| 24-29 April 1916 | This
is led by Patrick Pearse, who proclaims |
| Easter Rising, | the
"Irish Republic." |
| Dublin | |
|
| 1920-21 | Following
the Anglo-Irish War (War of |
| War of | Independence)
the Government of Ireland Act |
| Independence & | creates
partition. Twenty-six southern |
| Partition | counties
become the Irish Free State and six |
| northeastern
counties--Northern Ireland-- |
| remain
part of Britain. |
|
| 12-Aug-69 | The
Orange Apprentice Boys of Londonderry |
| Battle of the | hold
a parade. Rioting breaks out and 1,000 |
| Bogside (Derry) | police
arrive to contain the crowd. Bogside |
| marks
a pivitol point where the troubles in |
| Ireland
move away from civil rights issues and |
| toward
religious and national identities. A few |
| days
later, the British Army arrives to |
| maintain
order. |
|
| 28-Dec-69 | The
IRA, Provisional Army Council issues a |
| Birth of | statement
which signals the split between the |
| Provisionals | IRA.
The Provisionals emerge. |
|
| 9-Aug-71 | Internment
is implemented--meaning a person |
| Internment | can
be locked up without a trial. This move by |
| the
British government produces violence and |
| political
unrest. |
|
| 30-Jan-72 | During
a civil rights march in Deny involving |
| Bloody Sunday | thousands
of people, British paratroopers |
| (Londonderry) | shoot
dead thirteen Roman Catholics. (A |
| British
inquiry will later exonerate the |
| soldiers,suggesting
the demonstrators were |
| terrorists
linked to the IRA. Decades later, the |
| British
government concedes the |
| demonstrators
were innocent; a new |
| investigation
is under way in 1999.) |
| |
| 24-Mar-72 | As
a result of Bloody Sunday, Her Majesty's |
| Direct Rule | Government
abolishes Stormont Parliament |
| and
introduces Direct Rule from Westminster, |
| until
a political solution to the problems of |
| the
province can be worked out." |
| 21-Jul-72 | The
IRA sets off 26 bombs in Belfast killing |
| Bloody Friday | nine
people and injuring 130. |
| |
| 15-May-74 | The
Northern Ireland (Emergency Provision) |
| Sinn Fein legalized | Act
of 1973 is amended making the Ulster |
| Volunteer
Force and Sinn Fein legal |
| organizations. |
| |
| 1974-1975 | A
truce is reached through secret negotiation |
| Cease-fire | between
the Provisional IRA and the British |
| security
forces. IRA members believe British |
| withdrawal
from Northern Ireland will follow |
| soon. |
| |
| 5-Dec-75 | The
British government ends internment, |
| Internment ends | declaring
those who are guilty of crimes will |
| be
charged, arrested, and tried with a jury. |
| During
the period of internment nearly 2,000 |
| people
were detained without a proper trial. |
| |
| |
| |
| 1-Mar-76 | The
British begin phasing out Special |
| Criminalization | Category
status. After this date, all prisoners |
| convicted
of terrorist acts are to be treated as |
| ordinary
criminals and locked in H-Block. |
| |
| 15-Sep-76 | Kieran
Nugent, Provisional IRA member is |
| Blanket Men (Maze
Prison) | the first prisoner convicted and
not given |
| Special
Category status. He refuses to wear a |
| uniform
and wears a blanket to differentiate |
| himself
from the Ordinary Decent Criminals |
| (OCDs).
This became known as the "Blanket |
| Protest." |
| |
| 2-Aug-78 | Cardinal
O'Fiaich visits Maze Prison and |
| Dirty Protest (Maze
Prison) | protests the unsanitary conditions,
Three› |
| hundred
Republican prisoners refuse to wear |
| prison
clothes and demand Special Category |
| status.
Protesters wear only blankets and |
| smear
the walls in their cells with excreta. |
| |
| 27-Aug-79 | Lord
Mountbatten, uncle of Queen Elizabeth |
| Mountbatten Assassination | II,
is murdered along with three others when |
| his
boat is blown up by an IRA bomb at |
| Mullaghmore,
Co. Sligo. |
| |
| 27-Oct-80 | Tommy
McKeamey and six other IRA |
| First Hunger Strike | members
start the first prison hunger strike |
| demanding
the right to wear their own clothes. |
| |
| 1-Mar-81 | Bobby
Sands begins a new hunger strike on |
| Second Hunger Strike
led by Bobby Sands | the fifth anniversary
of the ending of Special |
| Category
status. |
| Forty
days into his hunger strike, Sands wins |
| 9-Apr-81 | the
seat for Fermanagh-South Tyrone. |
| Sands elected MP | hunger
strike |
| |
| 5-May-81 | His
death causes rioting in Northern Ireland |
| Bobby Sands dies
on 66th day of | and in the Republic 100,000
attend his |
| funeral.
The next day, provisional IRA |
| prisoner,
Joe McDonnell starts a hunger strike |
| to
take the place of Sands. Another nine IRA |
| members
fast to death. |
| |
| 15-Nov-85 | This
agreement is signed by Prime Minister |
| Anglo-Irish Agreement | Margaret
Thatcher and Taoiseach Garret |
| FitzGerald.
It establishes an Inter- |
| Governmental
Conference to deal with |
| political
matters, security, and legal matters |
| and
the promotion of cross-border |
| cooperation. |
| |
| 8-May-87 | They
are gunned down during an attack by the |
| Deaclan Arthurs, | Special
Air Services (SAS) while bombing |
| Padraig McKearney | Loughhall
Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) |
| and six other IRA | station. |
| members
of E. | |
| Tyrone Brigade are | |
| killed | |
| |
| 1-Nov-87 | A
huge consignment of Libyan arms and |
| Eksund--Libyan arms | ammunition,
including surface-to-air missiles, |
| are
discovered on board the Eksund. It's later |
| reported
that the IRA had already received |
| three
other arms shipments from Libya. |
| |
| 6-Mar-88 | Sean
Savage, Daniel McCann and Mairead |
| Gibraltar
| Farrell, unarmed, are gunned down, by SAS. |
| They
were active IRA members. Controversy |
| surrounds
their deaths because SAS had |
| followed
them and allegedly gave no wanting |
| before
the shootings. SAS claim they feared |
| the
three were about to detonate a bomb. |
| |
| 16-Mar-88 | Three
mourners are killed by Loyalist gunman |
| Milltown cemetery in Belfast | Michael
Stone during the burial of the three |
| IRA
members killed in Gibraltar. |
| |
| 19-Mar-88 | These
two soldiers accidentally drive into the |
| Two British soldiers | funeral
procession of Kevin Brady in |
| are killed | Andersonstown
(he was one of the three IRA |
| victims
killed by the Milltown gunman two |
| days
earlier.) TV cameras record how the |
| soldiers
are dragged from their car, beaten by |
| the
crowd, and then shot dead by IRA. The |
| footage
is shown around the world. |
| |
| 11-Jan-88 | Social
Democratic Labor Party leader John |
| SDLP and Sinn | Hume
and Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams |
| Fein Talks | begin
discussions for an all-Ireland settlement. |
| |
| 7-Feb-91 | The
IRA fires a mortar bomb 15 yards from a |
| IRA mortars | room
where Prime Minister John Major is |
| meeting
with his cabinet. No one is injured. |
| |
| 17-Jan-92 | Seven
Protestant constructions workers at a |
| Teebane Crossroads | security
base in Co. Tyrone are killed by an |
| IRA
bomb. The driver of their bus also dies. |
| |
| 24-Apr-93 | An
IRA bomb containing one ton of fertilizer |
| Bishopsgate bomb | explosives
goes off at the NatWest Tower in |
| London.
One is killed and 30 are injured. |
| Damages
amount to $1 billion. |
| |
| 23-Oct-93 | IRA
detonates a bomb in a Belfast fish shop. |
| Shankhill
bomb | Ten
people die including one of the bombers; |
| |
| 15-Dec-93 | John
Major and Albert Reynolds issue a Joint |
| Downing Street | Declaration
on Northern Ireland which says |
| |
