations Act.

21 DECEMBER 1948 Republic of Ireland Act.

18 APRIL 1949 Ireland declared a republic and leaves Commonwealth.

11 APRIL 1951 Health minister Noël Browne resigns over the "Mother and Child Scheme."

13 JUNE 1951 De Valera becomes taoiseach again after Fianna Fáil wins general election on 30 May.

14 JUNE 1952 Social Welfare Act sets up social-insurance system.

25 JUNE 1952 Seán T. O'Kelly becomes president of Ireland a second time.

3 JULY 1952 Tourism Traffic Act establishes An Bord Fáilte for tourism development and Fogra Fáilte to promote Irish tourism.

13 DECEMBER 1952 Adoption legalized in Republic.

5–23 APRIL 1953 Republic of Ireland holds first An Tóstal festival.

3 MAY 1953 Gael-Linn established to promote Irish language.

2 JUNE 1954 Costello of Fine Gael again becomes taoiseach and head of second interparty government.

21 MARCH 1955 Fogra Fáilte and An Bord Fáilte combined to create Bord Fáilte Éireann.

21 JULY 1955 First regular television service in Northern Ireland launched.

14 DECEMBER 1955 Republic of Ireland admitted to UN.

5 MARCH 1957 General election returns de Valera and Fianna Fáil to power.

25 MARCH 1957 Treaty of Rome establishes European Economic Community (EEC).

20 MARCH 1958 General election in Northern Ireland returns another unionist majority. Brooke continues as prime minister.

11 NOVEMBER 1958 First Programme for Economic Expansion presented to the Oireachtas (both houses of the Irish parliament).

17 JUNE 1959 De Valera elected president of Ireland. Proposal to abolish proportional representation in elections defeated by referendum.

23 JUNE 1959 Seán Lemass succeeds de Valera as taoiseach and leader of Fianna Fáil.

27 JULY 1960 Republic sends first Irish troops to serve with UN forces in the Congo. Ireland is a frequent participant in future UN missions.

20 SEPTEMBER 1960 F. H. Boland elected president of UN General Assembly.

9 APRIL 1961 Census records population of Irish Republic at 2,818,341—lowest figure on record.

SUMMER 1961 Ireland announces intentions to apply for membership in the EEC in response to news of British intention to apply for membership.

4 OCTOBER 1961 General election in Republic returns Fianna Fáil to government.

31 DECEMBER 1961 Radio Éireann begins television broadcasts.

31 MAY 1962 Unionists win another general election in Northern Ireland. Brooke continues as prime minister.

6 JULY 1962 The Late Late Show with Gay Byrne debuts on RTÉ.

25 MARCH 1963 Captain Terence O'Neill becomes prime minister of Northern Ireland.

26–29 JUNE 1963 John F. Kennedy visits Ireland.

22 AUGUST 1963 Second Programme for Economic Expansion published.

14 JANUARY 1965 Historic Lemass-O'Neill meeting in Belfast concerning cross-border cooperation in tourism promotion, electricity supply, etc.

2 FEBRUARY 1965 Nationalist party accepts role as official opposition at Stormont.

9 FEBRUARY 1965 O'Neill visits Lemass in Dublin.

7 APRIL 1965 General election returns Fianna Fáil to power in the South. Seán Lemass continues as taoiseach.

25 NOVEMBER 1965 General election in Northern Ireland. O'Neill continues as prime minister.

14 DECEMBER 1965 Anglo-Irish Free Trade Agreement signed.

10 APRIL 1966 Commemoration of fiftieth anniversary of Easter Rising begins.

17 APRIL 1966 Census records population of Irish Republic at 2,884,002—first significant increase since the famine.

APRIL–MAY 1966 Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) established.

1 JUNE 1966 De Valera re-elected president of Ireland.

28 JUNE 1966 UVF declared illegal.

26 JULY–19 OCTOBER 1966 Reverend Ian Paisley and followers imprisoned for failing to pay £30 fine for unlawful assembly.

10 SEPTEMBER 1966 Donagh O'Malley, minister for education (Republic), pledges to introduce universal free post-primary education in September 1967.

8 NOVEMBER 1966 Lemass announces his forthcoming resignation (10 November).

9 NOVEMBER 1966 Jack Lynch elected leader of Fianna Fáil party.

10 NOVEMBER 1966 Lynch succeeds Lemass as taoiseach.

19 DECEMBER 1966 Lynch meets U.K. prime minister Harold Wilson to discuss issues of common interest in relation to the EEC.

29 JANUARY 1967 Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA) formed.

11 MAY 1967 Republic and United Kingdom reapply for EEC membership.

11 DECEMBER 1967 Lynch and O'Neill meet at Stormont.

8 JANUARY 1968 O'Neill and Lynch meet in Dublin.

24 AUGUST 1968 First of a series of civil-rights marches in Northern Ireland (Coalisland to Dungannon).

3 OCTOBER 1968 Intended civil-rights and Apprentice Boys' marches banned.

5 OCTOBER 1968 Clash between police and civil-rights marchers in Derry leads to riots.

9 OCTOBER 1968 Formation of Derry Citizens' Action Committee.
Body later called People's Democracy set up in Belfast.

16 OCTOBER 1968 Heavy defeat of referendum on abolition of proportional representation in Republic.

22 NOVEMBER 1968 Announcement of O'Neill's five-point reform program for Northern Ireland.

11 DECEMBER 1968 Craig dismissed as minister of home affairs in Northern Ireland.

4 JANUARY 1969 Ambush of People's Democracy March from Belfast to Derry by militant Protestants.

24 JANUARY 1969 Unionist party split worsens when Brian Faulkner resigns as Northern Ireland's minister of commerce.

24 FEBRUARY 1969 General election in Northern Ireland returns unionist majority yet again. O'Neill continues as prime minister.

3 MARCH 1969 Cameron Commission appointed to investigate Northern Ireland violence since October 1968.

MARCH 1969 Third Programme: Economic and Social Development, 1969–1972, presented to Oireachtas.

12 APRIL 1969 Riots in Derry.

23 APRIL 1969 O'Neill wins small majority for "one man, one vote" principle.

28 APRIL 1969 O'Neill resigns and is succeeded by James Chichester-Clark.

18 JUNE 1969 General election in Republic returns Fianna Fáil to government. Lynch continues as taoiseach.

12–16 JULY 1969 Further riots in Derry.

5 AUGUST 1969 Bombing of RTÉ headquarters in Dublin by UVF.

12–15 AUGUST 1969 Rioting in Derry spreads to Belfast, resulting in the deployment of British troops.

19 AUGUST 1969 "Downing Street Declaration" embraces principle of civic equality for all Northern Ireland citizens.

12 SEPTEMBER 1969 Publication of Cameron Commission report on recent violence in Northern Ireland.

10 OCTOBER 1969 Release of Hunt Committee report calling for disbandment of "B-Specials" (sectarian police reserves) in Northern Ireland.

23 OCTOBER 1969 Samuel Beckett wins Nobel Prize for Literature.

25 NOVEMBER 1969 Northern Ireland Electoral Law Act broadens local-government franchise but postpones elections until 1971.

18 DECEMBER 1969 Ulster Defence Regiment established.

11 JANUARY 1970 IRA split into "Official" and "Provisional" groups at Sinn Féin convention in Dublin.

26 MARCH 1970 Police force in Northern Ireland reshaped and partly reformed.

21 APRIL 1970 Alliance party founded in Northern Ireland.

30 APRIL 1970 Ulster Defence Regiment assumes duties of "B-Specials."

29 MAY 1970 Macrory report recommends reforms of both local government and the provision of social services in Northern Ireland.

26–29 JUNE 1970 MP Bernadette Devlin arrested, leading to further demonstrations and the first Provisional IRA activity in Belfast.

6 MAY 1970 Ministers Charles Haughey and Neil Blaney dismissed from government in Republic after allegations of arms smuggling. Third minister (Kevin Boland) resigns over Northern Ireland policy of Republic.

28 MAY 1970 Haughey and Blaney arrested and charged with conspiracy to import arms.

25 JUNE 1970 Catholic bishops drop old prohibition on Catholics attending Trinity College, Dublin.

21 AUGUST 1970 Social Democratic and Labour party (Northern Ireland) formed.

6 FEBRUARY 1971 First British soldier killed in Northern Ireland conflict since 1968.

20 MARCH 1971 Chichester-Clark resigns and is soon succeeded by Brian Faulkner as prime minister of Northern Ireland.

9 AUGUST 1971 Internment without trial reintroduced in Northern Ireland, setting off furious nationalist reaction.

AUGUST 1971 Ulster Defence Association (UDA) appears in Belfast.

27 AUGUST–8 SEPTEMBER 1971 Tripartite talks at Chequers between Heath, Lynch, and Faulkner.

30 JANUARY 1972 "Bloody Sunday": 13 civilians killed by British paratroopers in Derry after banning of civil-rights march.

2 FEBRUARY 1972 British embassy in Dublin burned.

24 MARCH 1972 Stormont parliament is suspended and direct rule from Britain is introduced.

10 MAY 1972 Referendum on entry of Irish Republic into EEC approved by 83 percent of voters.

29 MAY 1972 Official IRA suspends operations in Northern Ireland.

26 JUNE–9 JULY 1972 Truce between Provisional IRA (PIRA) and British army.

21 JULY 1972 "Bloody Friday" in Belfast: 22 PIRA bombs kill 11 and injure 130 in single day.

30 OCTOBER 1972 Publication of The Future of Northern Ireland Green Paper declaring that Britain does not oppose Irish unity by consent.

7 DECEMBER 1972 "Special position" of the Catholic church removed from Republic's constitution by referendum.

1972 Peak year of violence in Northern Ireland leaves 467 dead. The total number of killings since 1969 reaches 678.

1 JANUARY 1973 Irish Republic, United Kingdom, and Denmark join EEC.

20 JANUARY 1973 Car bomb in Dublin kills one and injures 17.

28 FEBRUARY 1973 General election results in a Fine Gael–Labour coalition headed by Liam Cosgrave.

30 MAY 1973 Erskine Childers elected president of Ireland.

28 JUNE 1973 General election for Northern Ireland assembly demonstrates splintering of unionism into warring factions.

18 JULY 1973 Northern Ireland Constitution Act abolishes Stormont parliament and provides for appointment of new executive.

31 JULY 1973 Disorder concludes first meeting of Northern Ireland assembly.

22 NOVEMBER 1973 Agreement reached by Official Unionists, Alliance, and SDLP to form power-sharing executive under Brian Faulkner's leadership.

6 DECEMBER 1973 United Ulster Unionist Council formed by militant Protestant groups to oppose "power-sharing."

6–9 DECEMBER 1973 Sunningdale Agreement: Conference of British, Irish, and Northern Irish political leaders at Sunningdale in Berkshire reaches agreement on power-sharing and the "Irish dimension."

1 JANUARY 1974 Northern Ireland executive assumes office under Faulkner.

17 MAY 1974 Car bombs in Dublin and Monaghan town kill 29 people and injure over 100.

28 MAY 1974 Resignation of Faulkner and unionist members of executive after paralyzing strike by the Ulster Workers' Council.

29 MAY 1974 Direct rule from Westminster revived and strike canceled.

17 NOVEMBER 1974 Childers, president of Ireland, dies.

3 DECEMBER 1974 Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh chosen as president of Ireland.

1 MAY 1975 General election for Northern Ireland constitutional convention returns strong anti-Sunningdale unionist majority.

8 MAY 1975 Northern Ireland convention meets.

7 NOVEMBER 1975 Northern Ireland convention rejects power-sharing by 42 to 31.

5 DECEMBER 1975 Internment without trial terminates in Northern Ireland.

5 MARCH 1976 Northern Ireland convention dissolved.

18 AUGUST 1976 Faulkner's intended retirement from politics announced.

23 OCTOBER 1976 President Ó Dálaigh resigns with great dignity after defense minister calls him "a thundering disgrace."

9 NOVEMBER 1976 Patrick Hillery selected as president of Ireland.

16 JUNE 1977 Fianna Fáil regains power in general election, with Lynch becoming taoiseach.

8 JANUARY 1979 Oil-tanker explosion causes disaster at Whiddy Island (Cork).

13 MARCH 1979 European Monetary System instituted.

30 MARCH 1979 End of one-for-one parity with sterling announced.

27 AUGUST 1979 Earl Mountbatten and three others assassinated by PIRA at Mullaghmore, Co. Sligo; 18 British soldiers killed in IRA ambush at Warrenpoint, Co. Down.

29 SEPTEMBER–1 OCTOBER 1979 Pope John Paul II visits Ireland and attracts 2.7 million to events.

5 DECEMBER 1979 Lynch announces intention to resign as taoiseach and is succeeded by Charles Haughey on 11 December.

21 MAY 1980 Haughey and Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher meet to discuss Northern Ireland situation.

1 MARCH 1981 Bobby Sands begins hunger strike at the Maze prison and is later joined by other republican prisoners.

9 APRIL 1981 Sands elected Sinn Féin MP for Fermanagh–South Tyrone.

5 MAY 1981 Bobby Sands dies. Between 12 May and 10 August nine other hunger-strikers die. Serious violence results. Militant nationalist recruits flock to Provisional Sinn Féin and IRA.

11 JUNE 1981 General election results in Fine Gael–Labour coalition government led by Garret FitzGerald as taoiseach.

6 NOVEMBER 1981 FitzGerald and Thatcher meet in London and agree to set up Anglo-Irish Intergovernmental Council.

18 FEBRUARY 1982 General election returns Fianna Fáil to power. Haughey again becomes taoiseach.

6 APRIL 1982 Publication of White Paper Northern Ireland: A Framework for Devolution.

2 MAY 1982 Irish government affirms neutrality in relation to Falklands war.

6 OCTOBER 1982 Haughey survives no-confidence vote.

20 OCTOBER 1982 General election for Northern Ireland assembly returns unionist majority.

24 NOVEMBER 1982 General election brings Garret FitzGerald and Fine Gael–Labour coalition to power in Republic.

7 SEPTEMBER 1983 Referendum to acknowledge constitutional right to life of the unborn carried by margin of 2 to 1.

7 NOVEMBER 1983 First session of Anglo-Irish Intergovernmental Council meets.

3 DECEMBER 1983 Dr. Patrick Hillery begins second term as president of Ireland.

12 OCTOBER 1984 PIRA bomb explodes at Conservative party conference in Brighton, England, killing 5 and wounding 34.

15 NOVEMBER 1985 FitzGerald and Thatcher sign Anglo-Irish Agreement giving the South a consultative role in certain affairs of the North.

21 NOVEMBER 1985 Dáil Éireann approves Anglo-Irish Agreement.

27 NOVEMBER 1985 House of Commons approves Anglo-Irish Agreement.

21 DECEMBER 1985 Party called Progressive Democrats formed in Republic.

26 JUNE 1986 Referendum in Republic continues ban on divorce.

14 FEBRUARY 1987 General election in Republic returns Fianna Fáil to government, with Charles Haughey as taoiseach.

1987–1992 Government in Republic puts its financial house in order, setting stage for "Celtic Tiger" beginning in 1993.

8 MAY 1987 British Special Air Service (SAS) soldiers kill eight Provisionals at Loughgall, Co. Armagh.

26 JULY 1987 Stephen Roche wins Tour de France cycle race after winning the Giro d'Italia in June. Later the same year, he wins the world championship.

8 NOVEMBER 1987 PIRA bomb kills 11 and wounds 63 at Enniskillen Remembrance Day ceremony.

6 MARCH 1988 SAS soldiers kill 3 Provisionals in Gibraltar. Loyalist Michael Stone attacks Gibraltar funerals at Milltown cemetery in Belfast, killing 3 mourners (16 March).

12 JULY 1989 Fianna Fáil and Progressive Democrats form coalition led by Haughey.

1 JANUARY 1990 Northern Ireland Fair Employment Act.

9 NOVEMBER 1990 Mary Robinson elected president of Ireland.

6 FEBRUARY 1992 After Haughey's resignation, Albert Reynolds becomes leader of Fianna Fáil and taoiseach.

18 JUNE 1992 Referendum approves Maastricht Treaty.

10 AUGUST 1992 UDA banned.

25 NOVEMBER 1992 General election in Republic.

12 JANUARY 1993 Reynolds elected taoiseach and heads Fianna Fáil-Labour coalition government.

15 DECEMBER 1993 Reynolds and John Major sign Downing Street Declaration—landmark in cooperation between British and Irish governments on Northern Ireland "peace process."

31 AUGUST 1994 PIRA cease-fire announced—greeted skeptically by Britain.

15 DECEMBER 1994 John Bruton becomes taoiseach following collapse of Fianna Fail–Labour coalition and heads "Rainbow Coalition" consisting of Fine Gael, Labour, and Democratic Left.

JULY–AUGUST 1995 Orange Order March es at Drumcree, Portadown, Ormeau Road (Belfast), and elsewhere lead to violence.

8 SEPTEMBER 1995 David Trimble assumes leadership of Ulster Unionist party.

8 SEPTEMBER 1995 Irish Press stops publication.

5 OCTOBER 1995 Seamus Heaney wins Nobel Prize for Literature.

24 NOVEMBER 1995 Divorce referendum passes by extremely narrow majority.

24 JANUARY 1996 Mitchell Commission report recommends that decommissioning and inclusive interparty talks occur in tandem.

9 FEBRUARY 1996 Canary Wharf bombing in London (2 killed, over 100 injured) ends first PIRA cease-fire.

JULY 1996 Swimmer Michelle Smith wins three Olympic gold medals. Her achievement is later tarnished by evidence of drug use.

2 JUNE 1997 Alban Maginness (SDLP) elected first nationalist lord May or of Belfast.

6 JUNE 1997 General election results in Fianna Fáil–Progressive Democrat coalition government, with Bertie Ahern as taoiseach.

20 JULY 1997 IRA cease-fire reinstated.

20 JULY 1997 Unveiling of national memorial to commemorate the Great Famine.

SEPTEMBER–OCTOBER 1997 Sinn Féin agrees to "Mitchell principles" and all-party talks begin.

7 OCTOBER 1997 Foreign minister Ray Burke resigns over bribery allegations.

31 OCTOBER 1997 Mary McAleese elected president. Mary Robinson soon becomes UN Commissioner for Human Rights.

10 APRIL 1998 Historic Good Friday or Belfast Agreement reached, transforming Northern Ireland politics and North-South relations.

22 MAY 1998 Good Friday Agreement endorsed by referendums in both North and South.

15 AUGUST 1998 Omagh bombing by dissident republicans ("Real IRA") kills 29 people and injures 220 in worst single event of the whole conflict since 1968.

10 DECEMBER 1998 David Trimble and John Hume receive Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo.

2 JANUARY 1999 Euro launched.

APRIL 1999 Republic achieves a record exchequer surplus of over £IR1 billion.

2 DECEMBER 1999 Northern Ireland devolution occurs. David Trimble becomes first minister of power-sharing executive.

19 JANUARY 2000 Legislation announced to replace Royal Ulster Constabulary with "Police Service of Northern Ireland."

27 MARCH 2000 Saville inquiry into "Bloody Sunday" (30 January 1972) opens.

26 JUNE 2000 Some IRA arms dumps opened to inspectors.

28 JULY 2000 Last of 428 prisoners released as part of Good Friday Agreement.

21 AUGUST 2000 Loyalist feud in Belfast brings British troops back onto streets.

21 SEPTEMBER 2000 "Real IRA" rocket attack on MI6 headquarters in London.

30 DECEMBER 2000 Ireland's national debt reaches record low-point.

2001 Pace of "Celtic Tiger" slows considerably.

12 FEBRUARY 2001 European Union (EU) Commission reprimands Irish government for allowing tax cuts and tolerating fiscal laxity.

23 FEBRUARY 2001 Outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease among livestock in United Kingdom, leading to rapid response by Irish authorities.

28 FEBRUARY 2001 Foot-and-mouth disease breaks out in Northern Ireland.

22 MARCH 2001 Single case of foot-and-mouth disease occurs in County Louth.

7 JUNE 2001 Irish voters reject Nice Treaty on expansion of the EU.

30 JUNE 2001 Trimble announces resignation as first minister in North.

6 AUGUST 2001 IRA releases plans to put weapons "beyond use."

7 AUGUST 2001 Trimble rejects IRA plans.

10 AUGUST 2001 Northern assembly suspended for 24 hours.

13 AUGUST 2001 Three members of IRA/Sinn Féin arrested in Colombia for training FARC guerrillas.

14 AUGUST 2001 IRA withdraws decommissioning offer. But IRA and Sinn Féin are soon forced by Colombia episode and by events of 11 September in the United States to begin actual decommissioning at last.

1 JANUARY 2002 Euro adopted as official currency in Irish Republic.

6 MARCH 2002 Referendum designed to tighten Irish Republic's laws on abortion is narrowly defeated.

17 MAY 2002 General election in Republic returns Fianna Fáil–Progressive Democrat coalition. Bertie Ahern remains taoiseach.

28 SEPTEMBER 2002 Interim Flood Tribunal report on political and financial corruption published, bringing massive public response.

14 OCTOBER 2002 Northern executive suspended after Trimble demands Sinn Féin's exclusion following discovery of an IRA/Sinn Féin spying operation at Stormont and elsewhere.

19 OCTOBER 2002 Nice Treaty referendum passes with 62.8 percent of the vote, allowing enlargement of EU to proceed.