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Irish History Timeline

2,000,000 The 'Pleistocene period', during which Ireland was extremely cold and the sea level rose and
- 30,000 fell.
BC
The first megalithic tombs were built.
3000 BC
The Newgrange passage grave was built around now.
2500 BC
Bronze and gold were being used. This was the Bronze Age. Many gold ornaments have been
1800 BC found from this time.

The Iron Age began.

500 BC
Crannogs, hill forts and ring forts continued to be built. A Roman called Ptolemy created a map
AD 1 - of Ireland showing rivers, towns and tribes.
500
Irish warriors raided Roman Britain.

297 - 450 Palladius was the first bishop to be sent to Irish Christians.

431 The year St Patrick is said to have come to Ireland to spread Christianity.

432 The first Irish monastery was founded at Aran by St Éndae. Irish monasteries spread and
flourished for the next 150 years. At this time, people were speaking 'Archaic Old Irish.'
490
St Colum Cille founded Derry.

546 St Cíarán founded Clonmacnoise.

547/8 St Collum Cille founded Iona.

563 Many books were written in Latin during this period.

580 - 680 St Columbanus began to travel on the Continent to spread Christianity and found monasteries.

590 St Aidan went out from Iona and founded Lindisfarne.

635 - 51 During these years, Old Irish laws were in force.

650 - 750 At the Synod of Whitby, Irish and English Christians argued over the date of Easter. It was not
until 716 that Iona accepted the Roman Easter.
664
A time of severe famine and plague.

698 - 700 This was the period of 'Classical Old Irish'.

The Vikings began to raid Ireland. In 802 and 806 they attacked Iona. In 823 they killed bishops
and scholars at Bangor. By 837 they were starting to establish long-term bases in Ireland.
795

841 The Vikings set up permanent settlements at Annagassen and Dublin.

845 Máel Sechnaill mac Máele Ruanaid drowned the Viking leader Turgéis.

876 - 916 Forty years of peace, during which Viking raids died down.

900 - 911 The Irish and Norse went into Cumberland, Lancashire and Cheshire in England.

From now on, people were speaking what we call 'Early Middle Irish.'

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908 The king of Tara, Flann Sinna, defeated Cormac mac Cuilennáin, the king-bishop of Cashel, at
Belach Mughna.

916 - 919 High King Niall Glúndub reigned.

923 The Vikings founded Limerick.

964 Mathgamain mac Cennétig of the Dál Cais became king of Cashel.

978 Brian Bóruma became king of Munster.

980 Máel Sechnaill II mac Domnaill, king of Mide, succeeded to high kingship.

981, 989, Máel Sechnaill II captured Dublin three times.

995

1000 Brian Bóruma captured Dublin, defeating Sitric Silkbeard.

1002 Máel Sechnaill recognised Brian Bóruma as high king of Ireland.

1014 Brian Bóruma  led his Munster army against  Máel Mórda, king of Leinster, and Jarl Sigurd of
Orkney, at Clontarf. Brian was killed, and  Máel Sechnaill II became high king.

1028 - King Sitric and Bishop Dúnán founded Christ Church Cathedral in Dublin.
1036
People began to speak what we call 'Late Middle Irish.'

An Irish fleet attacked Bristol.

1068
The first Synod took place in Cashel.
1101
Conchobar Ua Briain and Diarmait Mac Murchada laid siege to Waterford with 200 ships.
1137
St Bernard of Clairvaux wrote to Diarmait Mac Murchada, calling him the king of Ireland.
1145
Diarmait Mac Murchada and Toirrdelbach Ua Conchabar defeated Toirrdelbach Ua Briain, king
1151 of Munster, at Móin Mór. Seven thousand Munstermen died.

1152 Diarmait Mac Murchada abducted Dervorgilla, wife of Tigernán Ua Ruairc.

1155 Henry II of England proposed invading Ireland, but his idea was turned down at the Council of
Winchester. John of Salisbury visited Pope Adrian IV at Rome and got permission for Henry II to
invade Ireland.

1162 Diarmait Mac Murchada obtained complete control of Dublin.

1166 Tigernán Ua Ruairc destroyed Diarmait Mac Murchada's castle at Ferns. Ruaidrí Ua
Conchobair banished Mac Murchada from Ireland, and he fled to Bristol in England.

1167 Mac Murchada returned to Ireland with Flemish soldiers under Richard fitz Godbert de Roche.
He managed to get back the kingdom of Uí Chenneslaig.

1169 Robert fitz Stephen, Harvey de Montmorency and Maurice de Prendergast landed at Bannow
Bay.  MacMurchada was able to capture Wexford with the help of the Normans.

1170 Richard de Clare, also called Strongbow, captured Wexford and married Mac Murchada's
daughter, Aífe. Mac Murchada and his Norman allies captured Dublin.

1171 Mac Murchada died and Strongbow took over from him. Henry II came to Dublin and the kings
of Leinster, Bréifne, Áirgialla and Ulster submitted to him.

1172 Hugh de Lacy was given Meath, Ua Máel Sechlainn's kingdom of Mide.

1175 Henry II and Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair signed the Treaty of Windsor.

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1177 John de Courcy invaded Ulster. Henry II's ten-year-old son John was made 'Lord of Ireland'. He
first visited Ireland in 1185, when he was eighteen.

1200 Bardic schools set standards for grammar and poetry.

From around this time people were speaking what we call 'Classical Modern Irish'.

1204 Dublin Castle became the royal centre.

1210 John, now King of England as well of Lord of Ireland, captured Carrickfergus.

1216 The Magna Carta, which guaranteed certain rights, was issued for Ireland.

1224 The Dominiscans and Franciscans founded their first monasteries in Ireland.

1227 Richard de Burgh was given the whole of Connacht.

1252, There were 'Irish riots' at Oxford University.

1267,
1274
FitzGerald advanced against the O'Donnells at Sligo, but was stopped.
1257 - 58
The Irish kings offered the high-kingship to Haakon IV of Norway in return for his help in getting
1262 - 3 the English out of Ireland.

There were three parliaments in Dublin.

1297 -
1300 A big Irish army fought for Edward I in Scotland.

1307 At the Parliament of Kilkenny, it was decided the Irish could not join Anglo-Irish religious
houses.
1310

1315 Edward Bruce of Scotland captured Dundalk and became high king. The next year he was
crowned king of Ireland.

1315 - Western Europe including Ireland was hit by a famine.

1317
Edward Bruce was killed by John de Bermingham of Faughart.
1318
A petition was given to Edward III of England asking for English law in Ireland.
1327 - 8
It was decreed that there should be one law for both the Irish and Anglo-Irish, except for the
1331 betaghs (serfs).

The Black Death struck Howth and Drogheda.

1348
The Statute of Kilkenny was introduced. It was meant to keep the Irish and English apart, so
1366 that the English would not pick up on Irish culture, language and dress.

Richard II came to Ireland so the kings could submit to him. He visited again in 1399.
1394/5
A law forbade Irish poets and musicians to go into Anglo-Irish areas.
1435
The area under Dublin's control was referred to as the 'Pale' for the first time that we know of.
1446
Richard, duke of York, fled to Ireland after losing a battle at Ludford in England.
1459
The earl of Desmond was executed.
1468
Guns were used for the first time in Ireland by the troops of Aodh Ruadh Ó Domhnaill.
1487
Sir Edward Poynings acted as lord deputy of Ireland. He brought in 'Poyning's Law' which
1494-5 backed up the 1366 Statutes of Kilkenny - the Anglo-Irish were not supposed to use Irish laws

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and customs. However, the Irish language was so widespread that the ban on speaking it had
to be dropped.
1495 Supporters of Perkin Warbeck, who claimed to be the son of Edward V, besieged Waterford.

1504 The Battle of Knockdoe, in which the English and the earl of Kildare defeated Clanricard and Ó
Briain.

1520 The earl of Surrey, Thomas Howard, was sent to Ireland to regain control for England. King
Henry VIII told him to use persuasion rather than violence.

1529 A Spanish representative, Gonzalo Fernandez, came to Ireland to see the earl of Desmond.

1534 Thomas, Lord Offaly - also called 'Silken Thomas' - was made deputy when his father, the earl
of Kildare, went to England. Silken Thomas rebelled and was executed along with his five
uncles in 1537.

1539 With the Reformation underway and the Catholic church out of favour, the monasteries within
the Pale began to be closed.

1540-43 St Leger brought in the 'surrender and regrant' policy, which meant Irish earls and lords had to
submit to King Henry VIII to keep their land.

1541 Henry VIII was made 'king of Ireland' by the Irish parliament.

1549 The English Book of Common Prayer was now to be used in Ireland.

1550-7 Settlers came to Laois and Offaly.

1555 Pope Paul IV declared that Ireland was a kingdom.

1561-7 Shane O'Neill rebelled and was called a traitor. In 1562 he submitted to Queen Elizabeth I, then
rebelled again. He fought the MacDonnells and burned Armagh cathedral. When he was
defeated by O'Donnell at Forsetmore, he ran to the MacDonnells, who killed him.

1568-73 The Desmonds rebelled.

1571 The first printed Irish was produced.

1573-6 The Earl of Essex tried to set up a colony in Antrim. In 1575, his soldiers carried out a massacre
on Rathlin Island.

1579-82 The Desmonds rebelled again.

1580 Soldiers representing the Pope were defeated at Smerwick.

1584 The archbishop of Cashel, Dermot O'Hurley, was hanged in Dublin.

1585 A plantation of Munster was planned.

1587 Hugh O'Neill was made earl of Tyrone.

1588 Twenty-five ships of the Spanish armada were wrecked off the coast of Ireland.

1591 Hugh Roe O'Donnell, who the government had kidnapped at Rathmullen four years earlier, had
managed to escape from Dublin Castle.

1585- Hugh O'Neill, earl of Tyrone, rebelled. He defeated Sir Henry Bagenal at Clontibert. After
1603 Turlough Luineach died, the earl of Tyrone succeeded him as The O'Neill. He defeated Bagenal
again at the Yellow Ford in 1598.

The earl of Desmond attacked the Munster Plantation.

1598
1599 Phelim MacFeagh O'Byrne beat the English at Deputy's Pass near Wicklow, and Sir Conyers
Clifford, president of Connact, was killed by Hugh Roe O'Donnell in the Curlew Mountains.
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1601 A Spanish army landed at Kinsale to support Hugh O'Neill. They were attacked by government
forces led by Lord Deputy Mountjoy. When Tyrone and O'Donnell tried to help, they were
defeated. Hugh Roe O'Donnell fled to Spain, where he died.

1603 Hugh O'Neill surrendered at Mellifont.

1605 There was a proclamation that all people were subjects of the king, not of any lord or chief.

1606 'Gavelkind', a method of inheritance involving splitting land between members of a clan, was
made illegal.

1607 The Earls of Tyrone and Tyrconnell (Rory O'Donnell, Hugh Roe's brother) sailed from Lough
Swilly. This was known as the 'flight of the earls'. They were charged with high treason.
1608 Tanistry became illegal.

1610 Settlers from England and Scotland began to arrive in Ulster.

1612 The bishop of Down and Connor, Cornelius O'Devany, was hanged for treason.

1621 New plantations in Leitrim, King's County, Queen's County and Westmeath were given the go-
ahead.

1626 Charles I offered concessions called graces to the Irish people in return for money he could use
in his fight against Spain.

1635 Viscount Wentworth, lord deputy, prepared for a plantation of Connacht.

1641 A rising began in Ulster. Government forces were beaten at Julianstown Bridge, near
Drogheda. The Ulster Irish and Old English allied with one another against the English.

1642 A Catholic confederacy known as the Confederation of Kilkenny was created.

1646 Owen Roe O'Neill defeated the Scots under Robert Munro at Benburb.

1647 Dublin was lost to parliamentary forces.

1649 Oliver Cromwell arrived in Dublin on August 15th as the commander-in-chief. On 11th
September his forces overwhelmed Drogheda and a month later they took Wexford. New Ross
surrendered before he could commit a massacre there.

1652-3 Land was confiscated under Cromwell's orders. All landowners who had been involved in the
rebellion would lose their estates. Even those who had not been involved were driven off their
land and sent to Connacht. Cromwell's soldiers were given the confiscated land.

1660-5 With Cromwell dead and Charles II in control of England, some efforts were made to give the
king's supporters their land back. This was the Act of Settlement and Act of Explanation, which
had to be brought in because the Act of Settlement was insufficiently clear.

1663 Irish trade with the colonies was restricted by Act of Parliament.

1666 The Irish could no longer send cattle to England.

1671 The Second English Navigation Act meant that the colonies couldn't send goods directly to
Ireland.

1681 Archbishop Oliver Plunkett was executed in London.

1689 King James II, who had taken over the throne after Charles II died, arrived in Kinsale and
besieged Derry, which had defied him. Enniskillen was also defying James II and his Jacobite
army. They defeated his soldiers at Newtownbutler.

1690 King William III, who had claimed the throne from James, defeated James at Oldbridge on the
Boyne.

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Limerick was under siege in August.

Patrick Sarsfield led a Jacobite force against William.

1691 King William took a victory at Aughrim.

Limerick was besieged again. A Treaty was signed, which meant the end of the war. The Irish
army was allowed to go to France to serve James II.

An act of the English parliament pushed out Catholics from parliament and public office.

1695- Anti-Catholic laws were passed, called the 'popery code' or Penal Laws. Under the Williamite
1709 confiscation (1691 - 1703), more land was seized from Catholics, leaving them with about 14%
of Irish land.

The Irish were restricted in selling woollen goods abroad.

1699
Acts were passed that forbade Catholics to buy land or lease it for more than 31 years. By
1704, 1778, hardly 5% of Irish land would be owned by Catholics.
1709
The export of Irish linen to American colonies was permitted.

1705 Jonathan Swift became dean of St. Patrick's cathedral, Dublin.

1713 Ulster Scots began to emigrate to America.

1718 The George I Act declared the right of the British parliament to legislate for Ireland.

1720 Parliament met for the first time at College Green.

1731 Extreme weather brought on a bad harvest, famine and sickness.

1739-41 The Rotunda hospital opened in Dublin.

1757 There was rioting in Dublin after rumours spread that Britain and Ireland could be united.

1759
1760 François Thurot conquered Carrickfergus.

1761 The Whiteboy movement began in Munster.

1763 The Oakboy disturbances began in Ulster.

1766 A  priest, Nicholas   Sheehy, was accused of inciting the Whiteboys and was executed. The
'Tumultuous Risings Act' was published.

1769 Steelboy disturbances took place in Ulster.

1771 American statesman Benjamin Franklin visited Ireland.

1774 Catholics would be allowed to swear loyalty to the king without renouncing their faith.

1778 An American privateer, John Paul Jones, raided Belfast Lough twice.

A Catholic Relief Act came out allowing Catholics to take leases for 999 years and inherit like
Protestants.

1780 Ireland could now trade with British colonies the same as Britain itself.

1782 Henry Grattan campaigned for Irish independence from the British parliament, and the 1720 act
was rolled back.

The second Catholic Relief act allowed Catholics to buy land in most places. Some laws
against Catholic clergy and worship were lifted. Meanwhile, Presbyterian ministers were
permitted to carry out marriage ceremonies.
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1784 After a fight at Markethill, the Protestant Peep o'Day Boys and the Catholic Defenders were
formed.

1785 The Whiteboys, now known as Rightboys, caused trouble in Munster.

1791 On the 14th of October, the Society of United Irishmen was founded.

1792 A Catholic Relief Act was passed allowing Catholics to become solicitors and barristers.
Intermarriage between Catholics and Protestants became legal.

1793 Hobart's Catholic Relief Act was passed. Catholics could vote but not sit in parliament or
become judges.

1795 A Catholic seminary at Maynooth was approved by Act of Parliament.

The Battle of the Diamond between the Peep o' Day Boys and the Defenders led to the
foundation of the Orange Society.

1798 The United Irish rising took place in May and June. Theobald Wolfe Tone was captured in
November. He was convicted of high treason and sentenced to death, but committed suicide by
cutting his throat.

1801 The Union of Great Britain and Ireland came into law on the 1st of January.

1803 Robert Emmet's rising took place in Dublin. He was convicted of high treason and executed.

Michael Dwyer, who had been in revolt in Wicklow since 1798, finally surrendered.

1808 The Christian Brothers were founded at Waterford.

1813 Henry Grattan introduced a Catholic Relief Bill to the UK House of Commons. It was narrowly
defeated.

1816 The potato crop failed, causing famine, which was made worse by an outbreak of typhus.

1821 George IV visited Ireland and Dún Laoire Harbour was renamed Kingstown.

1823 The Catholic Association was founded in Dublin on May 12th.

1826 Supporters of Catholic emancipation defeated sitting MPs in counties Waterford, Westmeath,
Louth and Monaghan.

1828 Daniel O'Connell became MP for County Clare.

1829 A  Relief Act allowed Catholics to enter parliament and hold higher offices of state. This was
known as 'Catholic emancipation'.

1831 The 'tithe war'. Police seized cattle in County Kilkenny by way of payment for the tithe; violence
broke out in June and December.

1832 A Parliamentary Reform Act increased the electorate to 1.2% of the population.

1834 Ireland's first railway opened between Dublin and Kingstown.

1836 The Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland decided to dissolve itself.

1838 Father Theobald Mathew founded the total abstinence movement in Cork.

The Poor Relief Act extended the English poor law system to Ireland. This would allow for
workhouses to be set up.

1840 Daniel O'Connell formed the National Association, aimed at repeal of the Union.

1841 O'Connell became lord mayor of Dublin.

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1842 The first edition of the Nation paper was published by the Young Ireland group.

1843 O'Connell held 'monster meetings' in favour of repeal.

1844 O'Connell was found guilty of 'conspiracy' but saved from a full year's imprisonment by the
House of Lords.

1845 The potato blight was first reported in Ireland on the 9th of September. Robert Peel ordered
£100,000 of Indian corn from the USA.

(The famine is covered more fully here).

1846 Acts were passed authorising public works and repealing the Corn Laws. The potato crop was
completely destroyed.

1847 The worst year of the famine. Soup kitchens were established and outdoor relief authorised, but
only for those who held a quarter acre of land or less.

1848 The potato crop failed again.

The Young Ireland rising took place in Munster, led by William Smith O'Brien. Its leaders were
captured and sentenced to transportation for life.

1849 Queen Victoria and Prince Albert visited Ireland.

1850 The Irish Tenant League was formed.

1851 The Catholic Defence League of Great Britain and Ireland was formed. It was also known as
the 'Irish Brigade'.

1853 Victoria and Albert visited Dublin.

1854 The Catholic University of Ireland opened.

1856 Jeremiah O'Donovan (later O'Donovan Rossa) founded the Phoenix Society.

1858 James Stephens founded what would become the Irish Republican Brotherhood.

1859 The Irish Times was inaugurated.

1860 The beginning of a series of cold and wet seasons heralded a severe agricultural depression.

1862 A Poor Relief Act extended outdoor relief.

1865 James Stephens was arrested and then rescued from Richmond prison.

1866 The Fenians raided Canada.

1867 Fenians attempted to seize Chester Castle and rose up in Kerry, Dublin, Cork, Limerick,
Tipperary and Clare.

Clan na Gael was founded in New York.

In December, Fenians attempting to rescue Richard O’Sullivan-Burke from Clerkenwell jail

caused an explosion that killed twelve people living near the prison.

1869 The Church of Ireland was disendowed.

1870 Isaac Butt launched the Home Rule movement.

1871 The Fenians invaded Canada.

1873 The Home Rule League was founded.

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1874 Isaac Butt's motion on home rule was defeated in the House of Commons.

1875 Charles Stewart Parnell became MP for Meath.

1876 The Irish Republican Brotherhood withdrew support for home rule.

1877 Parnell and others held prolonged sittings in the House of Commons.

1879 An economic crisis followed three years of bad harvests and agricultural depression.

The Irish National Land League was founded.

A 'land war' began that would continue for three years.

1880 Parnell visited America.

The words 'boycotting' was coined after Captain Charles C Boycott was ostracised during the
land war.

1881 The Land League was declared illegal.

Gladstone's Second Land Act conceded the 'three Fs' - fair rent, free sale and fixity of tenure.

1882 The Cabinet accepted the Kilmainham Treaty. Parnell and others were released from
Kilmainham Jail.

Lord Frederick Cavendish and Thomas Henry Burke were murdered at Phoenix Park by the
Invicibles.

1884 A dynamite campaign in Britain led to Thomas Clarke and others being jailed.

The Gaelic Athletic Association was founded.

The Franchise Act added many Irish rural voters.

1885 In the general election, Parnell managed to hold the balance between the Liberals and the
Conservatives. Gladstone's conversion to home rule was announced.

1886 Gladstone introduced a home rule bill, which was defeated.

1887 When nationalists demonstrated in London against the imprisonment of William O'Brien there
were over one hundred casualties. This was known as Bloody Sunday.

1889 The Pigott forgeries were exposed. O'Shea filed for divorce over his wife's affair with Parnell.

1891 Parnell married Katherine O'Shea as soon as her divorce had gone through. He died three
months later. John Redmond became the leader of the Parnellites.

1892 Ireland got its first Labour party, in Belfast.

1893 The Second Home Rule Bill passed the Commons but was defeated in the Lords.

The Gaelic League was founded.

1896 The Irish Socialist Republican party was formed with James Connolly as its secretary.

1898 Queen Victoria visited Ireland.

1900 Arthur Griffith founded the Cumman na nGaedheal.

1903 The Wyndham Land Purchase Act worked out a new scheme for tenant land purchase.

1904 The Abbey Theatre was founded.

1905 The Ulster Unionist Council was formed.

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1906 Arthur Griffith first published Sinn Féin.

1908 The Sinn Féin name was adopted for the 1907 union between the Sinn Féin League and the
National Council.

1910 The Irish Party held the balance in two UK general elections.

1911 An Act of Parliament removed the House of Lords' absolute veto over new legislation.

1913 The third home rule bill passed the Commons twice and was twice rejected by the Lords.

The Ulster Volunteer Force, Irish Citizen Army and Irish Volunteers were founded.

In September, the Dublin Lockout began. It continued until February 1914.

1914 The Curragh Incident (or 'Mutiny') took place when British army officers announced they would
rather resign than oppose the pro-British Ulster Volunteer Force.

Cumman na mBan was founded.

The Ulster Volunteers carried out gun-running at Larne, Bangor, and Donaghadee. The Irish
volunteers brought in weapons at Howth and Kilcoole.

The third home rule bill passed the Commons for the third time and received royal assent but
was suspended after Britain declared war on Germany on the 4th of August.

1916 The Easter Rising took place in Dublin in April. Its leaders were executed.

1918 In the general election, Sinn Féin won 73 seats, as against 31 unionists and six home rulers.

1919 The War of Independence began with an ambush at Soloheadbeg, County Tipperary. Sinn Féin
representatives met as Dáil Éireann, which adopted a provisional constitution and declared
independence. The Irish Volunteers became known as the Irish Republican Army.

1920 The Black and Tans were enlisted. There were disturbances in Derry and Belfast.

Terence MacSwiney, mayor of Cork, died on hunger strike.

On the 21st of November, fourteen British secret service agents were shot dead by the IRA. In
response, the Black and Tans fired on a crowd at a Gaelic football match in Croke Park, killing
twelve people. This was known as 'Bloody Sunday'.

The following month, the Black and Tans sacked Cork.

The Government of Ireland Act organised subordinate parliaments for Dublin and Belfast.

1921 An election to the two parliaments took place.

The IRA destroyed the Custom House in Dublin.

James Craig became Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and George V opened its parliament.

On 9th July, a truce was declared between the IRA and the British army.

The Anglo-Irish Treaty was signed in London on 6th December.

1922 The Dáil Éireann approved the Treaty on January 7th.

Violence broke out in Northern Ireland. The IRA was declared illegal in the North and a Special
Powers Act was passed.

The Civil War began on June 28th.

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Michael Collins was killed in an ambush on the 22nd of August.

William Thomas Cosgrave was elected head of the provisional government.

On October 25th, the Constitution of the Irish Free State was approved by the Dáil.

In November, Erskine Childers was executed for unlawful possession of a revolver. In the same
month, the first of seventy-seven executions of fighters opposed to the Treaty took place.

On the 5th of December, the Irish Free State Constitution Act (UK) ratified the constitution and
the Anglo-Irish Treaty.

1923 The Civil War ended in May.

The Garda Síochána were established.

On the 10th of September, the Irish Free State was admitted to the League of Nations.

1924 The Boundary Commission met for the first time.

1925 The governments of the UK, the Irish Free State and Northern Ireland agreed to maintain the
existing boundary between the two parts of Ireland.

1926 Éamon de Valera launched the Fianna Fáil party.

1927 The Irish Free State minister for justice, Kevin O'Higgins, was assassinated.

A general election took place in the Irish Free State. De Valera entered the Dáil with Fianna Fáil
the largest opposition party.

1929 Proportional representation in parliamentary elections was abolished in Northern Ireland.

1930 The Irish Free State appointed its first censorship board.

The Irish Free State was elected to the council of the League of Nations.

1932 The Army Comrades Association was formed.

When de Valera withheld the payment of land annuities to the British government, an economic
war with Britain began.

Strikes and riots took place in Northern Ireland over high unemployment. Meanwhile, the
Stormont parliament building was formally opened by the Prince of Wales.

1933 The Army Comrades Association adopted a blue shrit and black beret as its dress and took on
the name 'National Guard'. It was led by the former chief commissioner of the Garda Síochána,
Eoin O'Duffy. The National Guard was declared unlawful.

The United Irish Party (later Fine Gael) launched with O'Duffy as president.

1936 On the 18th of June, the IRA was declared illegal in the Irish Free State.

O'Duffy and his followers left for Spain in November to fight for Franco. They returned the next
June. In December, Frank Ryan's ideologically left-wing unit joined government forces in Spain.

The Irish Free State Constitutional Amendment Act removed all references from the constitution
to the crown and the governor general.

1937 The new constitution was approved by referendum and came into effect on December 29th.

1938 There was an Anglo-Irish agreement on 'treaty ports', finance and trade.

Douglas Hyde became the first president of Éire.

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1939 The IRA initiated a bombing campaign in Britain. An explosion in Coventry killed five people.

When Germany invaded Poland on September 1st, de Valera announced that his government
would be neutral.

That December, the IRA raided Magazine Fort in Phoenix Park.

1940 Two emergency bills against the IRA were passed.

1941 Germany bombed Carlow, Dublin, Kildare, Louth, Meath, Wexford and Wicklow.

In April, more than 700 people were killed by Nazi bombing in Belfast. Dublin and Dun
Laoghaire fire brigades went to assist.

In May, German bombs fell on Dublin, killing 34.

1942 De Valera protested against American troops arriving in Northern Ireland.

1943 Sir Basil Brooke became PM of Northern Ireland. He would remain in that position for twenty
years.

1944 The Irish transport company Córas Iompair Éireann was set up.

1945 The Second World War, known in Ireland as the Emergency, came to an end. In a radio
address, Winston Churchill criticised Ireland for its neutrality. De Valera responded strongly.

Seán T. O'Kelly became President of Éire.

1946 Seán MacBride founded the Clann na Poblachta.

Ireland applied to join the United Nations and was admitted nine years later.

1947 The Health Act was passed in Éire. Catholic bishops disapproved of some clauses, especially
those relating to mother and child services which took away influence from the Church.

1948 Éire had a general election. John A. Costello became Taoiseach.

Various bodies were set up in both parts of Ireland including An Taisce and the Ulster Transport
Authority.

On the 21st of December, the Republic of Ireland Act repealed the External Relations Act of
1936 and provided for the declaration of a republic.

See 1949 in Irish history.

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