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Potato famine.
A potato blight kills Ireland's staple food crop. About a million people die from starvation and fever during the Great Potato Famine. -
The first rebelion.
The Easter Rebellion. Armed Irish patriots rebel against British troops in Dublin, Ireland, on the Monday after Easter. The British execute rebel leaders. -
Irish war of independince.
The Anglo-Irish War between the British and the Irish Republican Army. In a treaty, Britain finally gives up control of most of Ireland but tightens its grip on the six counties of Ulster (Northern Ireland). -
Ireland wants to be free.
Irish Civil War between those who accept the treaty with the English and the Irish Republican Army, which wants all of Ireland to be free of British rule. The Republicans lose. -
Bloody sunday.
During anti-British protests in the Ulster town of Londonderry on January 30, 13 unarmed marchers are killed by British troops, an event now known as Bloody Sunday. Britain imposes direct rule on Ulster. A more intense era of bloodshed begins. The Irish call this violence the Troubles. -
First women prime minister.
Mary Robinson becomes the first woman president of Ireland. -
Good friday.
Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland adopt on The Good Friday Agreement, an important step in the peace process. -
Irish pound gets replaced.
The Euro replaces the Irish pound, or punt, as Ireland's official currency.