456    St. Patrick returns to Ireland as a missionary bishop.

1264    The Parliament of Ireland meets at Castledermot in County Kildare, the first definitively known meeting of this Irish legislature.

1487    The ten-year-old Lambert Simnel is crowned in Christ Church Cathedral in Dublin, Ireland with the name of Edward VI in a bid to threaten King Henry VII's reign.

1580    After a three-day siege, the English Army beheads over 600 Irish and Papal soldiers and civilians at Dún an Óir, Ireland.

1625    Charles I becomes King of England, Scotland and Ireland as well as claiming the title King of France.

1631    The sack of Baltimore: the Irish village of Baltimore is attacked by Algerian pirates.

1649    New Ross town, Co. Wexford, Ireland, surrenders to Oliver Cromwell.

1661    King Charles II of England, Scotland and Ireland is crowned in Westminster Abbey.

1691    Battle of Aughrim (Julian calendar) – The decisive victory of William III of England's forces in Ireland.

1742    George Frideric Handel's oratorio ''Messiah'' makes its world-premiere in Dublin, Ireland.

1798    The Battle of Oulart Hill takes place in Wexford, Ireland.

1798    French troops land in Kilcummin harbour, County Mayo, Ireland to aid Wolfe Tone's United Irishmen's Irish Rebellion.

1834    Opening of the Dublin and Kingstown Railway, the first public railway on the island of Ireland.

1866    In the Fenian Invasion of Canada, John O'Neill leads 850 Fenian raiders across the Niagara River at Buffalo, New York/Fort Erie, Ontario, as part of an effort to free Ireland from the United Kingdom. Canadian militia and British regulars repulse the invaders in over the next three days, at a cost of 9 dead and 38 wounded to the Fenian's 19 dead and about 17 wounded.

1897    Dracula, a novel by Irish author Bram Stoker is published.

1900    Irish leader John Edward Redmond calls for a revolt against British rule.

1905    Irish nationalist Arthur Griffith founds Sinn Féin as a political party with the main aim of establishing a dual monarchy in Ireland.

1907    Guglielmo Marconi's company begins the first commercial transatlantic wireless service between Glace Bay, Nova Scotia, Canada and Clifden, Ireland.

1914    The United Kingdom's House of Commons passes the Home Rule Act for devolution in Ireland.

1914    World War I: The British super-dreadnought battleship HMS Audacious (23,400 tons), is sunk off Tory Island, north-west of Ireland, by a minefield laid by the armed German merchant-cruiser ''Berlin''.

1915    The {{RMS|Lusitania}} departs from New York City on her two hundred and second, and final, crossing of the North Atlantic. Six days later, the ship is torpedoed off the coast of Ireland with the loss of 1,198 lives, including 128 Americans, rousing American sentiment against Germany.

1916    Easter Rising: The Irish Republican Brotherhood led by nationalists Patrick Pearse, James Connolly, and Joseph Plunkett starts a rebellion in Ireland.

1916    Easter Rebellion: The United Kingdom declare martial law in Ireland.

1916    Easter Rebellion: Martial law in Ireland is lifted and the rebellion is officially over with the surrender of Irish nationalists to British authorities in Dublin.

1918    The {{RMS|Carpathia}}, the ship that rescued the 705 survivors from the {{RMS|Titanic}}, is sunk off Ireland by the German {{SMU|U-55}}; 5 lives are lost.

1919    Meeting of the First Dáil Éireann in the Mansion House Dublin. Sinn Féin adopts Ireland's first constitution. The first engagement of Irish War of Independence, Sologhead Beg, County Tipperary.

1919    John Alcock and Arthur Brown complete the first nonstop transatlantic flight when they reach Clifden, County Galway, Ireland.

1922    At Windsor Castle, King George V receives the colours of the six Irish regiments that are to be disbanded – the Royal Irish Regiment, the Connaught Rangers, the South Irish Horse, the Prince of Wales's Leinster Regiment, the Royal Munster Fusiliers and the Royal Dublin Fusiliers.

1932    Amelia Earhart takes off from Newfoundland to begin the world's first solo nonstop flight across the Atlantic Ocean by a female pilot, landing in Ireland the next day.

1941    A Luftwaffe air raid in Dublin, Ireland claims 38 lives.

1943    A fire breaks out at St. Joseph's Orphanage, Co Cavan, Ireland, killing 36 people (35 of whom are children).

1948    Eamon de Valera resigns as Taoiseach of Ireland.

1953    The remaining human inhabitants of the Blasket Islands, Kerry, Ireland are evacuated to the mainland.

1955    Albania, Austria, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Finland, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Jordan, Laos, Libya, Nepal, Portugal, Romania, Spain and Sri Lanka join the United Nations.

1966    A bomb planted by young Irish protesters destroys Nelson's Pillar in Dublin.

1974    Thirty-three people are killed by terrorist bombings in Dublin and Monaghan, Ireland.

1979    The tanker ''Betelgeuse'' explodes in Bantry Bay, Ireland.

1979    In Dublin, Ireland, Provisional Irish Republican Army member Thomas McMahon is sentenced to life in prison for the assassination of Lord Mountbatten.

1985    A terrorist bomb aboard Air India flight 182 brings the Boeing 747 down off the coast of Ireland killing all 329 aboard.

1988    The Michael Hughes Bridge in Sligo, Ireland is officially opened.

1996    The last of the Magdalene Asylums closes in Ireland.