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c.3000BC Megalithic tombs first constructed. c.700BC Celts arrive from parts of Gaul and Britain. Ireland divided into provinces. (This according to a contributor is reconstructed folk history and not based on the archaeology.) c.AD350 Christianity reaches Ireland. 432 Traditional date for the arrival of St. Patrick in Ireland. 700-800 Irish monasticism reaches its zenith. 795 Full-scale Viking invasion. 1014 Brian Boru/ defeats Vikings at Clontarf, but is murdered. 1169 Dermot MacMurrough, exiled king of Leinster, invites help from 'Strongbow'. 1172 Pope decrees that Hery II of England is feudal lord of Ireland. 1366 Statues of Kilkenny belatedly forbid intermarriage of English and Irish. Gaelic culture unsuccessfully suppressed. 1534-40 Failed insurrection by Lord Offaly. 1541 Henry VIII proclaimed king (rather than feudal lord) of Ireland 1558-1603 Reign of Elizabeth I. Policy of Plantation begins. System of counties adopted. 1595-1603 Failed uprising of Hugh O'Neil. 1607 Flight of the Earls; leading Ulster families go into exile. 1641 Charles I's policies cause insurrection in Ulster and Civil War in England. 1649 Cromwell invades Ireland. 1653 Under the Act of Settlement Cromwell's opponents stripped of land. 1689-90 Deposed James II flees to Ireland; defeated at the Battle of the Boyne. 1704 Penal Code enacted; Catholics barred from voting, education and the military. 1775 American War of Independence forments Irish unrest. 1782 Grattan's Parliament persuades British to declare Irish independence, but in name only. 1795 Foundation of the Orange Order. 1798 Wolfe Tone's uprising crushed. 1801 Ireland becomes part of Britain under the Act of Union. 1829 Catholic Emancipation Act passed after Daniel O'Connell elected as MP. 1845-48 The Great Famine. 1879-82 The Land War; Parnell encourages boycott of repressive landlords. 1914 Implementation of Home Rule postponed because of outbreak of World War I. 1916 Easter Rising. After the leaders are executed public opinion backs independence. 1920-21 War between Britain and Ireland; Irish Free State and Northern Ireland created. 1922 Civil war breaks out. 1932 De Valera elected. 1969 Rioting between Catholics and Protestants. British troops called in. 1971 Provisional IRA begins campaign to oust British troops from Ireland. 1972 UK and Republic of Ireland join European Community. 'Bloody Sunday' in Derry. 1985 Anglo-Irish Agreement signed. 1994 Peace Declaration and IRA ceasefire.