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May 1, 1169
Dermot MacMurrough has Normans land in Ireland
A force of loosely associated Norman knights land near Bannow, County Wexford at the request of Dermot MacMurrough (Diarmait Mac Murchada), the ousted King of Leinster, who sought their help in regaining his kingdom. -
Oct 18, 1171
Henry II lands in Ireland
Henry II lands much bigger army in Waterford to ensure his continuing control over the preceding Norman force. In the process he took Dublin and had accepted the fealty of the Irish kings and bishops by 1172. -
Jan 1, 1188
Gerald of Wales writes Topographia Hibernica
This priest wrote about the Irish as backward. It became a justification for colonisation. -
Jan 1, 1317
Remonstrance of the Princes
Irish chieftains went to the Pope with Remonstrance of the Princes, a document painting the Anglo-Normans as evil. -
Jan 1, 1348
English lords flee Black Plague
Gaelic lords take over. Cultural renaissance. -
Apr 21, 1509
Henry VIII becomes King of England
Sees Gaelic lords as a threat. Wants to unite Ireland legally under English King. -
Jan 1, 1534
Henry VIII declares himself King of Ireland
Henry’s centralisation had threatened the power of the Fitzgeralds, his representatives in Ireland. He crushed them and others when they rebelled. -
Jan 1, 1534
Foundation of Church of England
Initially prompted by a dispute over the annulment of the marriage of King Henry VIII to Catherine of Aragon, the Church of England separated from the Roman Catholic Church in 1534 and became the established church by an Act of Parliament in the Act of Supremacy, -
Period: Jul 19, 1553 to Nov 17, 1558
Reign of "Bloody" Mary
Overthrew her father's Reformation in Britain, killing Catholics -
Period: Nov 17, 1558 to
Reign of Elizabeth I
Restored Reformation, dispatched Elizabethan Adventurers beyond the Pale to seize land and curtail private armies. Elizabeth’s own Adventurers became jealous of the power of her ally, Hugh O’Neill. So he switched and fought Elizabeth, inspiring uprising across Ireland. Hugh O’Neill used Catholicism as symbol to unify Gaelic and Anglo-Irish against Elizabeth, getting backing from Pope and King of Spain. -
Battle of Kinsale
English forces defeated an Irish/Spanish force, led by the princes Hugh Roe O'Donnell and Hugh O'Neill. Following this battle the Flight of the Earls occurred, in which a number of the native Irish aristocrats, including the Earls of Tyrone and Tir Conaill, abandoned their lands and fled to mainland Europe. -
Period: to
Reign of King James I
Sent thousands of settlers (small traders and farmers) to Ireland, and parcelled out 5/6ths of Ulster into plots of up to 2000 acres. -
Charles I seeks to expand plantations
English Civil War got in the way. Oliver Cromwell and the Puritans challenged Charles’ power in Parliament (and his moderation). Scots allies of Puritans rebelled against Charles, and Parliament wouldn’t finance a war againt Protestants
-Charles had given Irish Catholics at least some religious freedom. It was thought that Cromwell would give them none, so Irish Catholics rebelled. Didn’t capture Dublin Castle, but turned on Protestant planters in spasm of violence. -
Portadown Massacre
Irish rebels forced between 100–300 captured English and Scottish settlers (or 'planters'), including women and children, off the Bann bridge and they either drowned or were shot. This partly precipitated the revenge attacks carried out in Ireland several years later by the forces of Oliver Cromwell. -
Charles I defeated by Cromwell
King’s followers regroup in Ireland, and ally themselves with rebellious Catholics. Cromwell goes to destroy this alliance, brutally taking Drogheda and other places -
Act for the Settlement of Ireland
London Parliament passes Act of Settlement: Catholic nobility to lose estates and be exiled to Connaught. English ruling class was being installed. -
Battle of the Boyne
Protestant noblemen ask William of Orange to invade and restore Protestant monarchy in England. James flees to France, William becomes King of England. James conspires with Louis, and their armies land in Kinsale. James rallies Catholic Irish, who believe he will give them religious freedom and return confiscated lands. Takes most of Ireland, except Ulster. The armies of William and James meet on the River Boyne near Drogheda. ”James the Shite” flees, and “loses Ireland” for Catholics. -
Period: to
Penal Laws
Enacted to avoid a return to Catholic power, and revenge. Catholics were:
-banned from Parliament or public office
-banned from voting
-banned from running schools
But the Penal laws were economic, not religious. Catholics were:
-banned from buying land
-required to split their land among all their children upon their death
These actually made Catholic priests more powerful in rural Ireland. A few Catholics were landowners, but most became tenants of Protestants.Not fully repealed until 1920. -
Period: to
American Revolutionary War
Inspiration for those who wanted to defeat the British in Ireland. -
French Revolution
Inspiration to those who want to overthrow the monarchy in Ireland. -
Wolfe Tone Rebellion ends
30,000 people killed in sectarian violence in four months. -
Act of Union
Pased by both British and Irish Parliaments. Catholics thought they would gain emancipation (i.e. be allowed to stand as MPs). British Protestant Prime Minister William Pitt tried for this, but King George III blocked it and Pitt resigned. -
Daniel O'Connell wins seat in Parliament
First Catholic MP in 100 years. Protestant pragmatists used this as an opportunity to repeal anti-Catholic laws. Ulster Protestants felt beseiged by O’Connell. He wanted to repeal the Act of Union, but stay in Empire under an Irish Parliament ruled by Catholics. -
Period: to
Potato Famine
1,000,000 dead, 2,000,000 emigrated. Land was overcrowded, tenant farmers grew cash crops for Britain and depended on potatoes for themselves. Westminster imported grain to Ireland and created a public works programme. Continued famine frustrated Westminster. Whig government believed in minimal intervention. Some starving were evicted by landlords. Protestant Reverend Richard Boyle Townsend told Parliament what was happening, and eventually died helping others.
