A Brief History of Ireland

3000BC The Megalithic tombs are constructed,(Newgrange).

700BC The Celts arrive from parts of Gaul and Britain.

350AD Christianity reaches Ireland.

432 St. Patrick arrives in Ireland and confronts King Laoghaire who allows him to spread the word of Christianity in Ireland.

700-800 Monastic culture is at its height.

795 Invasion by the Vikings.

1014 Brian Boru defeats the Vikings at Clontarf.

1169Dermot MacMurrough, the exiled king of Leinster seeks help from 'Strongbow'.

1172 King Henry II of England is declared Feudal Lord of Ireland by the Pope.

1366 Statues of Kilkenny belatedly forbid intermarriage of English and Irish. Gaelic culture unsuccessfully suppressed.

1534-40 Insurrection by Lord Offaly fails.

1541 Henry VIII proclaimed King of Ireland.

1558-03 Plantation of Ireland commences under the reign of Elizabeth I.

1595-1603 Failed uprising of Hugh O'Neil culminates in defeat at the Battle of Kinsale in 1601 and the end to the Gaelic order.

1607 Flight of the Earls and leading Ulster families go into exile.

1641 King Charles I's policies cause insurrection in Ulster and Civil War in England.

1649 Cromwell invades Ireland.

1653 Cromwell's opponents stripped of land under the Act of Settlement.

1689-90 Deposed James II flees to Ireland and is defeated at the Battle of the Boyne.

1704 The Penal Laws enacted: Catholics are barred from voting, education and the military.

1775 American War of Independence instigates Irish unrest.

1782 Grattan's Parliament persuades English to declare Irish independence, butin name only.

1795 The Organge Order is founded.

1798 Uprising by Wolfe Tone and the United Irishmen is crushed.

1801 Ireland becomes part of Britain under the Act of Union.

1829 Catholic Emancipation Act passed after Daniel O'Connell elected as MP.

1845-49 The Great Famine claims over 1 million lives through starvation and disease. Emigration over the next 10 years results in departure of a further 1 million people.

1879-82 The Land War is instigated by Parnell who encourages the boycott of repressive landlords. The 3 'F's are gained for the peasantry: Fixity of Tenure, Fair Rent, Freedom to sell their holding.

1914 The Implementation of Home Rule is postponed because of the outbreak of World War I.

1916 The Easter Rising is led by Pearse, Connolly and others. The 7 leaders are executed which shifts public opinion in favour of the rebels.

1920-21 Michael Collins masterminds the War of Independence between Britain and Ireland. The Irish Free State is created (excluding the 6 Northern Counties).

1922-23 Civil war breaks out between the Free State Army and the Irregulars (the IRA).

1926 Fianna Fail party formed and led by DeVelera.

1932 De Valera elected Taoiseach of Ireland.

1939-45 Ireland remains neutral during WW2 despite the offer of a United Ireland having been made to DeVelera if Ireland enters the war on behalf of the Allies.

1948 Ireland declared a Republic by Costello. Northern Ireland is declared a separate entity.

1969Rioting between Catholics and Protestants. Civil Rights marches escalate. British troops called in to keep order.

1971 Provisional IRA begins campaign to oust British troops from Ireland.

1972 Republic of Ireland joins the European Community.

1985 Anglo-Irish Agreement signed.

1994 Peace Declaration and IRA ceasefire.

1998 'Good Friday' agreement reached promising the creation of a Northern Assembly.

1995-2005Period of rapid expansion and porperity in Ireland.

2008Economic disaster hits Ireland, the banking system collapses, massive loans are sought from the EU, ECB and IMF. Emigration accelerates rapidly.