8,000 BC: First people arrive in Ireland, perhaps across the land bridge from Scotland.
3,000 BC: Arrival of New Stone Age people who built Newgrange
c. 220 BC: Arrival of speakers of what develops into Gaelic.
78-84 AD: Roman Governor of Britain, Agricola, considers the invasion and
conquest of Ireland.
c.130-80: Ptolemy's account of Ireland. 367: Major offensive on Britain by the Irish, Picts and Saxons.
432: St. Patrick arrives to help convert pagan Gaelic kings to
Christianity (traditional date).
7th/8th c.: Ireland's "Golden Age."
795: First Viking raid on Iona (Scotland), Rathlin, Inishmurray and Inishbofin.
836: Vikings raid deep inland.
914: Second wave of Viking raids.
1002-14: Brian Boru King of Ireland.
1169: Arrival of British military leaders, FitzStephen, FitzGerald, etc.
1177: Prince John made Lord of Ireland -- first visit 1185.
1210: King John's 2nd visit. Confiscation of the Earldom of Ulster and
Honor of Limerick -- submission of some Irish kings.
1333: Murder of Earl of Ulster, William de Burgh. Crown loses
control of Anglo-Norman Connacht and the Irish Chiefs in Ulster.
1348-50: Gaelic culture survives war, politics and plague.
1494: Lord Deputy, Sir Edward Poynings, establishes "Poynings Law"
making all English Parliamentary legislation applicable to Ireland.
1509: Accession of Henry VIII.
1515: Anarchy sweeps Ireland.
1541: A Parliamentary meeting declares Henry VIII King of Ireland.
The establishing of the "Surrender and Re-grant" program.
1558: Accession of Elizabeth I following death of Mary I.
1573: Private Colonization ventures continue in Ulster.
1576: Reappointed Sidney launches conciliatory policy halting
any further private colonization.
1595: Rebellion of Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone.
1598: O'Neill victorious at Yellow Ford, Ulster.
1601: O'Donnell, O'Neill and Spaniards defeated by Mountjoy at the Battle of Kinsale.
1603: The ascension of James I leads to the enforcement of English Law in Ireland,
especially Ulster. Hugh O'Neill and Erl of Tyrone surrender.
1608: Plantation of Derry (City of London). Six other confiscated counties planned.
1642: Irish suppression hoped for by English Parliament with the "Adventurers Act."
Robert Munro and army land in Ulster in April. Civil War in England. Catholic
Confederation assembles at Kilkenny.
1649: Execution of Charles I. Cromwell's arrival in Ireland leads to capture of
Drogheda, Wexford, New Ross. There follows a Cromwellian conquest and
subsequent implementation of plantations.
1658: Death of Cromwell.
1660: Restoration Period -- accession of Charles II. Uphold Cromwellian conquest
but restore property to "innocent papists."
1685: Accession of James II.
1686-87: The newly appointed Earl of Tyrconnell, Richard Talbot, replaces Protestant
officials with Catholics.
1695: 14 percent of Irish land held by Catholics. Rights of Catholics restricted in
education, arms-bearing, horse owning and the Catholic clergy banished.
1699: Acts restricting Irish woollen exports.
1704: Catholics' presence restricted in landholding and public offices.
1728: Act removing franchise from Catholics.
1741: First performance of Handel's Messiah in Fishamble St. Music Hall.
1829: Catholic Emancipation passed.
1837: Accession of Queen Victoria.
1845: Blight in potato harvest. Beginning of Great Famine (1845-49).
1846: First deaths from starvation.
1858: James Stephens returns from France. Establishes the Irish Republican
Brotherhood. Fenian Brotherhood founded in USA.
1861: Start of American Civil War.
1879: Threat of famine in Ireland.
1914: Onset of World War I. Illegal arms importation by Ulster Volunteers
and Irish Volunteers.