This is a timeline of the RTÉ Television channel in Ireland. In its early years, the channel was called (Irish: "Television of Ireland")

1960s 1960 6 April – The Broadcasting Authority Act, establishing a new television service for the Republic of Ireland, is enacted. 1 June – RTÉ Television is founded.

1961 5 September – begins transmission of test pictures. December – The first issue of RTV Guide, RTÉ's original programme journal, is published. 31 December – Launch of . Its opening night includes an address by President Éamon de Valera, and the first news bulletin read by Charles Mitchel.

1962 January – First broadcast of the weekday topical news magazine programme Broadsheet on . 12 January – First broadcast of the long-running religious and social documentary series . February – The BBC relays commentary of the Friendship 7 space flight which sees astronaut John Glenn become the first American to orbit the Earth. April – staff move to the Montrose studios in Donnybrook following the completion. Until then they had been in temporary accommodation in Dublin city centre. May – shows the first party political broadcast following that year's Budget. 6 July – The Late Late Show, one of the longest-running talk shows in the world, airs for the first time. Autumn – Edward J. Roth resigns as Director-General of RTÉ. He is succeeded in December by Kevin C. McCourt.

1963 1 June – Gunnar Rugheimer is appointed Controller of Programmes of . 26–29 June – provides extensive coverage of the visit of U.S. President John F. Kennedy. 18 October – The wildlife programme (Irish: "Out Under the Sky") airs for the first time. November – Father Romuald Dodd is appointed to advise on the broadcasting of Catholic Religious Programmes.

1964 3 January – Tolka Row, an urban drama serial by Maura Laverty first goes on air. January – Reverend Fergus Day, of the Church of Ireland is appointed to advise on the broadcasting of Protestant religious programmes. 4 February – , one of the earliest teaching programmes for schools on television in Europe is first aired by . March – Patrick Jennings appointed RTÉ's Agricultural Advisor. 14 September – Newsbeat, a topical and often humorous programme, first goes on air. It features reporters Frank Tuomey and Frank Hall with caption stories by cartoonist Terry Williers.

1965 January – and BBC collaborate on an historic television broadcast as Taoiseach Seán Lemass and Prime Minister of Northern Ireland Terence O'Neill meet for the first time in Belfast. 4 January – First airing of The Riordans, a rural drama serial, which became the inspiration for the UK soap Emmerdale Farm. 20 March – Ireland enters the Eurovision Song Contest for the first time with I'm Walking the Streets in the Rain performed by Butch Moore. 7 April – Ireland's first televised General Election coverage, presented by John O'Donoghue and produced by Gerry Murray. 2 May – , an innovative programme designed for group viewing and discussions in rural communities is first aired. May – Second RTÉ Authority appointed.

1966 8 March – The Broadcast Authority (Amendment) Act comes into law, changing the corporate name of Radio Éireann to . 10 April – RTÉ's current affairs programme, Seven Days is first aired. 10–17 April – RTÉ Television airs the dramas Insurrection and to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Easter Rising. May – Todd Andrews is appointed Chairman of the RTÉ Authority following the resignation of the previous incumbent Eamonn Andrews.

1967 April – RTÉ Television abandons its plans to provide coverage of the Vietnam War following intervention from the Irish government. 16 July – The Irish language current affairs programme, is first aired by RTÉ Television. 30 September – The popular and long-running children's programme, Wanderly Wagon is first aired on television.

1968 January – RTÉ's Director-General Kevin McCourt makes the controversial decision to recall the Seven Days crew as they are en route to report on the Biafran War. 12 February – Director-General McCourt announces the transfer of responsibility for Seven Days to the RTÉ News Division, a decision which leads to industrial unrest and the suspension of several members of the production team for "blacking" the programme on air. The dispute is finally resolved in March. 16 March – Thomas P. Hardiman replaced Kevin McCourt as Director-General of RTÉ, and is the first Director-General to be appointed internally within the organisation.

1969 February – RTÉ opens a studio in Belfast, and subsequently becomes an important international provider of coverage relating to events in Northern Ireland. 20 July – , which normally stopped broadcasting by midnight during the 1960s, transmitted its first all-night programme when the first men landed on the Moon at 9.17 pm, Irish time. The moonwalk began at 3.39 the next morning and ended at 6.11. The entire broadcast was hosted live by Kevin O'Kelly, working alone in front of the camera, and he won a Jacob's Television Award for his performance.

11 November – The Irish government establishes a judicial tribunal to investigate the content of an edition of Seven Days that investigated money lenders. Among the issues examined are complaints by members of the (police) that they were misrepresented. In 1970 the tribunal concludes that the programme did not present sufficient evidence to support allegations that the had failed to do enough to stop money lending. Unknown – Live relays from the Oireachtas to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the first Dáil Éireann.

1970s 1970 May – Finnish Television airs a four-hour broadcast of RTÉ programmes titled Ireland Tonight. The broadcast includes King of the Road, a film of the life of a Tipperary roadworker, the children's series Wanderly Wagon, Guests of the Nation, a dramatisation of Frank O'Connor's short story; Ballad Sheet, July the Mad Month, a film on the political and religious situation in Northern Ireland, and Sports Magazine.

1971 17 March – RTÉ broadcasts the first domestic television footage in colour – coverage of the Railway Cup Finals from Croke Park, Dublin. Unknown – The Eurovision News Exchange enables RTÉ to link with other European and U.S. broadcasting networks. Unknown – Establishment of RTÉ Relays to provide commercial service for wired television.

1972 23 June – The Irish government meets with the RTÉ Authority to express its displeasure at RTÉ Television's decision to air film of IRA members. 24 November – The government dismisses the RTÉ Authority and a new authority is appointed.

1973 February – The Broadcasting Review Committee published an interim report recommending the establishment of a second television channel for the Republic of Ireland. It is envisaged that it will broadcast a mix of domestic and foreign programming.

1974 May – In its long-awaited report the Broadcasting Review Committee endorses a second television channel for Ireland. Undated – The limit on the number of households that can be connected to high-specification aerial is abolished. Furthermore, it is agreed that RTÉ will receive a percentage of gross rental income from television aerial contractors by way of compensation for the estimated loss of advertising revenue RTÉ will experience due to competition with other television stations. Undated – The cable television company RTÉ Relays Ltd (later Cablelink) is established.

1975 6 January – RTÉ Television begins broadcasting News for the Deaf, the first daily broadcast of news for deaf people. 23 September – Going Strong, a series for the elderly presented by Bunny Carr and Ann O'Dwyer is first aired. October – Geraldine McInerney becomes the first female newsreader on RTÉ Television. Undated – Oliver Maloney is appointed Director-General of RTÉ.

1976 18 October – Minister for Posts and Telegraphs Conor Cruise O'Brien issues a directive to RTÉ providing clarification on the organisations whose members are banned from broadcast. The move follows the issuing of the original directive regarding this issue in 1971.

1977 5 July – Pádraig Faulkner is appointed Minister for Posts and Telegraphs.

1978 January – The controversial secondary school drama The Spike goes on air. It was removed from the schedule following a nude scene in Episode 5 which sparked criticism from Irish conservatives, and has never been retransmitted. 2 November – Ireland's second television channel, RTÉ 2 goes on air. The opening night features a variety gala performance from the Cork Opera House and the 1968 film Bullitt. November – The UK soap Coronation Street is aired for the first time on RTÉ 2. It had previously only been available to those who could receive UTV or HTV Wales.

1979 January – RTÉ establishes an internal working party to investigate the representation of women in news reporting. Their findings are published in April 1981.

1980s 1981 11 November – RTÉ Television begins airing the Irish language adult education programme . Unknown – RTÉ is given special government permission to broadcast two television programmes that are part of a series jointly produced with the BBC titled The Troubles. The programmes include interviews with organisations banned from the media by Section 31 of the Broadcasting Authority Act.

1982 February – The Government issues a directive to RTÉ to prohibit the airing of party political broadcasts by Sinn Féin, the political wing of the Provisional IRA. 31 October – RTÉ Television airs the drama The Ballroom of Romance, a drama based on the novel by William Trevor. The programme is a joint production with the BBC).

1983 11 September – The rural drama series Glenroe is first aired on RTÉ Television. 29 October – The Late Late Show is broadcast live from New York.

1984 1–4 June – RTÉ presents live coverage of U.S. President Ronald Reagan's visit to Ireland. RTÉ sends twice-daily newsfeeds to Eurovision for world distribution during the visit. The coverage includes an interview with Reagan recorded in Washington for the programme Today Tonight and a special edition of Newstime which is broadcast on U.S. television.

1985 March – Vincent Finn is appointed Director-General of RTÉ.

1986 The first teletext pages are shown during the afternoon on RTE2 as part of experimental tests for the forthcoming launch of RTE's teletext service Aertel.The TV Room - Early In-Vision Teletext in Irelsnd 9 November – The current affairs series Questions and Answers first goes on air. It is presented by Olivia O'Leary.

1987 22 June – RTÉ Television's Aertel teletext service is formally launched after two years of test transmissions.

1988 September – RTÉ 2 is rebranded as Network 2 as part of a major overhaul of the channel.

1989 18 September – Irish television soap Fair City is first transmitted.

1990s 1990 25 June – A season 4 episode of American sitcom ALF is deferred due to an extended broadcast of the football match between the Republic of Ireland and Romania at Italia '90. The episode due to air was the season's 20th; "Mr. Sandman". After a scoreless draw, the Irish side advanced, winning the penalty shootout 5 goals to 4.

1991 30 January – Proceedings from the Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Irish parliament are aired on a regular basis.

1992