List of significant events in the history of Ireland
This is a timeline of Irish history, comprising important legal and territorial changes and political events in Ireland. To read about the background to these events, see History of Ireland. See also the list of Lords and Kings of Ireland and Irish heads of state and the list of years in Ireland.
This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by with reliable sources.
Carbon-dating on bear bones indicate the presence of Paleolithic people in County Clare.[2]
c. 8000 BC
Mesolithic hunter-gatherers migrate to Ireland
c. 6500 BC
Mesolithic hunter-gatherers occupy sites such as that at Mount Sandel in Ulster
c. 4000 BC
Agriculture (including the keeping of livestock, and crop farming) has its beginnings in Ireland, at sites such as the Céide Fields in Connacht
c. 3500 BC
The Neolithic peoples of the Boyne Valley build a complex of chamber tombs, standing stones and enclosures over a period of hundreds of years. (Newgrange itself is dated to 3300–2900 BC).
Bronze and Iron Ages[]
Year
Date
Event
c. 2000 BC
Bronze Age technologies start to arrive in Ireland, including the moulding of Ballybeg-type flat axes, and the beginnings of coppermining at Ross Island, Killarney and Mount Gabriel.[3]
c. 500 BC
During the Iron Age in Ireland, Celtic influence in art, language and culture begins to take hold.[4]
Ptolemy's Geographia provides the earliest known written reference to habitation in the Dublin area, referring to a settlement in the area as Eblana Civitas
3rd century[]
Year
Date
Event
c. 220 AD
The Annals of the Four Masters, Foras Feasa ar Éirinn, and other semi-historical (non-contemporary) texts, place Cormac mac Airt as a longstanding High King of Ireland.[6][7] (The Annals date his reign as 226–266, but scholars vary in their assessment of Mac Airt's reign as legend or historical fact)[8][9]
4th century[]
Year
Date
Event
c. 300 AD
Pollen data records from the late Iron Age indicate a resurgence in human activity after a relatively stagnant period[10]
According to the Annals of Ulster (and other chronicles), Saint Patrick returns to Ireland.[13]
6th century[]
Year
Date
Event
536
A seemingly global climate event (possibly a volcanic winter)[14] causes crop failures[15] and famine in Ireland.
563
Irish monastic influence during the Golden Age peaks with the foundation of monastic schools by Saint Columba and Saint Brendan at Iona and Clonfert.[16] (Saint Columbanus would later set up similar institutions in continental Europe, Fursa in East Anglia and Gaul, Aidan at Lindisfarne. Etc.)
7th century[]
Year
Date
Event
664–666
Several sources record a pervasive "yellow plague" on the island.[17][18]
8th century[]
Year
Date
Event
795
First Viking raids on Iona, Rathlin Island, and Inishmurray.[16]
Máel Sechnaill demands (and is paid) "tribute" by the Vikings at Dublin (this tribute date is sometimes recognised as the "foundation date" of Dublin as a city)
Gerald FitzGerald, 3rd Earl of Desmond, mysteriously disappears; Gearóid Íarla is forever afterwards judged to be sleeping in a cave under Lough Gur, waiting to gallop out on his silver-shod horse and rescue Ireland at the moment of greatest need.
15th century[]
Year
Date
Event
1472
The Annals of the Four Masters records that the King of England sent an exotic animal (possibly a giraffe) to Ireland.[24]
1490
An earthquake takes place at Sliabh Gamh in County Mayo.[25]
1494
1 December
A parliament summoned by Edward Poyning, Henry VII of England's Lord Deputy, passes Poynings' Law, under which the Irish parliament is to pass no law without the prior consent of the English parliament.
1497
The Annals of the Four Masters refers to a famine which "prevailed through all Ireland".[26]
16th century[]
Year
Date
Event
1534
11 June
Thomas FitzGerald, the 10th Earl of Kildare, publicly renounces his allegiance to Henry VIII of England.
Pope Pius V issues a papal bull, Regnans in Excelsis, declaring Elizabeth I of England a heretic and releasing her subjects from any allegiance to her.
1575
May–August
The Annals of the Four Masters records a drought, in which no rain fell "from Bealtaine to Lammas" (1 May to 1 August), resulting in disease and plague.
1577
November
The Annals of the Four Masters records that the Great Comet of 1577 "was wondered at by all universally".
1579
16 July
Second Desmond Rebellion: James FitzMaurice FitzGerald, a cousin of the 14th Earl of Desmond, lands a small force of rebels at Dingle.
Irish Rebellion of 1641: Phelim O'Neill leads the capture of several forts in the north of Ireland.
1642
Irish Confederate Wars: The Irish Catholic Confederation is established, under the nominal overlordship of Charles I of England, with its capital at Kilkenny.
1646
28 March
The Supreme Council of the Irish Catholic Confederation signs an agreement with a representative of Charles I, which procures some rights for Catholics in return for their military support of the royalists in England.
The members of the Supreme Council are arrested; the General Assembly renounces the agreement with England.
1647
A more favorable agreement is reached with Charles's representative, which promises toleration of Catholicism, a repeal of Poynings' Law, and recognition of lands taken by Irish Catholics during the war.
1690
1 July
Battle of the Boyne
1695
The Education Act, one of a series of Penal Laws, is passed in 1695. It prohibits Catholics from sending their children to be educated abroad, and remains in place until 1782.
18th century[]
Year
Date
Event
1740
Extreme winters in successive years result in poor harvests, causing a large scale famine in which between 300,000 and 480,000 die.
Battle of Ballymore-Eustace: A miscarried surprise attack on the British garrison at Ballymore in County Kildare is counterattacked and defeated.
22 August
Irish Rebellion of 1798: One thousand French soldiers land at Kilcummin in support of the rebellion.
27 August
Battle of Castlebar: A combined French-Irish force defeats a vastly numerically superior British force at Castlebar.
Irish Rebellion of 1798: The Republic of Connacht is proclaimed at Castlebar, in the first United Irishmen rebellion.
19th century[]
Year
Date
Event
1801
1 January
Acts of Union 1800 comes into effect; the Kingdom of Ireland unites with Great Britain, forming the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
1803
23 July
Second United Irishmen rebellion: The Irish nationalist Robert Emmet attempts to seize Dublin Castle.
1829
24 March
Catholic Emancipation: The Catholic Relief Act 1829 is passed, allowing Catholics to sit in the UK Parliament.
1831
3 May
Tithe War: A force of one hundred and twenty armed police forcibly takes possession of cattle belonging to a Roman Catholic priest, in lieu of his compulsory tithe to the AnglicanChurch of Ireland.
Tithe War: The passage of the Tithe Commutation Act 1836 reduces the amount of the church's tithe and changes the manner of payment, which largely ends the unrest.
1845–1849
Great Irish Famine: A potato blight destroys two-thirds of Ireland's staple crop, leading to an estimated 1 million deaths and emigration of a further 1 million people.[27]
A Dublin businessman, William Martin Murphy, fires forty workers he suspects belong to the Irish Transport and General Workers' Union (ITGWU). A resulting strike and related civil unrest, the Dublin Lockout, lasts from August 1913 to January 1914.
1914
18 September
Government of Ireland Act is passed, providing for Irish Home Rule, but its application is simultaneously postponed for the duration of World War I.[28]
1916
24 April
Easter Rising: The Irish Republican Brotherhood leads an action which seizes key government buildings in Dublin, and issues the Proclamation of the Irish Republic. The Rising lasts til 29 April 1916.
1918
18 April
Acting on a resolution of Dublin Corporation, the Lord Mayor convenes a conference at the Mansion House to devise plans to resist conscription.
The First Dáil of the Irish Republic meets and issues a Declaration of Independence from the UK.
21 January
Irish War of Independence: Volunteers of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) kill two members of the Royal Irish Constabulary in what is considered to be the first act of the War of Independence.
1921
3 May
Northern Ireland is established.
1921
6 December
Irish War of Independence: The War of Independence ends when negotiations between the British government and representatives of the de factoIrish Republic conclude with the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty and the creation of the Irish Free State.
1922
28 June
Irish Civil War: Bombardment by Michael Collins of Anti-Treaty forces occupying the Four Courts marks the start of the Irish Civil War,
1923
24 May
Irish Civil War: IRA Chief of Staff Frank Aiken orders volunteers to dump arms, effectively ending the Civil War.
1937
29 December
The Constitution of Ireland comes into force, replacing the Irish Free State with a new state called "Éire", or, in the English language, "Ireland"
1949
18 April
The Republic of Ireland Act abolishes the statutory functions of the British monarch in relation to Ireland and confers them on the President of Ireland.
1955
14 December
Ireland joins the United Nations along with sixteen other sovereign states.
1969
August
Troops are deployed on the streets of Northern Ireland, marking the start of the Troubles.
1972
March
The Parliament of Northern Ireland is prorogued (and abolished the following year).
1973
1 January
Ireland joins the European Community along with the United Kingdom and Denmark.
The governments of Ireland and the United Kingdom sign the Anglo-Irish Agreement.
1990
3 December
Mary Robinson becomes the first female President of Ireland.
1995
Ireland enters the Celtic Tiger period, a time of high economic growth which continues until 2007.
1998
April
The Belfast Agreement is signed; as a result, the Northern Ireland Assembly is elected, to which powers are devolved in 1999 and a power-sharing Executive takes office.
1999
1 January
Ireland yields its official currency, the Irish pound, and adopts the Euro.
21st century[]
Year
Date
Event
2015
23 May
A 62% to 38% referendum result makes Ireland the first country to legalise same-sex marriage by popular vote.[29]
References[]
^Bradley, Richard (2007). The prehistory of Britain and Ireland. Cambridge University Press. p. 8. ISBN978-0-521-84811-4.
^O'Brian, William (2005). Ross Island: Mining, Metal and Society in Early Ireland. Oxbow books. ISBN978-0-9535620-3-9.
^Johnston, Wesley; Abbot, Patrick. "Celtic Ireland in the Iron Age". History of Ireland. WesleyJohnston.com. Archived from the original on 12 November 2012. Retrieved 17 November 2012.
^Moody, T.W; Martin, F.X; Byrne, F.J, eds. (1982). A New History of Ireland VIII: A Chronology of Irish History to 1976 - A Companion to Irish History Part I. Oxford Clarendon Press. ISBN978-0-19-821744-2.
^Geoffrey Keating, Foras Feasa ar Éirinn1.42Archived 2014-03-23 at the Wayback Machine, 43Archived 2012-10-15 at the Wayback Machine, 44Archived 2012-10-15 at the Wayback Machine, 45, 46Archived 2013-09-28 at the Wayback Machine
^Francis J. Byrne, Irish Kings and High Kings, Four Courts press, 2001, p. 65-69
^Stephen, Leslie, ed. (1887). "Cormac Mac Art" . Dictionary of National Biography. 12. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
^Welch, Robert (2003). The Concise Oxford Companion to Irish Literature. Oxford University Press. ISBN9780192800800.
^Charles-Edwards, Thomas M (2000). Early Christian Ireland. Cambridge University Press. p. 145. ISBN978-0521037167.
^Annals. Annals of Ulster and Annals of the Four Masters. Palladius, having been consecrated by Celestine, bishop of the city of Rome, is sent to Ireland [...] in the eighth year of Theodosius.
^Annals of Ulster - U432. Annals of Ulster. Archived from the original on October 21, 2012. Retrieved November 17, 2012. Year U432: Patrick arrived in Ireland in the ninth year of the reign of Theodosius the Less and in the first year of the episcopate of Xistus, 42nd bishop of the Roman Church. So Bede, Maxcellinus and Isidore compute in their chronicles.
^R. B. Stothers (26 January 1984). "Mystery cloud of AD 536". Nature. 307 (5949): 344–345. doi:10.1038/307344a0.
^Ó Corráin, Donnchadh. "Vikings & Ireland"(PDF). Cork, Ireland: University College Cork. Archived(PDF) from the original on 6 March 2012. Retrieved 17 November 2012. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
^Ó Corráin, Donnchadh (1972). Ireland Before the Normans. The Gill history of Ireland. Gill and MacMillan.
^Wikisource - Treaty of Windsor – via Wikisource. Text reads: This is the agreement which was made at Windsor in the octaves of Michaelmas [October 6] in the year of Our Lord 1175
^Annals of the Four Masters – Part 9. Annals of the Four Masters. Archived from the original on October 21, 2012. Retrieved November 17, 2012. Great heat and drought prevailed in this Summer, so that people crossed the beds of the principal rivers of Ireland with dry feet. The reaping of the corn crops of Ireland was going on twenty days before Lammas 1 August, and the trees were scorched by the heat of the sun.
^Moody, TW; Martin, FX, eds. (1967). The Course of Irish History. Cork, Ireland: The Mercier Press. p. 370.
^Annals of the Four Masters - Part 10. Annals of the Four Masters. Archived from the original on October 21, 2012. Retrieved November 17, 2012. A wonderful animal was sent to Ireland by the King of England. She resembled a mare, and was of a yellow colour, with the hoofs, of a cow, a long neck, a very large head, a large tail, which was ugly and scant of hair. She had a saddle of her own. Wheat and salt were her usual food. She used to draw the largest sled-burden by her tail. She used to kneel when passing under any doorway, however high, and also to let her rider mount.
^Annals of the Four Masters - Part 12. Annals of the Four Masters. Archived from the original on October 15, 2012. Retrieved November 17, 2012. There was an earthquake at Sliabh Gamh, by which a hundred persons were destroyed, among whom was the son of Manus Crossagh O'Hara. Many horses and cows were also killed by it, and much putrid fish was thrown up; and a lake, in which fish is now caught, sprang up in the place.
^Annals of the Four Masters - Part 13. Annals of the Four Masters. Archived from the original on October 15, 2012. Retrieved November 17, 2012. Great famine prevailed through all Ireland in this and the following year, so that people ate of food unbecoming to mention, and never before heard of as having been introduced on human dishes.