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Apr 1, 1170
First English involvement in Ireland
Dermot MacMurrough King of Leinster was in trouble, his kingdom had been overthrown and therefore he asked King Henry II of England for help, in exchange MacMurrough gave the English soldiers land, for helping him regaining his kingdom. -
Period: Apr 1, 1170 to
History of Northern Ireland 1170 - 2000
History of Northern Ireland can be traced back to the 17th century, where the English finally took over the island, after a number of rebellions. Scottish and English Protestants mainly overtook the land in the north and the rest of Ireland consisted mainly of Catholics. Since then, there have been many conflicts between the Catholics and the Protestants and between Ireland and England. -
Apr 1, 1171
English barons in Ireland
English barons claimed land in Ireland. -
Apr 1, 1300
All land under English control
The English barons contiuned to claim land in Ireland and by the 1300s they had nearly claimed all of Ireland. Although, many English barons no longer felt English, but Irish. -
Apr 1, 1400
English control minimized
At the end of the fifteenth century English control was minimized to a small area around Dublin. -
Apr 1, 1500
Increasing English control - 1500s
Queen Elizabeth the first tried to increase the English control in Ireland in the 1500s, by increasing the Protestans, this resulted in the Catholics becoming further against the English rule. -
Rebellion in Ireland
The Irish rebelled against the English rule and this resulted in the deaths of many. In England it was commonly known as the Catholics had massacred the Protestants, and many wanted revenge. -
Massacre in Ireland
An army was brought to Ireland to end the Irish revolts against the English rule. A large number of Catholics were masssacred. Irish land was given to English Protestants and new anti-Catholic laws were established, taking away many rights from the Catholics. -
Penal laws 1695 - 1728
These were a series of laws passed against Catholics in Ireland:
- Preventing Catholics from carrying weapons and owning horses worth more than £5
- Restricting the rights of Catholics to education
- Restrict their rights to education.
- Preventing Catholics from buying land
- Stating that on death property should be equally divided between all sons rather than inherited by the eldest.
Banning Catholics from serving in the army
Preventing Catholics from holding public positions
Preventing -
Protestants owning 90% of the land
Over the past century, thousands of Catholics had been transported abroad or resettled in new areas and even more land had been claimed by English Protestants. By 1703, 90% of the land in Ireland was owned by English nobles. The Irish Catholics had to pay rent to the English nobles. -
Act of Union
Ireland was united with Great Britain and became a part of the United Kingdom. -
Potato famine 1845 - 1848
In Ireland, potatoes were a standard part of a dish, but from 1845 to 1848, these were the only thing the Catholics lived on, and in many parts of Ireland, people were starving. -
Sinn Fein formed
The political party Sinn Fein, meaning 'we ourselves' was formed. Their aim - to free Ireland from British rule and gain independence for the whole of Ireland. -
New plan for Home rule 1912 - 1920
The Protestants made it clear that they would not accept the Home rule, so the government made a change, Home rule with Partition. Meaning that the Home rule would be introduced in the South, but the North would mainly still be a part of the United Kingdom. -
Home rule
A Home rule was approved for Ireland, meaning that the Irish would regain some control, this was not well seen by the Protestants, who were against any form of attempt to introduce Home rule in Ireland. -
Formation of the IRA
About a thousand rebels from the Irish Volunteers decided to take advantage of the fact that Britain was losing a war against Germany and proclaim an Irish Republic. Led by Patrick Pearse and James Connoly they claimed Dublin's General Post Office on Easter Monday. The fighting lasted five days and caused more than 400 deaths and 2,500 injuries. The rebels were forced to surrender. Those who had taken part in the Easter Rising became known as the Irish Republican Army. -
Partition
Partition was introduced to Ireland. -
Irish free state treaty
This treaty between Britain and Ireland, legalised Partition. Violence, especially in the six northern counties escalated as Catholics showed their opposition to Partition. -
Civil war
In early 1922 British forces began to leave Ireland. Their stations were handed over to the Irish Volunteers. However, the Volunteers were split between those that supported Partition and those that did not. Those that did became known as Free State soldiers while those that did not were known as Irregulars. Tension between the two groups escalated into violence which lasted for just over a year and left hundreds dead. -
Creation of Republic of Ireland
The Irish Free State was granted full independence from Britain under the terms of the Republic of Ireland Act. However, the six northern counties remained part of the United Kingdom. -
Direct rule imposed
Following Bloody Sunday there was a rise in support for the Provisional IRA. In February the British Embassy in Dublin was burnt. It was clear that the British government had to do something to try to quieten the situation. As a result, in March the Northern Ireland government was suspended - Northern Ireland was to be directly ruled from Westminster. One of the first actions by Westminster was to order the dismantling of the 'no-go' areas set up in 1969. The IRA responded by using violence. -
Bloody Sunday
A march organised by the NICRA against Internment and the ban on marches took place in Derry. In order to ensure that the march was peaceful the IRA had promised to stay away. British soldiers had put up barricades to prevent the marchers entering the city centre square. A section of the marchers and some observers confronted soldiers manning the barricade. British paratroopers opened fire killing 14 and injuring 13 others. -
Prevention of Terrorism Act
With the British becoming increasingly active in Northern Ireland, the IRA launched a bombing campaign which targeted public areas both in Ireland and on the British mainland. Bombs exploded in Dublin, Monaghan, Guildford, Woolwich and Birmingham killing and injuring civilians. The government responded by introducing the Prevention of Terrorism Act which allowed suspects to be detained without charge for up to seven days -
Downing Street Declaration
Following talks between the British Prime Minister and the Irish leader, this declaration was issued. It stated that the people of Northern Ireland should be free to decide their own future and that representatives of various groups should meet to discuss a solution. Sinn Fein was offered a seat provided that IRA violence was ended. As a result the IRA declared a cease fire in August 1994 and were followed a month later by a cease fire declaration from Loyalist groups. -
Peace talk
Multi-party peace talks began chaired by US senator George Mitchell. Mitchell proposed that disarmament should begin but this led to a stalling of the talks and the IRA broke its cease fire and violence resumed. -
Belfast Agreement (Good Friday)
Terms in Brief:
Ireland shall not be one united country without the consent of a majority in Northern Ireland
The people of Northern Ireland have the right to call themselves either Irish or British
A multi party assembly will be elected to govern the community.
A north/south council be set up to consider areas of mutual interest
An Anglo-Irish council be set up to consider areas of mutual interest
All people shall have basic human rights, civil rights and equality
