History of Ireland/Timelines

The English in Ireland

• 1155/6: Pope Adrian IV grants Henry II of England authority over Ireland
• 1169: first English forces arrive at the request of Dermot Mac Murrough to help against his enemies
• 1171: Henry II invades in person
• 1175: High King Rory O'Connor recognizes Henry as overlord; however, varying amounts of Ireland remain effectively independent of English rule for centuries
• 1177: Henry makes his son John Lord of Ireland
• 1199: John becomes king; the title of Lord of Ireland is henceforth fused with the English crown
• early 14th century: Irish Parliament established, representing English occupied areas
• 1366: Irish Parliament's Statute of Kilkenny bans English settlers "going native"
• 1494/5: Poynings' Law: Irish Parliament agrees to pass laws only with prior permission from England
• 1541: Henry VIII of England adopts title King of Ireland
• 1557: first of a new wave of English settlers; Irish frequently dispossessed and evicted

The British in Ireland

• 1603: James VI of Scotland becomes James I of England; although the two kingdoms remain officially separate for some time there is close collaboration
• 1609: beginning of mass Scottish settlement in Ulster
• 1691: English Parliament bars Catholics (most of the Irish population) from Irish Parliament
• 1707: Kingdoms of England and Scotland formally combined to form United Kingdom of Great Britain; Ireland remains a separate kingdom, now officially under British rather than English rule
• 1782: Poynings' Law repealed
• 1783: British Parliament formally renounces right to legislate for Ireland
• 1793: Catholics allowed to vote
• 1800: Irish Parliament agrees to full union with Great Britain after receiving promise from Prime Minister Pitt of end to laws discriminating against Catholics
• 1801: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland comes into existence; Pitt resigns after George III refuses to fulfil his promise
• 1828: Daniel O'Connell elected to Parliament for county Clare, but, as a Catholic, barred from taking his seat
• 1829: act passed allowing Catholics to take seats; O'Connell does so
• 1874: first general election under secret ballot; landlords no longer able to evict tenants voting against their wishes; Home Rule party takes about half the Irish seats
• 1886: Gladstone government introduces Home Rule legislation; rejected by House of Lords
• 1914: Parliament passes Home Rule legislation, but postpones its implementation because of the war; in the end it is never implemented