General Information » Ireland Overview » Ireland Timeline

8000 BC Neolithic farmers populate Ireland and erect monuments of early spiritual architecture

from 500BC The arrival of the Celts

from 300AD Advent and the golden age of Christianity in Ireland

from 800AD The Vikings arrive

1014 The Battle of Clontarf led by the King of Munster; Brian Ború puts an end to the Viking era

1169 The first Anglo-Normans arrive under the leadership of Strongbow and take over Dublin

1171 King Henry II creates an area of English power, known as 'the Pale'

1536-1540 Henry VIII initiates the Reformation, dissolves all monasteries and abbeys

1541 Henry VIII declares himself the first English King of Ireland

1607 The 'flight of the Earls' results in Protestant settlements in the northern provinces of Ireland

1690 William of Orange wins the Battle of the Boyne and Penal Laws are introduced. Catholic Irish, now deprived of the right to own land, migrate to Dublin, outnumbering the Protestant population.

1782 Grattan succeeds in securing Irish parliamentary independence. Anglo-Irish relations enter a turbulent state and rebellions lay the foundation for Irish republicanism

1801 The Act of Union (1 January) joins Ireland to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland

1823 Founding the Catholic Association, Daniel O'Connell starts a campaign for Catholic emancipation

1845-1849 The potato famine sees millions die

1858 Foundation of the Fenian movement

1870 Charles Stewart Parnell, the head of the Irish Land League, fights for the right of tenant farmers to obtain land

1880s Celtic Revival sees the foundation of the GAA, the Gaelic League and the Irish Literary Theatre

1900s Housing conditions in Dublin are appalling, with many residing in slums

1914 Irish Home Rule finally reaches the statute-books in the Government of Ireland Act, but is suspended indefinitely with the arrival of the first world war

1916 The Easter Rising: Irish nationalists proclaim the Irish Republic, paving the way for the War for Independence (1919-1921)

1922 The Ango-Irish Treaty provides 'dominion status' to the Irish Free State, although six counties in the north remain under English rule. Civil war breaks out between pro- and anti-treaty sides

1931 The Public Safety Act restores some peace on the streets of Dublin

1932 Eamon de Valera gains power

1937 A new constitution is penned for the Irish Free State

1949 The Republic of Ireland is officially inaugurated on Easter Monday

1972 Bloody Sunday

1973 Ireland joins the European Economic Community

1985 The Anglo-Irish Agreement is signed and followed by IRA bombings

1990s The Celtic Tige...