| 6000 B.C. | Fir Bolg (man of the belly) Tuath De Dannan (tribe of Dannan) |
| 2nd Century B.C. | Arrival of the Gaels |
| 5th Century A.D. | Arrival of Christianity no written culture until 6th C A.D. |
| 795-1014 | Viking invasions |
| 841 | Vikings found Dublin |
| 1014 | Battle of Clontarf--Brian Boru defeats Vikings |
| 1169 | Normans invade Ireland at the invitation of Diarmaid MacMorrough, King of Leinster, who ran off with O'Rourke's wife Dervogilla. |
| 1366 | Statute of Kilkenny (designed to halt integration of Normans) |
| 1601 | Battle of Kinsale |
| 1607 | Flight of the Earls (end of Gaelic order) |
| 1609 | Plantation of Ulster |
| 1649-50 | Siege of Cromwell |
| 1689 | Siege of Derry |
| 1690 | Battle of the Boyne (Wm of Orange defeats James II) |
| 18th Century | Penal Code |
| 1782 | Grattan's Parliament |
| 1795 | Foundation of the Orange Order |
| 1798 | United Irishmen Rebellion (Tone) |
| 1801 | Act of Union (merged parliaments) |
| 1803 | Emmet's uprising |
| 1829 | Catholic Emancipation, Daniel O'Connell |
| 1846-50 | Potato famine |
| 1848 | Young Irelanders rebellion (Thomas Davis) |
| 1858 | IRB (Irish Republican Brotherhood) founded |
| 1867 | Fenian Uprising |
| 1879-91 | Land League, Davitt and Parnell (died 1891) |
| 1884 | GAA (Gaelic Athletic Association) founded |
| 1886 | First Home Rule bill introduced (defeated in Commons) |
| 1891 | Irish Literary Society founded in London by W. B. Yeats, G. B. Shaw, AE and others. The next year a Dublin branch was founded. The society published books, organized lecture tours and circulating libraries to promote Irish writing |
| 1893 | Gaelic League founded Second Home Rule bill defeated in House of Lords |
| 1899 | Yeats founded the Irish Literary Theatre with Lady Gregory, Edward Martyn, and AE. The Countess Cathleen controversy. |
| 1902 | Yeats founded Irish National Theatre with Lady Gregory and the Fay brothers (Irish actors) |
| 1904 | Yeats founded Abbey Theatre with gift of Miss Horniman; produced Synge's Riders to the Sea |
| 1908 | Arthur Griffith founds Sinn Fein |
| 1912 | Ulster Solemn League and Covenant Third Home Rule introduced; passed by Commons but delayed for two years by House of Lords, then suspended in 1914 for the duration of World War I. |
| 1916 | Easter Uprising |
| 1918 | Sinn Fein victory in general election leads to formation of Dail Eireann |
| 1919 | Anglo-Irish War begins |
| 1921 | Treaty partitioning Ireland ends Anglo-Irish War |
| 1922 | Irish Free State formed (with present political boundaries) |
| 1922-23 | Irish civil war (won by pro-treaty Free Staters over anti-treaty die hards) |
| 1937 | Constitution approved (claimed NI, pos. of Catholic Church) |
| 1949 | Republic of Ireland declared |
| 1968 | Civil rights marches, beginning of Northern troubles |
| 1970 | IRA split into Officials and Provisionals |
| 1971 | Internment introduced in Northern Ireland |
| 1972 | Bloody Sunday Stormont suspended, direct rule instituted |
| 1973 | Northern Ireland Assembly established and Sunningdale Agreement sets up Northern Ireland power-sharing executive |
| 1974 | UWC strike forces collapse of power-sharing executive |
| 1981 | IRA hunger strikes |
| 1985 | Anglo-Irish Agreement |
| 1993 | Downing Street Declaration (Dec) |
| 1994 | IRA Declares Cease Fire (August 31) |
| 1996 | IRA Cease Fire rescinded (Feb 9) Elections held for Northern Ireland Forum (May 30) Talks begin (June 10) |
| 1997 | IRA cease fire restored (July 19) |
| 1998 | Belfast Agreement signed on Good Friday (April 10) Omagh bombing (August 15) |