The
Coming of the Gaels to the Battle of the Boyne |
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Date |
Event
or Action |
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by 1st
c. B.C. |
Peoples designated
as "Celtic" are established in Ireland, Scotland, Wales;
the Gaels reach Ireland from Gaul, conquer and mingle with existing
Celts. (Early Irish epic and myth likely based on these conflicts.)
The Gaels practice a form of Druidism, follow “Brehon Law,”
and are organized into several kingdoms (seven, by the 5th century),
with at times a nominal “high king” (ard ri). |
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432 |
Legendary date
for beginning of St. Patrick's ministry to Ireland, converting the
island to Christianity |
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6th
- 8th c. |
Irish monasteries
formed; Irish monks play decisive role in preserving and restoring
classical learning in Europe, as they establish monasteries from England
to Italy |
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7th
- 11th c. |
The O'Neill
(Ui Neill) clan rule Ireland jointly, north and south (1st true “High
Kings of Ireland,” established in the 4th c. under “Niall
of the Nine Hostages”) |
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795
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Norse (Viking)
Invasions begin, sacking wealthy Irish monasteries, and establishing
the first true cities in Ireland: Dublin, Wexford, Waterford, Cork,
Limerick. |
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1014
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Last of the
Norse invaders defeated by Brian Boru, High King of Ireland, in Battle
of Clontarf (Viking settlers, called “Ostmen,” continue
throughout Ireland, particularly in Dublin). |
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1170
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Strongbow (Richard,
Earl of Pembroke), invited by Dermot MacMurrough, king of Leinster,
to aid Dermot in his conflict with Rory O’Connor. Strongbow
lands near Waterford and begins conquest of southeastern Ireland,
ruled by Rory O'Connor, King of Connaught (last of the "High
Kings," ard ri) |
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1171
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Henry II, King
of England, invades Ireland to consolidate Strongbow's claims to the
crown (he is backed by the Papacy, who want to see the Irish Church
conform to Roman standards and practices); Anglo-Norman rule of Ireland
begins (Lordship of Ireland) |
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1175 |
1175 Treaty
of Windsor: Rory O'Connor, King of Ireland, submits to Henry II. Though
Rory is named ard ri, the title is merely nominal, and he had no successor
as High King of Ireland. |
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12th
/ 13th cc. |
English barons
invade, settle in, and expand into Ireland, claiming lands and developing
feudal estates. Gradually English civil government established in
Ireland: exchequer, chancery, courts of justice, division into counties,
parliament (Anglo-Irish only). During this time the great Old English
(Anglo-Norman) families—Fitzgerald, de Burgh, Butler—form
their power, and the Old Irish Kings—O’Connor, O’Brien,
and O’Neill—still retain much of their ancient kingdoms. |
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1210
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King John comes
to Ireland, marches throughout the country, reasserting English law
and power (last English king to visit until Richard II in 1394) |
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1315 |
Edward Bruce,
brother of Robert Bruce of Scotland, invades Ireland and combats the
English powers, aided by some of the Irish leaders. He proclaims himself
King of Ireland, but is defeated by English in Battle of Faughart,
1318. Three great Anglo-Irish Earldoms created: Kildare, Desmond,
and Ormond, who would in effect rule Ireland into the 16th century;
in 1366 the Statutes of Kilkenny established, designed to prevent
"Gaelicization" of the English colony in Ireland. |
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14th
/ 15th cc. |
Native Irish
strength & culture gradually increases, as Anglo-Irish (Anglo-Norman)
population assimilates, becoming “more Irish than the Irish,”
despite Kilkenny statutes. By the 1400’s, effective English
control extended no further than the coastal area around Dublin (“the
Pale”). |
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15th
/ 16th cc. |
Rise to power
of the Kildare family (the Leinster Geraldines), who would control
Anglo-Norman Ireland for over fifty years |
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1534
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Ninth Earl of
Kildare recalled to England; his son, “Silken Thomas,”
believing his father executed, rebels against the King. The Kildare
War (rebellion of the Kildare family) follows, pitting the Geraldines
and their native Irish allies against the Butlers and the pro-English
forces. It ends in 1540 with the destruction of the Kildare family
power, and the actual conquest of Ireland soon follows. |
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1534 |
Henry VIII declares
the Anglican Church independent of the Roman Church; English Protestantism
begins, and the England-Ireland conflict becomes a Protestant-Catholic
conflict as well. Gradually the monasteries are dissolved, and their
lands used as rewards to loyal aristocrats. |
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1536
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Irish Parliament
passes the Act of Supremacy, acknowledging Henry VIII supreme head
of the Church of Ireland, replacing the Pope |
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1541 |
Irish Parliament
recognizes Henry VIII as King of Ireland (no longer “Lord”).
Thus Henry’s title is no longer dependent upon Papal grant |
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1553-58 |
Queen Mary restores
Catholicism to England |
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1558-1603 |
Queen Elizabeth
I returns to Protestant Rule; passes the Acts of Supremacy and Uniformity
in Ireland, enforcing the Anglican Church rule (1560). Three great
rebellions--O'Neill (1559), Desmond/FitzMaurice (1569-83, the Munster
Rebellion), and Tyrone (1594-1603)-- reveal religious strife joined
with nationalism in Ireland. |
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1601 |
Battle of Kinsale
(defeat of Spanish Force, come to aid the O'Neill (Tyrone) rebellion) |
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1607 |
The Flight of
the Earls: Ulster Earls flee to continent; the Ulster Plantation,
mainly of Scottish Presbyterians, begins (first formulation of Protestant
Northern Ireland). British restrictions on Irish trade and economy
begin. |
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1641
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Ulster Rebellion |
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1649-1660 |
Commonwealth
of England, under Oliver Cromwell; Cromwell lands in Ireland in 1649--his
campaigns in Ireland result in several infamous massacres of Catholics,
seizures of Catholic estates, and oppression of Catholic clergy. Control
of property shifts from Catholic to almost wholly Protestant. |
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1690-1691 |
Battle of the
Boyne and Battle of Aughrim: decisive defeats of the pro-Catholic
forces of King James II by King William III. Signals the end of Irish
hopes for a Catholic king in England. Following the Treaty of Limerick,
the remaining Irish Catholic gentry flee for the continent (“Flight
of the Wild Geese”). Penal Laws against Catholics begin, and
by 1703 Catholics own less than 10 per cent of the land in Ireland.
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From
the Eighteenth Century through the Civil War |
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1704 |
The Sacramental
Test Act, making political office & membership in municipal corporations
available only to those who receive communion according to the Church
of Ireland (excluding both Roman Catholics and Protestant dissidents);
penal laws reduce Catholic landowners; English trade laws restrict
Irish export & trade industries. The Protestant Ascendancy
begins. |
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1720 |
The Declaratory
Act, gave to the British Parliament legislative jurisdiction over
Irish affairs, the authority “to make laws and statutes of sufficient
force and validity to bind the kingdom and people of Ireland.”
(“The Sixth of George I”) |
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1723-25 |
Controversy
over “Wood’s halfpence” --> Swift’s Drapier’s
Letters (1724), objecting to English domination of Ireland |
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1759 |
The “Whiteboy”
movement, in opposition to enclosures of common lands, begins--the
first action of agrarian unrest |
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1767-1722 |
Lord Townshend
establishes a resident Lord Lieutenant-ship in Ireland, as direct
representative of Royal English power in Irish government |
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1778 |
First Protestant
Volunteer Force forms, a national volunteer army formed by, and for
the defense of, the Protestant Ascendancy (what Grattan terms “the
armed property of the nation”). Their threat, combined with
the crisis in America, leads to removal of most restrictions on Irish
trade. |
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1782
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“The Constitution
of 1782”: a series of concessions to the Irish Parliament, including
repeal of Declaratory Act, initiated largely due to British concern
over the revolutions in France and America |
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1782-1800 |
“Grattan's
Parliament”: under leadership of Henry Grattan, the Irish Parliament
holds its greatest legislative independence. Irish economic revival
follows. As English and Anglo-Irish aristocracy settle in Ireland,
the splendor of Georgian Dublin reaches its height |
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1791
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United Irishmen
established. Irish Republicanism gains strength, fueled by revolutionary
movements in France and America. |
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1793 |
Catholics restored
to the Parliamentary Franchise |
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1798 |
On 24 May the
United Irishmen Rebellion arises, with particularly fierce fighting
in Wexford; it is crushed within six weeks; Wolfe Tone, charismatic
leader of the “Rebellion of 1798,” dies, reportedly by
suicide, in prison. |
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1801 |
The Act of Union,
dissolving the Irish Parliament and merging England and Ireland into
a single legislative body within the United Kingdom, passes the Irish
Parliament, despite protests led by Henry Grattan. |
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1803
|
Robert Emmet
leads failed rebellion in Dublin; captured and executed along with
20 followers. Leads to harsher coercion acts from British parliament. |
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1823 |
The Catholic
Association founded, organized at the parish level and funded by the
“Catholic Rent”; becomes the main instrument and resource
for O'Connell's emancipation campaign |
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1829 |
Led by Daniel
O'Connell, “The Liberator,” Catholic Emancipation occurs
after decades-long campaign |
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1840-42 |
O'Connell leads
campaign for Repeal of the Act of Union, unsuccessfully; the Irish
population reaches a peak of roughly 8,000,000; new national schools
virtually destroy Irish as a spoken language. |
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1845 |
“Queen's
Colleges” established at Belfast, Cork, Galway |
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1845-49 |
The Great Famine
(mort gor, the Great Hunger): failure of the potato crop
for three out of four years leads to disastrous famine, resulting
in the death of as many as 1,000,000 Irish from disease and starvation;
another 2,000,000 emigrate, largely to the United States and South
America, many on the infamous “coffin ships.” British
response is at first insignificant, but gradually charitable relief
begins to arrive. By the end of the century, the Irish population
will have been reduced nearly by one-half, beginning with the horror
of the Famine. |
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1848
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The Young Irelanders,
a splinter group from O'Connell's Repeal Association, attempt a failed
insurrection |
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1850 |
Irish Tenant
Right League forms, to work on behalf of tenants against landlords
and proprietors |
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1858
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The Irish Republican
Brotherhood, a secret insurrectionary group, is formed out of the
Fenian Movement, under leadership of James Stephens; attempts failed
insurrection in 1867. |
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1870
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The Home Government
Association, soon to become the Home Rule League, founded by Isaac
Butt |
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1875 |
Charles Stewart
Parnell enters Parliament; soon assumes leadership of Home Rule League
from Butt |
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1879 |
Michael Davitt
forms the Irish Land League, working for land reform and the opposition
to evictions; Parnell soon becomes its president. |
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1881 |
Gladstone’s
Second Land Act, further improving lot of tenants and decreasing power
of landlords |
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1884
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Reform Act extends
household franchise to Ireland, tripling the electorate; Gaelic Athletic
Association founded by D.P. Moran |
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1886 |
First Home Rule
Bill defeated in Parliament |
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1889 |
Parnell named
co-respondent in O’Shea divorce petition, leading to his split
with Catholic clergy and condemnation by British public. |
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1893 |
Second Home
Rule Bill defeated in Parliament; Gaelic League founded by Douglas
Hyde |
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1905
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Sinn Fein ("ourselves
alone"), radical nationalist group, formed by Arthur Griffith |
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1912-1913 |
House of Commons
passes Home Rule bill, with proviso that the Lords must act on it
by 1914; as Home Rule becomes a closer possibility, the Ulster Volunteers
(Protestant military force) and then the Irish Volunteers (Catholic
military force--soon to become the Irish Republican Army) form; Civil
War seems imminent, when World War I begins, and both Nationalists
and Unionists agree to suspend the conflict. |
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1913
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The labor movement,
led by James Connolly, stage a series of effective strikes in the
cities; the strikes are violently put down, but Connolly had managed
to connect the plight of urban workers with that of the rural tenants
in opposition to British rule. |
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1916 |
The Easter Rising:
Catholic insurgents seize central areas of Dublin, and proclaim a
provisional government; fighting lasts for one week before insurgents
are forced to surrender; all but one of the leaders (Eamon de Valera)
are executed, to increasing public and international outrage. In Yeats’s
words, “A terrible beauty is born.” |
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1918 |
Parliamentary
elections yield overwhelming Sinn Fein majority. De Valera takes over
presidency of Sinn Fein from Griffith, establishes new provisional
government; the Irish Republican Army forms, begins guerilla warfare
campaign against British soldiers; most Irish police resign, replaced
by British recruits referred to as “the Black and Tans.”
The fighting is fierce, covert, bitter, and cruel on all sides. |
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1919-1921 |
“Anglo-Irish
War”: armed conflict between British forces and Irish Nationalists |
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1920
|
England passes
the Government of Ireland Act, establishing two self-governing areas,
Northern Ireland (the six counties of Antrim, Armagh, Down, Fermanagh,
Londonderry, and Tyrone) and Southern Ireland; the next year the Anglo-Irish
treaty is signed between Southern Ireland (then called the Irish Free
State) and England. |
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1922-23 |
Civil War in
Irish Free State between supporters of the treaty (“Nationals”
or “Free State” troops), led by Griffith and Michael Collins,
and opposition, led by de Valera (“Irregulars”). Both
Griffith and Collins die during the conflict. Armed struggle ends
in 1923, and the Irish Free State begins its rule.
In Northern Ireland, the Protestant majority succeeds in suppressing
the armed rebellions of the Catholic minority; they institute legal,
political, and police restrictions assuring Protestant control of
virtually every level of government. A bitter hatred and pattern of
violence is established in the North that remains to this day. |
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1925 |
The border between
Northern Ireland and the Irish Free State is accepted as definitive
by both governments, and by Great Britain, establishing partition
as a permanent condition. |
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1927
|
de Velera and
his followers enter the Dail, forming the Fianna Fail party; the Griffith/Collins/Cosgrave
party is termed Fine Gael—these remain today the two central
parties of Irish politics. A remnant of de Velera’s followers
refuse to take the oath of allegiance and form opposition parties. |
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From
the Civil War to the Present |
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1932-1948 |
de Velera assumes
leadership of the government; immediately removes the oath of allegiance
from the constitution. He will dominate Fianna Fail and, in effect,
Ireland for the next 16 years. |
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1937 |
A new constitution
is formalized for the Irish Free State, now called Ireland or Eire,
establishing independence of relations with Great Britain (though
still not declaring Eire a republic) and according a special status
to the Catholic Church (a status removed in the 1970's). Eire now
a constitutionally Gaelic and Catholic country |
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1941-1963 |
Lord Brookeborough
holds office as prime minister of Northern Ireland |
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1949
|
On Easter Monday
the new government, led by prime minister J.A. Costello, proclaim
Eire a republic, formally breaking the last link to the Commonwealth
of Great Britain. (The I.R.A. refuses to recognize this republic,
still professing its allegiance to the Republic declared in 1916.) |
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1950's
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Intermittent
terrorist activity by the I.R.A. in the North, generally condemned
by both the government of Eire and the Nationalist leaders in the
North. |
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1963
|
Captain Terence
O’Neill assumes prime minister position of Northern Ireland,
initiates an exchange of visits with Eire. |
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1965 |
Comprehensive
trade agreement between Eire and Great Britain, strengthening commercial
and economic ties between the two countries. |
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1968
|
Riots in Londonderry
in October between Catholics demanding increased civil rights and
Protestants seeking to maintain their political superiority. |
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1969 |
O’Neill
defeated in election, replaced by Major James Chichester-Clark; Great
Britain pushes for reform in Northern Ireland; extremists of both
sides (Unionist and Republican) intensify fighting in August, and
British troops are deployed to restore order. |
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1970-71 |
The I.R.A. resumes
activities with renewed vigor, firmly establishing itself in the Catholic
districts of Londonderry and Belfast and titling itself the "Provisional
I.R.A.," to distinguish itself from what it viewed as the old,
outmoded I.R.A.. They conduct a guerilla war against the Ulster police
(Royal Ulster Constabulary), the Ulster volunteer army (UVA), and
the British army. |
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1972 |
British soldiers
kill 13 on 30 January (Bloody Sunday) in Londonderry; the Northern
Ireland constitution is suspended, and government transferred directly
to London; Provisional I.R.A. kills 19 and wounds 130 in Belfast bombings
on 21 July (Bloody Friday). |
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1973 |
Both the United
Kingdom (Great Britain, including Northern Ireland) and the Republic
of Ireland (Eire) enter the European Economic Community. |
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1979
|
Provisional
I.R.A. kill 18 British soldiers in Co. Down, assassinate Lord Mountbatten
in the Republic. |
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1981
|
Series of hunger
strikes in Maze prison by Catholic prisoners to protest living conditions,
culminating in death of Bobby Sands after 66-day strike. |
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1983 |
Provisional
I.R.A. kill 5 and injure 80 in Christmas bombing in London. |
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1985 |
Anglo-Irish
agreement signed between Great Britain and Eire in effort to work
out Northern Ireland conflict. |
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1998 |
Easter Agreement
signed on April 10, setting up provisions for cease-fire and joint
government of Northern Ireland among Protestants, Catholics, and the
Irish Republic |
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1998 |
Three months
after the Agreement is ratified, bombs erupt in Omagh, Northern Ireland,
killing 29 and injuring hundreds more--the single greatest loss of
life since "the troubles" began. An IRA splinter group (calling
itself "The Real IRA") claims responsibility |
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2000 |
After the executive
government is suspended (May 6) for failure to produce decommisioning
of IRA arms, the IRA issues a new statement on decommisioning (May
27) and the executive is restored . . . |
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