A Chronology of Irish History

A CHRONOLOGY OF IRISH HISTORY 6000 BC--first people: wanderers and hunters come to Ire. --later people left dolmens9 cairns, & pa~sage graves 200 BC--Celts arrive from Eur. & north. Britain (lasted 1000 yrs.) --Celtic Ire. divided into 150 small kingdoms --pre-literate people who put great stock in oral arts --poets were powerful figure~ who pre~erved communal lore & identity 432 or 462--St. Patrick comes to Ire. & spreads Christianity 600--Christian monasteries all throughout Ire. 795--Vikings (Norse) invade Ire. 840--Norse found Dublin 1014--Brian Boru defeats Norse in Battle of Clontarf 1152--Dermot MacMurrough steals Teirnan O'Rourke's wife 1154--papal bull issued by Eng. pope (Adrian IV) granted overlordship of Ire to Henry II & his heirs; this is Eng’s claim to ownership & sovereignty over Ire. 1166--0'Rourke destroys MacMurrough's town; latter asks help of Eng’s Henry who dispatches Normans to Ire.; they take over, mostly in east 1171--Henry II goes to Ire. to establish overlordship 1318--Eng. influence diminished briefly to small district around Dublin know as the Pale 1541--Henry VIII declares himself King of Ire. 1580s--Elizabeth I tries to subdue Irish 1600--Presbyterians settle in No. Ire. as farmers, make Belfast from a swamp 1603 or 1606--Hugh 0'Neill and O’Donnell, Irish leaders, defeated & his family flees country (Flight of the Earls) rather than serve under Britain; James I repopulates Ulster w/ Eng. & Scotts, thus introducing new way of life = plantation system 1641--Peasant Uprising put down by Cromwellian forces & led to profound hatred of Catholics for presumed atrocities against Protestants --Roman Catholics own 59% of land 1649--Cromwell attacks Ire. for loyalty to Charles I in Civil War; massacre at Drogheda, nearly 3,000 civilians slaughtered 1652-53--confiscation of lands & new aristocracy of Eng. soldiers & men of fortune established 1688--”Glorious Revolution" displaced James II & he came to Ire. --Roman Catholics owned 22% of land 1690--Battle of the Boyne: William III defeats James, who flees to France 1691--Irish insurgents defeated at Aughrim; insurgents flee Ire. (“Flight of the Wild Geese") to become soldiers of fortune --Ire. now a colony of Eng. --Treaty of Limerick 1692--Catholics excluded from Irish Parliament 1695--Penal Laws: Catholic bishops exiled: Catholics excluded from governmtnet, army, & law; Catholics could not own weapons & their property was divided among sons at dfeath; Catholics had almost no civil rights; tenant farm system almost fully established 1703--Roman Catholics won 14% of land 1750--Roman Catholics own 7% of land 1798--Wolfe Tone’s United Irishmen rebel w/ French against Eng.; Tone jailed & commits suicide; 25,000-50,000 killed after insurrection is put down 1801--Act of Union = Ire. joins United Kingdom 1803--Robert. Emmett's rebellion against Act of Union 1823--Daniel O’Connell, “The Great Liberator" pushes for Catholic vote 1828--O’Connell voted to Eng. Parliament 1829--Catholic emancipation passed at Westminster 1842--Thomas Davis’s The Nation published by Young Ireland movement, which wanted to repeal Act of Union 1845-51--Great Famine, failure of potato crop which eventually leads to death or emigration of 1 out of 4 people; watershed in Irish history; an end & a beginning 1848--uprising of Young Irelanders against Act of Union 1849--1000 people, 1/6 of population, are beggars 1858--James Stephens & Thomas Clarke Luby found Irish Republican Brotherhood 1867--IRB uprising fails 1870--Isaac Buttt’s Home Rule movement founded & Gladstone introduces tenant & tithe reforms Land Act 1879--ex-IRB Michael. Davitt’s Land League founded & Land Acts grant farmers “3 F’s”; Fixity of Tenure, Fair Rents & rights of Free Sale 1881--Gladstone’s 2nd Land Act & slowly began transformation of land ownership 1886--Gladstone’s Home Rule Bill, developed w/ Charles Stewart Parnell, defeated & Gladstone ousted from office 1891--Parne1l driven from office for Kitty O'Shea scandal; dies at age 45 1905--Arthur Griffith founds Sinn Fein (“Ourselves Alone") party as alternative to Parne1l's powerless Irish Party; Griffith becomes central spokesman for republicanism --IRB resurrected & dedicated to armed revolution 1914--Home Rule enacted but Ulster retained in UK 1916--April 24, Easter Uprising (over suspended Home Rule); leaders captured & executed which has massive propaganda value for Irish 1918--Irish Party, Sinn Fein, & Labor Party combine into Sinn Fein 1919--Sinn Fein deputies hold first session of Dail (Irish Parliament) unrecognized by England --Black & Tans organized as police force comprised of unemployed, ex-British military 1920--George V institutes Govt. of Ire. Act which separates north as a single political entity opposed to the South 1921--treaty signed setting up an Irish Free State as a self-governing dominion of British Empire & which pledged faith to the crown, assumed part of crown’s debts 1922--Irish Civil War, certain factions oppose Daile’s acceptance of Ire. Act 1923--Eamon de Valera forms Fianna Fail Party (“Warriors of Destiny”) who would use Free State Dail but not recognize it as true legal body of Republic & refused British oath of allegiance 1936-IRA outlawed 1937-- de Valera govt. produces new constitution which virtually writes out vestiges of British influence; the Free State becomes Eire; still part of British Commonwealth but very loose connection 1949--Irish Republic proclaimed; withdrew from Commonwealth & claimed jurisdiction over 6 Ulster counties (though nothing has come of this claim)