Northern Ireland & The Troubles Timeline

1641 Ulster Rebellion

The Irish in Ulster rebelled against English rule. The violence of the rebellion saw the deaths of many. In England, it was alleged that the Catholics had massacred Protestants, and many people wanted revenge.

1649 Massacre of Drogheda

Oliver Cromwell took an army to Ireland, determined to end Irish revolts against English rule. He massacred a large number of Catholics at Drogheda as ‘revenge’ for the alleged massacre of Protestants in 1641. Cromwell then gave even more Irish land to English Protestants and established new anti-Catholic laws, which took away many political rights.

1685 James II, Catholic King of England

The British invited William of Orange to take the throne of England and Scotland. When William arrived in England with his army, James II fled to Ireland. James II organised an army to help him fight William and regain the throne. However, many Protestants, especially those in Ulster supported William of Orange.

1690 Battle of the Boyne

William’s army defeated James II at this battle and fought on the river Boyne in the North East of Ireland. Many Ulster Protestants fought with William, and they became known as Orangemen. The event is still commemorated today. Every July 12, Orangemen march through Ulster to mark the defeat of Catholic James II at this battle.

1695 - 1728 Penal Laws

These were a series of laws passed against Catholics in Ireland, preventing them from carrying weapons, buying land, serving in the army, serving in the legal profession, voting, serving as members of Parliament, and obtaining quality education.

1703 Protestants own 90% of the land

Over the past century, thousands of Catholics had been transported abroad or resettled in new areas, and even more land had been seized by English Protestants. By 1703, 90% of the land in Ireland was owned by English nobles to whom the Catholic peasants had to pay rent.

1800 - 1899 Unrest in Ireland

Following the Act of Union, there were several revolts in protest against the growing numbers of poor and homeless people in Ireland. English landlords had realised that they could earn more from their land by turning it into grazing land than they were receiving in rent from the Irish tenant farmers. To do this, they had to evict the tenant farmers. Thousands of farmers and their families were simply thrown out onto the streets and their homes destroyed.

1801 Act of Union

This act abolished the Irish parliament and formally united Ireland and Great Britain to become the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

1845 - 1848 The Potato Famine

Potato was the staple diet of the Irish. Although other crops, such as wheat and oats as well as beef, mutton, pork, and poultry, were in plentiful supply, these were shipped abroad by the English landowners for profit, and the Irish people mainly lived on potatoes. In 1845, the potato crop in Ireland was struck by a disease, and half the crop failed. The situation was worse in 1846 and 1847, leaving people starving. Around a million people emigrated to America and Canada. The British government did not send money to help the starving people, fearing that they would use it to buy guns to revolt against English rule. Landowners continued to ship produce abroad. More than 1.5 million people starved to death. Those who survived were filled with hatred for the British government that had refused to help.

1905 Sinn Féin Formed

The political party, Sinn Féin, meaning “we ourselves”, was formed. They aimed to free Ireland from British rule and gain independence for the whole of Ireland.

1912 - 1920 New Plans for Home Rule with Partition

It was clear that the Ulster Protestants would not accept Home Rule, so to avoid violence, the British government came up with a new solution. Home Rule with Partition. Home Rule would be introduced in the South, but six predominantly Protestant counties in the north would stay a part of the United Kingdom. This solution is largely the cause of the problems in Ireland that exist to this day. Nationalists remain committed to the idea of a united free Ireland, while Protestants are unwilling to accept anything less than partition.

1912 Home Rule Bill Passed

The proposals for Home Rule (that Ireland should be ruled by an Irish parliament and separately from Britain) in Ireland were approved by Parliament. Home Rule was to become law in 1914.

1913 Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) formed

The Protestants in Ulster made it known that they would resist any attempt to introduce Home Rule in Ireland.

1913 Irish Volunteers formed

To show their support from Home Rule, many Catholics joined the British army to fight Germany. However, as it emerged that the UVF would try to block Home Rule militant groups formed from these volunteers to counter the UVF. They became known as the Irish Volunteers.

April 24, 1916, The Easter Rising & Foundation of Irish Republican Army (IRA)

About a thousand rebels from the Irish Volunteers decided to take advantage of the fact that Britain was losing the war against Germany and proclaim an Irish Republic. Led by Patrick Pearse and James Connolly, they seized Dublin’s General Post Office on Easter Monday. British forces poured into Dublin, including gunboats that fired on the rebels from the river Liffey. The fighting lasted five days and caused more than 400 deaths and 2,500 injuries. The rebels were forced to surrender. Those who had taken part in the Easter Rising became known as the Irish Republican Army (IRA).

May 1916 Easter Rising Rebels executed

Seventy rebels were sentenced to death by the British forces. Fifteen executions were carried out, and the remainder, including Michael Collins, were imprisoned. The executions led to a rise in support for Sinn Féin.

1920 Partition (Government of Ireland Act)

The Government of Ireland Act introduced partition to Ireland. Two parliaments were introduced, one in Dublin to serve twenty-six counties and one in Belfast to serve six northern counties. The twenty-six counties were known as the Irish Free State and were given a measure of independence. The government of these counties was known as the Provisional Government. The six northern counties were to remain part of the United Kingdom, but they would have their own parliament, the Stormont. A Council of Ireland was set up to oversee measures common to both parts. Unionists (those who want to remain a part of the United Kingdom) support Partition, but Republicanists (those who want all of Ireland to be a separate independent republic) oppose partition.

1921 Irish Free State Treaty

This treaty between Britain and Ireland legalised Partition. Violence, especially in the six northern counties, escalated as Catholics showed their opposition to Partition.

1922 Civil War

In early 1922, British forces began to leave Ireland. Their stations were handed over to the Irish Volunteers. However, the Volunteers were split between those who supported Partition and those who did not. Those who did became known as Free State soldiers, while those who did not were known as Irregulars. Tension between the two groups escalated into violence, which lasted for just over a year and left hundreds dead, including Michael Collins, leader of the Free State soldiers. The violence was eventually put down by the Provisional Government, and 1100 rebels were interned (imprisoned without trial).

December 21, 1948, Creation of The Republic of Ireland

The Northern Ireland Government was dominated by the Unionist party, and as a part of the United Kingdom, anti-Catholic laws that had been passed in the nineteenth century were still in force.

1967

The Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA) formed in Belfast and organized a civil rights campaign.

1968 Civil Rights Protests

The NICRA was largely based on the US Civil Rights Movement, which fought for equality for black Americans and wanted to see the anti-Catholic measures abolished and equality for Catholics in Northern Ireland. The first Civil Rights protest march took place in March. The second took place in Derry in October despite it being banned by the Minister for Home Affairs, William Craig, claiming that the movement was a front for the IRA. The Royal Ulster Constabulary was sent in to break up the march. They used excessive force, much of which was televised and broadcast worldwide. The tactics of the RUC left Catholics fearful and untrusting of them. The British government could no longer take a back seat and forced Stormont (N. Irish Parliament) to make reforms; however, the changes were minimal and in no way met the demands of the Civil Rights Movement.

1969 Tension between Catholics and Protestants

Catholic demands were no nearer being met, and with the approach of the two main Unionist marches (the march of the Orangemen on July 12th and the march on August 12th to commemorate the siege of Derry in 1689, when apprentice boys closed the gates on King James) tension between Catholics and Protestants was high.

August 12, 1969, Battle of Bogside

As the Apprentice Boys marched past Catholic Bogside, group clashes forced the intervention of the RUC. However, the rioting escalated, and the police were stoned and petrol-bombed. The NICRA called on Catholics to take the pressure off Catholics in Bogside by mounting demonstrations in Belfast. Consequently, there was rioting in Belfast as well, and the RUC were unable to cope. The Northern Ireland government had no choice but to request that British troops be deployed to quell the riots. The first British troops arrived on the 15th August. In the Bogside area of Derry, barricades were put up, and neither the RUC nor British troops were permitted access to the Catholic area. To avoid further bloodshed, the British troops allowed the ‘no go’ areas to stand.

1969 IRA Split

The IRA splits into two wings – the Marxist-oriented Official IRA and the more hard-line Provisionals.

1971 Internment Introduced

The Civil Rights Movement continued to protest despite a ban being placed on all marches, and the IRA continued to make attacks on British troops, resulting in the death of a British soldier. In the face of increasing calls for internment of IRA members, it is introduced on 9th August 1971, and around 350 people were immediately arrested and interned. The following 48 hours saw violence and protests against internment that left 17 dead, including 10 civilians.

January 30, 1972, Bloody Sunday

A march organised by the NICRA against Internment and the ban on marches took place in Derry. To ensure that the march was peaceful, the IRA had promised to stay away. British soldiers had put up barricades to prevent the marchers from entering the city centre square. A section of the marchers and some observers confronted soldiers manning the barricade. British paratroopers opened fire, killing 14 and injuring 13 others.

1972 Direct Rule Imposed

Following Bloody Sunday, there was a rise in support for the Provisional IRA. In February, the British Embassy in Dublin was burnt. It was clear that the British government had to do something to try to quieten the situation. As a result, in March, the Northern Ireland government was suspended – Northern Ireland was to be directly ruled from Westminster. One of the first actions by Westminster was to order the dismantling of the ‘no-go’ areas set up in 1969. The IRA responded by using increasing violence.

1974 Prevention of Terrorism Act

With the British becoming increasingly active in Northern Ireland, the IRA launched a bombing campaign which targeted public areas both in Ireland and on the British mainland. Bombs exploded in Dublin, Monaghan, Guildford, Woolwich, and Birmingham, killing and injuring civilians. The government responded by introducing the Prevention of Terrorism Act, which allowed suspects to be detained without charge for up to seven days.

1980 - 1989 Hunger Strikes

In 1976, the British government had removed ‘special prisoner status’ for those imprisoned for political acts. The prisoners had campaigned for ‘political prisoner status’ since 1976 by using both the ‘blanket protest’, refusing to wear prison clothes and donning a blanket instead, and the ‘dirty protest,’ where prisoners refused to clean their cells and smeared excrement on the walls. When these had failed, prisoners began going on hunger strikes. Bobby Sands was the first hunger striker in 1981. He and nine others died as a result of the hunger strike. They were considered martyrs – around 100,000 people attended Bobby Sands’ funeral. Although no concessions were won from the British government, support for the Political wing of the Provisional IRA increased considerably.

1985 Anglo-Irish Agreement

Leaders of Britain and Ireland met to discuss the situation. The resulting Anglo-Irish agreement gave Dublin some control over Northern Ireland affairs. Unionists were outraged, and the agreement was never fully implemented.

1993 Downing Street Declaration

Following talks between the British Prime Minister and the Irish leader, this declaration was issued. It stated that the people of Northern Ireland should be free to decide their own future and that representatives of various groups should meet to discuss a solution. Sinn Féin was offered a seat provided that IRA violence was ended. As a result, the IRA declared a cease fire in August 1994, and was followed a month later by a ceasefire declaration from Loyalist groups.

1996 Peace Talks

Multi-party peace talks began, chaired by US Senator, George Mitchell. Mitchell proposed that disarmament should begin, but this led to a stalling of the talks, and the IRA broke its cease fire and violence resumed.

April 10, 1998, Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement

In 1997, the British government proposed a resumption of peace talks. Once again, Sinn Féin was invited on the condition that a six-week ceasefire had been observed. In July 1997, the IRA announced the ceasefire. After months of discussion, a settlement is reached on Good Friday 1998.

Terms in Brief: Ireland shall not be one united country without the consent of a majority in Northern Ireland; The people of Northern Ireland have the right to call themselves either Irish or British; A multi-party assembly will be elected to govern the community. A north/south council will be set up to consider areas of mutual interest. An Anglo-Irish council be set up to consider areas of mutual interest All people shall have basic human rights, civil rights and equality Linguistic diversity to be recognised – Irish to be taught in all schools; Paramilitary groups to be decommissioned within two years A gradual reduction in the number of security forces deployed in Northern Ireland; To work towards having an unarmed police force Political prisoners to be released providing the ceasefire is maintained A referendum held on 23rd May 1998 showed an overwhelming majority of the people of Ireland supporting the Good Friday Agreement.