Ireland Timeline and History Highlights
Ireland Timeline Highlights
B.C.
2000 – First use of bronze tools and weapons in Ireland.
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600 – The Iron Age begins. Celts began to come to the island from mainland Europe.
200 – Ireland is ruled by numerous small kingdoms.
CE
220 – According to legend, Cormac Mack Airt reigns as High King of Ireland.
378 – Of the nine hostages, Nile becomes High King.
432 – St. Patrick arrives in Ireland and introduces Christianity.
461 – St. Patrick dies.
795 – Vikings invade Ireland, attacking monasteries and towns along the coast.
900s – Vikings established settlements in Ireland, including the city of Dublin, in his early 900s.
1014 – The Vikings are defeated by Brian Boll, King of Ireland.
1171 – Henry II, King of England, arrives in Ireland and claims the country as part of his own kingdom.
1177 – Prince John Lackland is appointed Lord of Ireland by Henry II.
1204 – Dublin Castle is built by King John of England.
1216 – Henry III. Issuance of the Irish Charter.
1297 – The first session of the Irish Parliament is held in Dublin.
1315 – Scottish leader Edward Bruce arrives to help fight the Norman leaders.
1348 – The Black Death hits Ireland, killing about 30% of the population.
1366 – The Kilkenny Acts are passed to prevent the fusion of British and Irish cultures. British and Irish are prohibited from interracial marriage.
1446 – The Blarney Stone is installed in the tower of Blarney Castle.1534 – Thomas Fitzgerald revolts against England. Three years later he was hanged for the crime.
1542 – The Kingdom of Ireland is established with Henry VIII as King of England.
1547 – Henry VIII dies.
1594 – The Nine Years’ War begins between Ireland and England. The Irish are ultimately defeated.
1601 – Irish forces under Hugh O’Neill are defeated at the Battle of Kinsale.
1607 – Many of the Earls of Ireland flee to Spain in what is known as the Fugitive Counts.
1609 – The north of Ulster is mostly inhabited by Scots and English.
1689 – The William Might War begins between the Jacobites (Catholic) and William Might (Protestant). William Mights won.
1740 – A terrible famine hits the country, killing hundreds of thousands.
1798 – Irish rebels with French aid.
1800 – The Kingdom of Ireland becomes part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
1829 – The Catholic Relief Act grants more freedom to Catholics.
1834 – Ireland’s first commercial railway opens.
1845 – A great famine hits Ireland, destroying much of the potato crop. Many Irish immigrate to other countries, such as the United States.
1867 – The Irish Republican Brotherhood revolts against British rule in the so-called Fenian Rebellion.
1914 – World War I begins. Ireland’s new self-government law has been delayed.
1916 – The Easter Rising occurs. Members of the Irish Republican Brotherhood occupy government buildings in Dublin. Most of the rebel leaders are executed by the British.
1919 – Irish rebels known as Sinn Fein declare independence from Great Britain. The Irish Republican Army (IRA) goes to war with the British.
1921 – Northern Ireland is incorporated as part of the United Kingdom. The rest of Ireland becomes the Irish Free State.
1922 – A civil war breaks out between the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and the National Army.
1937 – A new constitution names the Irish Free State Ireland. 1949 – Ireland is declared a Free Republic.
1955 – Ireland joins the United Nations.
1969 – Troubles between the IRA and the Loyalists begin in Northern Ireland. By 1998, there was constant violence between the two groups.
1990 – Mary Robinson is elected President of Ireland. She is the country’s first female president.
1998 – The Belfast Accords are signed to reduce violence and end riots.
2002 – Ireland adopts the euro as its official currency.
Ireland History Highlights:
The Irish are primarily of Celtic descent. The Celts arrived in the 5th century BC. upon. They invaded Ireland along with England and the rest of Europe. Saint Patrick came to the island in 432 AD and began converting the locals to Christianity. A monastery was born where Irish scholars learned Latin and Greek and developed the arts of manuscripts, metalworking and sculpture. The segregation of monasteries allowed this knowledge to live on in the Middle Ages.
From the 9th century onwards, Vikings regularly invaded and plundered Ireland. They will do this for almost 200 years. The Normans invaded and conquered the country in the 12th century.
Ireland became part of England with her signing of the Act of Union in 1800. In 1845 Ireland suffered a great famine. The potato harvest failed and millions starved to death. Millions more fled the country, and many Irish immigrated to the United States.
From the late 19th century to the early 20th century, the Irish began to seek independence from Great Britain. Sinn Fein, which means “we alone”, has become a political movement for freedom. From 1919 to 1921 Ireland and England were at war. At the end of the war, the Irish Free State was established. Ireland was divided into the independent Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, which is still part of the United Kingdom.
English is now the official language in Ireland, but Irish (Gaelic) is also the official language and is taught in schools.