Timeline
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23 Apr 1014The Battle of Clontarf between the forces of Brian Boru, High King of Ireland, and the Norse Viking forces, ending in a victory for Boru's army, breaking the Norse hold on Ireland, although Boru himself, and his sons, were killed in battle.
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18 Jun 1264The first recorded meeting of the Parliament of Ireland convenes at Castledermot, County Kildare, the first known parliamentary meeting in Ireland.
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17 Nov 1558Elizabeth I becomes Queen of England and Ireland at the age of 25 upon the death of her half-sister Mary I, reigning until 1603 when she died at the age of 69. Her reign was so influential that the period became known as the Elizabethan Era.
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3 Mar 1592Trinity College Dublin is founded in Dublin, Ireland on the site of the former Augustinian Catholic Priory of All Hallows by Protestant Queen Elizabeth I of England to encourage the spread of the Protestant Reformation in England and, by extension, in English-controlled Ireland. The college was intended to serve as the Irish counterpart to English institutions such as Oxford.
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25 Oct 1596The fleet of eighty-one ships of the Second Spanish Armada sets sail from Lisbon for Ireland on a mission to support Irish rebels against the English during the Anglo-Spanish War. The fleet was caught in a storm off Cape Finistere, sinking over half the ships, and only forty survived to return to port.
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17 Mar 1600The first celebration of St. Patrick's Day is held in the Spanish colony of St. Augustine, Florida, organized by the Irish priest Richard Arthur (Ricardo Artur) in honor of San Patricio (St. Patrick).
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30 Mar 1603The Treaty of Mellifont is signed at Mellifont Abbey, County Louth, Ireland, ending the Nine Years' War and forcing the Gaelic resistance leader Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone to submit to English authorities and renounce his titles, thereby granting England control over the whole of Ireland.
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19 Apr 1608The Burning of Derry, Ireland occurs when Sir Cahir O'Doherty of the Irish rebels launches a surprise attack against the English-controlled city in the pre-dawn darkness, killing English governor Sir George Paulet, and burning the city to the ground.
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1 Jul 1690The Battle of the Boyne is fought near Drogheda, Ireland, ending in a victory for the forces under William of Orange (King William III) over those of King James II, asserting Protestant dominance in Ireland. The event is celebrated today by Irish Protestants on 12 July.
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8 Mar 1702Queen Anne, the last Stuart monarch, becomes Queen Regnant of England, Scotland, and Ireland after the death of her brother-in-law William III. She is formally crowned on 23 April the same year.
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17 Mar 1737The Charitable Irish Society of Boston organizes the first celebration of St. Patrick's Day in the original Thirteen Colonies of Great Britain.
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31 Dec 1759Arthur Guinness signs a 9,000-year lease for the St. James Gate Brewery, Dublin, Ireland and begins selling Guinness stout, among the most popular beers in the world today and the highest-selling beer in Ireland and the United Kingdom.
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17 Mar 1762The first St. Patrick's Day Parade is held in New York City as participants march on lower Broadway, wearing green and playing traditional Irish music.
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19 Jan 1785The first manned balloon flight in Ireland was launched by aeronaut Richard Crosbie, flying from Dublin to Clontarf.
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27 May 1798The Battle of Oulart Hill takes place during the Irish Rising of `98 when rebels of Wexford defeat the English-backed forces.
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5 Jun 1798The Battle of New Ross, fought in County Wexford between the United Irishmen and forces of the British Crown during the Rising of 1798 ends in defeat for the Irish forces with casualties numbering between 2,500-3,000, the bloodiest engagement of the 1798 insurrection.
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10 Nov 1847The American merchant-passenger ship *Stephen Whitney*, traveling in thick fog off the southern coast of Ireland, crashes into the western tip of West Calf Island and sinks in approximately ten minutes, taking 92 lives of the 110 passengers and crew aboard. The tragedy led to the construction of the Fastnet Lighthouse on Fastnet Rock in 1853, replaced by the second lighthouse in 1897.
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27 Jul 1866The first permanent and successful transatlantic telegraph cable is laid connecting Newfoundland, North America with Valentia Island, Ireland.
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19 Oct 1870The sinking of the SS Cambria occurs off north-west Ireland when the merchant-passenger steamer strikes Tor Beg Rock in heavy seas, going down with a loss of 178 lives. The only survivor was Mr. John M'Gartland who managed to hang on to a lifeboat. Among the lives lost was that of retired US Army General Hasbrouck Davis who had survived service in the American Civil War between 1862-1865.
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31 Jul 1893The Gaelic League is officially founded in Dublin, Ireland to preserve Irish as the national language and encourage education in traditional Irish culture.
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26 Jan 1907Irish playwright John Millington Synge's Playboy of the Western World premieres at the Abbey Theater, Dublin, Ireland. Although the play is considered a classic of world literature today, the premier caused riots over objections to Synge's portrayal of the Irish peasantry.
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2 Apr 1912The sea trials for the RMS Titanic take place, beginning at 6:00 am and concluding around 7:00 pm, testing its performance, speed, steering, and stopping capabilities. Passing all its trials, the ship left Belfast, Ireland for Southampton, England that evening to begin its maiden voyage.
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24 Apr 1916The Easter Rising begins in Dublin, Ireland, spreading elsewhere, as Irish Nationalists rose in revolt against British rule. The Rising ended 29 April in an Irish surrender, sixteen people executed, and thousands more arrested and sent to work camps in England.
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10 Oct 1918The *RMS Leinster* is torpedoed by the German submarine UB-123 in the Irish Sea outside Dublin Bay, sinking quickly and killing over 500 passengers and crew, becoming the greatest tragedy in loss of life in the Irish Sea.
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11 Aug 1920The Cork Hunger Strike occurs during the Irish War of Independence when 65 men interned without trial or conviction at the Cork County Gaol refuse food until they are released. The strike drew international attention for the cause of Irish independence and the nine survivors of the hunger strike hold the Guinness World Record for the longest hunger strike in history.
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21 Nov 1920The day of violence in Dublin, Ireland known as "Bloody Sunday" erupts during the Irish War of Independence when members of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) kill 15 British Army officers, leading to the Croke Park massacre that afternoon when British soldiers and auxiliaries fire into a crowd at a football match, killing 14, including two children. The event garnered greater support for the IRA and tarnished the reputation of the British authorities.
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11 Dec 1920The Burning of Cork, Ireland, occurs during the Irish War of Independence when British forces set fire to the city of Cork in a reprisal for an ambush of a British patrol in the city earlier. At least 300 homes and upwards of 40 businesses and other buildings were destroyed. Although the British Government held a military inquiry, no one was found responsible.
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21 May 1932Aviatrix Amelia Earhart lands in Derry, Northern Ireland, after a flight of 14 hours and 56 minutes beginning at Harbor Grace, Newfoundland, becoming the first woman to make a solo transatlantic flight.
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18 Jul 1938Aviator Douglas "Wrong Way" Corrigan lands his plane in Dublin, Ireland, having taken off from Floyd Bennet Field, Brooklyn, New York, USA on 17 July and, allegedly, intending to fly to California but "accidentally" flying 28 hours and 13 minutes across the Atlantic Ocean to Ireland – becoming famous for going the "wrong way.".
