"HISTORY"
England first invades Ireland under English king
Henry II.
1607 Beginning of the Ulster Plantation under English king James I.
1800 Act of Union is passed, uniting Great Britain and Ireland as the
United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
1845-1850 Irish Famine causes Irish population to decrease by 2 million
due to death and emigration.
1912 Irish Revolution against British rule begins.
1914 The Irish Home Rule Bill, which grants an independent parliament
to
Ireland, passes, though enactment is delayed until 1920.
1916 Easter Rebellion in Dublin, in which Irish nationalist forces take
control
of the city before being forced to surrender by British troops (April 24-April 29).
1919-1921 Irish War of Independence between Irish nationalists and British
forces.
1920 Government of Ireland Act establishes six of the nine counties of
Ulster as
the province of Northern Ireland and grants independent parliaments
to both Ireland
and Northern Ireland.
1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty is signed, which ends the Irish War of Independence
and
grants limited freedom to Ireland (December 6).
1922 The Irish Free State is established, ending the Irish Revolution
(December 6).
1922-1923 Irish Civil War between the Free State government and Irish
nationalists
opposed to the Anglo-Irish Treaty.
1937 Eire (formerly Irish Free State) becomes an independent member of
the British
Commonwealth.
1949 The Republic of Ireland becomes an independent state, separate from
the
British Commonwealth.
1969-1972 Terrorist activity increases in Northern Ireland.
1971 Internment (imprisonment without trial) is introduced in Northern
Ireland to
combat terrorism.
1972 "Bloody Sunday" - British troops shoot and kill 13 unarmed
protesters in
Londonderry (January 30).
1972 "Bloody Friday" - IRA detonates a number of bombs in Belfast,
killing nine
civilians (July 21).
1972 The parliament of Northern Ireland is suspended and the British
impose
direct rule over the province.
1976 Two women from Belfast, Mairead Corrigan and Betty Williams, receive
the
Nobel Peace Prize for their work to reconcile religious communities
in Northern
Ireland.
1980-1981 IRA prisoners stage hunger strikes; ten die.
1993 Downing Street Declaration, which establishes a framework for peace
negotiations, is issued by British and Irish prime ministers.
1994 IRA calls unconditional cease-fire (August 31).
1996 IRA ends cease-fire by bombing London's Docklands district, injuring
over
100 (February 9).
1996 Peace negotiations begin in Belfast (June 10). Sinn Fein (the political
arm of
the IRA) is barred from the negotiations, resulting in limited progress.
1997 IRA renews cease-fire (July 20); Sinn Fein joins peace negotiations
(September 15).
1998 Historic Northern Ireland peace agreement reached (April 10). Accord
is
ratified by large majorities in both Northern Ireland and the
Republic of Ireland
(May 22).
