__NOTOC__ This is a timeline of Irish history, comprising important legal and territorial changes and political events in Ireland. To read about the background to these events, see History of Ireland. See also the list of Lords and Kings of Ireland, alongside Irish heads of state, and the list of years in Ireland.
Prehistory / centuries: 1st2nd3rd4th5th6th7th8th9th10th11th12th13th14th15th16th17th18th19th20th21st
Mesolithic and neolithic periods Year Date Event c. 16,000 BC During the Last Glacial Maximum, Ireland is covered in ice sheetsc. 12,000 BC A narrow channel forms between Prehistoric Ireland and southwest Scotlandc. 10,000 BC Carbon-dating on bear bones indicate the presence of Paleolithic people in County Clare. c. 8000 BC Mesolithic hunter-gatherers migrate to Ireland c. 6500 BC Mesolithic hunter-gatherers occupy sites such as that at Mount Sandel in Ulster c. 4000 BC Agriculture (including the keeping of livestock, and crop farming) has its beginnings in Ireland, at sites such as the Céide Fields in Connacht c. 3500 BC The Neolithic peoples of the Boyne Valley built a complex of chamber tombs, standing stones and enclosures over a period of hundreds of years. (Newgrange itself is dated to 3300–2900 BC).
Bronze and Iron Ages Year Date Event c. 2000 BC Bronze Age technologies start to arrive in Ireland, including the moulding of Ballybeg-type flat axes, and the beginnings of copper mining at Ross Island, Killarney and Mount Gabriel. c. 500 BC During the Iron Age in Ireland, Celtic influence in art, language and culture begins to take hold. c. 300 BC Murder of Clonycavan Man, according to radiocarbon dating c. 200 BC La Tène influence from continental Europe influences carvings on the Turoe Stone, Bullaun, County Galway. c. 100 BC Additional works expand the site at Navan Fort (Emain Macha), first occupied in the Neolithic period
1st century Year Date Event c. 100 AD Construction of a series of defensive ditches between the provinces of Ulster and Connacht
2nd century Year Date Event c. 140 AD Ptolemy's Geographia provides the earliest known written reference to habitation in the Dublin area, referring to a settlement in the area as Eblana Civitas
3rd century Year Date Event c. 220 AD The Annals of the Four Masters, Foras Feasa ar Éirinn, and other semi-historical (non-contemporary) texts, place Cormac mac Airt as a longstanding High King of Ireland.Geoffrey Keating, Foras Feasa ar Éirinn 1.42 , 43 , 44 , 45, 46 Francis J. Byrne, Irish Kings and High Kings, Four Courts press, 2001, p. 65-69 (The Annals date his reign as 226–266, but scholars vary in their assessment of Mac Airt's reign as legend or historical fact)
4th century Year Date Event c. 300 AD Pollen data records from the late Iron Age indicate a resurgence in human activity after a relatively stagnant period
5th century Year Date Event c. 400 Niall Noígíallach is placed by Medieval texts as a legendary Goidelic High King of Ireland (the Annals of the Four Masters dates his reign as 378–405) 431 Palladius is sent as the first bishop "to the Irish believing in Christ" by Pope Celestine I 432 According to the Annals of Ulster (and other chronicles), Saint Patrick returns to Ireland.
6th century Year Date Event 536 A seemingly global climate event (possibly a volcanic winter) causes crop failures and famine in Ireland. 563 Irish monastic influence during the Golden Age peaks with the foundation of monastic schools by Saint Columba and Saint Brendan at Iona and Clonfert. (Saint Columbanus would later set up similar institutions in continental Europe, Fursa in East Anglia and Gaul, Aidan at Lindisfarne. Etc.)
7th century Year Date Event 664–666 Several sources record a pervasive "yellow plague" on the island.
8th century Year Date Event 795 First Viking raids on Iona, Rathlin Island, and Inishmurray.
9th century
Year Date Event 830 Óengus of Tallaght writes the Martyrology of Tallaght, the Prologue of which speaks of the last vestiges of paganism in Ireland 852 Vikings Ivar Beinlaus and Olaf the White land in Dublin Bay, and establish a fortress close to where the city of Dublin now stands
10th century
Year Date Event 980 The King of Dublin Olaf Cuaran abdicates following defeat at the Battle of Tara to Máel Sechnaill mac Domnaill. 988–989 Máel Sechnaill demands (and is paid) "tribute" by the Vikings at Dublin (this tribute date is sometimes recognised as the "foundation date" of Dublin as a city)
11th century Year Date Event 1014 23 April Defeat of Máel Mórda mac Murchada and Viking forces by the armies of Brian Boru at the Battle of Clontarf marks the beginning of the decline of Viking power in Ireland.
12th century Year Date Event 1167 Following exile by Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair, Dermot MacMurrough seeks support from Henry II of England to reclaim his Kingship. 1171 Henry II of England lands at Waterford and declares his youngest son John Lord of Ireland. 1175 6 October The Treaty of Windsor consolidates Norman influence in Ireland.
13th century Year Date Event 1216 12 November Great Charter of Ireland issued by Henry III of England. 1252 The Annals of the Four Masters records a summer-time heat wave and drought. 1297 The first representative Irish Parliament (of the Lordship of Ireland) meets in Dublin.
14th century Year Date Event 1315 26 May Edward Bruce arrives in Ireland and rallies many Irish lords against Anglo-Norman control. 1366 20 April The Statutes of Kilkenny are passed at Kilkenny to curb the decline of the Hiberno-Norman Lordship of Ireland. 1398 Gerald FitzGerald, 3rd Earl of Desmond, mysteriously disappears; Gearóid Íarla is forever afterwards judged to be sleeping in a cave under Lough Gur, waiting to gallop out on his silver-shod horse and rescue Ireland at the moment of greatest need.
15th century Year Date Event 1472 The Annals of the Four Masters records that the King of England sent an exotic animal (possibly a giraffe) to Ireland. 1490 An earthquake takes place at Sliabh Gamh in County Mayo. 1494 1 December A parliament summoned by Edward Poyning, Henry VII of England's Lord Deputy, passes Poynings' Law, under which the Irish parliament is to pass no law without the prior consent of the English parliament. 1497 The Annals of the Four Masters refers to a famine which "prevailed through all Ireland".
16th century Year Date Event 1534 11 June Thomas FitzGerald, the 10th Earl of Kildare, publicly renounces his allegiance to Henry VIII of England. 1537 3 February FitzGerald is hanged, drawn and quartered at Tyburn. 1542 The Irish parliament passes the Crown of Ireland Act, which establishes a Kingdom of Ireland to be ruled by Henry VIII and his successors. 1570 25 February Pope Pius V issues a papal bull, Regnans in Excelsis, declaring Elizabeth I of England a heretic and releasing her subjects from any allegiance to her. 1575 May–August The Annals of the Four Masters records a drought, in which no rain fell "from Bealtaine to Lammas" (1 May to 1 August), resulting in disease and plague. 1577 November The Annals of the Four Masters records that the Great Comet of 1577 "was wondered at by all universally". 1579 16 July Second Desmond Rebellion: James FitzMaurice FitzGerald, a cousin of the 14th Earl of Desmond, lands a small force of rebels at Dingle. 1594 The Nine Years' War commences in Ulster, as Hugh O'Neill and Red Hugh O'Donnell rebel against Elizabeth I's authority in Ulster.
17th century Year Date Event 1607 14 September The Flight of the Earls: The departure from Ireland of Hugh O'Neill, 2nd Earl of Tyrone and Rory O'Donnell, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell. 1609 Plantation of Ulster by Scottish Presbyterians begins on a large scale. 1641 22 October Irish Rebellion of 1641: Phelim O'Neill leads the capture of several forts in the north of Ireland. 1642 Irish Confederate Wars: The Irish Catholic Confederation is established, under the nominal overlordship of Charles I of England, with its capital at Kilkenny. 1646 28 March The Supreme Council of the Irish Catholic Confederation signs an agreement with a representative of Charles I, which procures some rights for Catholics in return for their military support of the royalists in England. The members of the Supreme Council are arrested; the General Assembly renounces the agreement with England. 1647 A more favourable agreement is reached with Charles's representative, which promises toleration of Catholicism, a repeal of Poynings' Law, and recognition of lands taken by Irish Catholics during the war. 1690 1 July Battle of the Boyne 1691 12 July Battle of Aughrim; One of the bloodiest fought in Ireland, with up to 7,000 people killed 1695 The Education Act, one of a series of Penal Laws, is passed in 1695. It prohibits Catholics from sending their children to be educated abroad, and remains in place until 1782.
18th century Year Date Event 1740 Extreme winters in successive years result in poor harvests, causing a large-scale famine in which between 300,000 and 480,000 die. 1760 February Battle of Carrickfergus: A French invasion. 1782 After agitation by the Irish Volunteers, the Parliament of Great Britain passes a number of reforms—including the implicit repeal of Poynings' Law—collectively referred to as the Constitution of 1782. 1796 December Expédition d'Irlande: Attempted French invasion. 1798 24 May Battle of Ballymore-Eustace: A miscarried surprise attack on the British garrison at Ballymore in County Kildare is counterattacked and defeated. 22 August Irish Rebellion of 1798: One thousand French soldiers land at Kilcummin in support of the rebellion. 27 August Battle of Castlebar: A combined French-Irish force defeats a vastly numerically superior British force at Castlebar. Irish Rebellion of 1798: The Republic of Connacht is proclaimed at Castlebar, in the first United Irishmen rebellion.
19th century Year Date Event 1801 1 January Acts of Union 1800 comes into effect; the Kingdom of Ireland unites with Great Britain, forming the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. 1803 23 July Second United Irishmen rebellion: The Irish nationalist Robert Emmet attempts to seize Dublin Castle. 1829 24 March Catholic Emancipation: The Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829 is passed, allowing Catholics to sit in the UK Parliament. 1831 3 May Tithe War: A force of one hundred and twenty armed police forcibly takes possession of cattle belonging to a Roman Catholic priest, in lieu of his compulsory tithe to the Anglican Church of Ireland. 1834 17 December Dublin and Kingstown Railway is opened as the first commercial railway in Ireland. 1836 Tithe War: The passage of the Tithe Commutation Act 1836 reduces the amount of the church's tithe and changes the manner of payment, which largely ends the unrest. 1845–1849 Great Irish Famine: A potato blight destroys two-thirds of Ireland's staple crop, leading to an estimated 1 million deaths and emigration of a further 1 million people. 1867 5 March Fenian Rising. 1879-1882 The "Land War," a period of rural agitation for fair rents and free sale of land to liberate Irish peasants from generations of debt and tenancy. 1886 1st Home Rule Bill, also known as the Government of Ireland Bill 1886. 1893 2nd Home Rule Bill, also known as the Government of Ireland Bill 1893.
20th century