Table of contents
1 20th Century Ireland
2 1901-1910
3 1911-1920
4 1921-1930
5 1931-1940
6 1941-1950
7 1951-1960
8 1961-1970
9 1971-1980
10 1981-1990
11 1991-2000

20th Century Ireland

1901-1910

1901

  • Centenary year of the Act of Union.
  • Edward VII is proclaimed King of Ireland in a state ceremony in Dublin.
  • Members of the Irish Yeomanry return home from fighting in South Africa.
  • The Irish census shows the population of Ireland to be 4,459,000.
  • The All-Ireland Champions are London (hurling) and Dublin (football)

1902
  • Archbishop Croke, patron of the GAA, dies at the age of 78.
  • Waterford City confer the freedom of the city on John Redmond.
  • The centenary of the Christian Brothers is celebrated.
  • The UK Liberal Party stops its support for Home Rule.
  • The All-Ireland Champions are Cork (hurling) and Dublin (football)

1903
  • St. Patrick's day becomes a national holiday in Ireland.
  • Erskine Childers publishes The Riddle of the Sands.
  • The Wyndham Land Act is passed - it solves the land purchase problem.
  • The Independent Orange Order is founded in Belfast.
  • The All-Ireland Champions are Cork (hurling) and Kerry (football)

1904
  • The Abbey Theatre is founded in Dublin
  • June 10 - Bloomsday. James Joyce meets Nora Barnacle for the first time.
  • The All-Ireland Champions are Kilkenny (hurling) and Kerry (football)

1905
  • Sinn Féin is founded by Arthur Griffith.
  • The Ulster Unionist Council is founded. It helps to forge links between the Orange Order and Unionists.
  • The All-Ireland Champions are Kilkenny (hurling) and Kildare (football)

1906
  • Count John McCormack makes his stage debut in Italy.
  • The All-Ireland Champions are Tipperary (hurling) and Dublin (football) 
1907 

  • The Playboy of the Western World causes controversy when it is staged in the Abbey Theatre.

  • Irish-born Ernest Shackleton leads an Antarctic expedition.

  • Marconi begins a wireless service between Clifden and Canada.

  • The All-Ireland Champions are Kilkenny (hurling) and Dublin (football)
    

1908 

  • The Irish Transport & General Workers Union is founded by James Larkin.

  • The National University of Ireland is founded.

  • Patrick Pearse founds St Enda's School for Boys in Dublin.

  • The Dublin Municipal Gallery is opened.

  • The All-Ireland Champions are Tipperary (hurling) and Dublin (football)
    

1909 

  •  James Larkin forms the Irish Transport & General Workers Union (ITGWU)

  • The first flight by an Iriush plane is made at Hillsborough.

  • Ireland's first cinema, the Volta Cinema, opens in Dublin.

  • The All-Ireland Champions are Kilkenny (hurling) and Kerry (football)
    

1910

  • The Unionist Party is formed with the aim of maintaining the Act of Union.

  • Irish is made compulsory for entry to the National University of Ireland.

  • The All-Ireland Champions are Wexford (hurling) and Louth (football)
    

1911-1920

1911

  • The Parliament Act is passed in the House of Commons - Lords can now delay a bill for only two years.

  • The Irish census shows the population to be 4,400,000.

  • The Titanic is launched at the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast.

  • The All-Ireland Champions are Kilkenny (hurling) and Cork (football)
    

1912

  • The Third Home Rule Bill is accepted by the House of Commons, but is postponed for two years.

  • 500,000 Ulster people sign the Solemn League and Covenant.

  • The Titanic sinks in the Atlantic - its last port of call was County Cork.

  • The Irish Labour Party is founded.

  • D. W. Corbett makes the first flight across the Irish sea.

  • The All-Ireland Champions are Kilkenny (hurling) and Cork (football)
    

1913

  • The Great Dublin Lock-Out takes place.

  • The Irish Volunteers and the Irish Citizen Army are established.

  • The Ulster Volunteer Force is formed in Belfast.

  • The All-Ireland Champions are Kilkenny (hurling) and Kerry (football)
    

1914

  • The Curragh Mutiny - 57 British army officers refuse to implement Home Rule if it's introduced.

  • World War I begins.

  • The granting of Home Rule is postponed until after the war.

  • Cumann na mBan is founded.

  • The All-Ireland Champions are Kilkenny (hurling) and Kerry (football)
    

1915

  • Douglas Hyde resigns as President of the Gaelic League.

  • The Military Council of the IRB is formed.

  • The All-Ireland Champions are Laois (hurling) and Wexford (football)
    

1916

  • The Eater Rising takes place

    • Jan.: Supreme Council of IRB decide on insurrection

    • April 3: Irish Volunteers prepare for rising on Easter Sunday (April 23)

    • April 20-21: The Aud captured with arms meant for rising

    • April 22: Eoin MacNeill countermands order for rising

    • April 24: Rising occurs in Dublin one day late; Proclamation of the Irish Republic read by Patrick Pearse on steps of the G.P.O.

    • May 3: 12: Fourteen leaders of Rising are shot in Kilmainham Jail

    • Aug. 3: Sir Roger Casement hanged in London

    • The All-Ireland Champions are Tipperary (hurling) and Wexford (football)
      

1917

  • Eamon de Valera is elected President of Sinn Féin.

  • Thomes Ashe dies after a hunger strike.

  • The All-Ireland Champions are Dublin (hurling) and Wexford (football)
    

1918

  • November 11: World War I ends.

  • Sinn Féin win a majority of Irish seats in the general election.

  • Countess Constance Markievicz becomes the British parliament's first female MP.

  • The All-Ireland Champions are Limerick (hurling) and Wexford (football)
    

1919

  • Jan 21: The first Dáil Éireann meets in the Mansion House, Dublin. 

  • The War of Independence begins.

  • Alcock & Brown land at Clifden, Galway after completeing the first transatlantic flight.

  • The All-Ireland Champions are Cork (hurling) and Kildare (football)
    

1920

  • Bloody Sunday 

    • Michael Collins's 'Squad' kill 14 British intelligence officers in Dublin.

    • The Black and Tans retaliate by killing 14 people at a football match in Croke Park.

  • A young medical student, Kevin Barry, is hanged due to his republican activities.

  • Lord-Mayor of Cork, Tomás MacCurtain, is assassinated.

  • The politician, Terence MacSwiney, dies after a hunger strike.

  • The Irish Republican Army (IRA) is established.

  • The Government of Ireland Act is passed in the House of Commons

  • The All-Ireland Champions are Dublin (hurling) and Tipperary (football)
    

1921-1930

1921

  • May 25: Dublin Customs House burned down

  • July 9: Truce between IRA and British Army

  • Dec. 6: Anglo-Irish Treaty is signed; Ireland receives dominion status; partition will create Northern Ireland.

  • Dec. 8: Eamon de Valera publicly repudiates the Treaty.

  • The Boundary Commission is set up the redraw the border between Northern and Southern Ireland. 

  • The All-Ireland Champions are Limerick (hurling) and Dublin (football)
    

1922

  • Jan. 7: Dáil Eireann ratifies the Treaty.

  • Jan. 9: Arthur Griffith is elected President of the Dáil but dies later in the year.

  • April: The Irish Civil War begins.

    • June 16: The pro-Treaty candidates are victorious in the general election.

    • Aug: Free State Army captures Dublin, Limerick, Cork and Waterford.

    • Aug 22: Michael Collins is assassinated.

    • Sept: W. T. Cosgrave is elected head of the Provisional Government.

    • Oct. 15: Leinster House Act made acts of war against Free State illegal

    • Dec 6: The Irish Free State is established.

  • The RUC (Royal Ulster Constabulary) is formed.

  • The All-Ireland Champions are Kilkenny (hurling) and Dublin (football)
    

1923
1924

  • The Army Mutiny 

    • Two government ministers resign after officers object to a reduction of the army.

    • Eoin O'Duffy is appointed Commander-in-Chief.

  • The Free State Aer Corps is founded.

  • Eamon de Valera is released from prison.

  • The Intermediate and Leaving Certificates are established.

  • The All-Ireland Champions are Dublin (hurling) and Kerry (football)
    

1925

  • The Boundary Commission is scrapped, leaving the Northern Ireland border unchanged.

  • Northern Ireland General Election

    • Unionists gain almost total control of the parliament

  • Dublin-born George Bernard Shaw is awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature.

  • The IRA launches the weekly newspaper, An Phoblacht.

  • Legislation allowing divorce is banned in the Irish Free State.

  • Work begins on the Shannon hydro-electric station.

  • The All-Ireland Champions are Tipperary (hurling) and Galway (football)
    

1926
1927

  • 1927 General Election (June)

  • In August Fianna Fáil enter the Dáil and another election is called.

  • 1927 General Election (September)

  • Kevin O'Higgins, Minister for Justice, is assassinated by the IRA.

  • The ESB (Electricity Supply Board) is established.

  • The All-Ireland Champions are Dublin (hurling) and Kildare (football)
    

1928

  • New Irish coinage is issued featuring a harp on one side and animals on the other.

  • Irish becomes a compulsory subject for the Inter. Cert.

  • Captain James Fitzmaurice completes the first successful non-stop transatlantic flight from east to west.

  • The first Irish team attends the Olympic Games

    • Dr. Pat O'Callaghan is the first person to win a gold medal for Ireland .

  • John McCormack is appointed a Papal count for his services to music.

  • The All-Ireland Champions are Cork (hurling) and Kildare (football)
    

1929

  • Proportional Representation is abolished in Northern Ireland.

  • The first Irish banknotes are issued.

  • Ardnacrusha Power Station opens on the Shannon Scheme.

  • Ireland's economy suffers due to the Wall Street Crash.

  • The All-Ireland Champions are Cork (hurling) and Kerry (football)
    

1930

  • The Irish delegation, led by Patrick McGilligan, attend the Imperial Conference.

  • The first Irish Sweepstakes draw is held.

  • The All-Ireland Champions are Tipperary (hurling) and Kerry (football)
    

1931-1940

1931

  • The Statute of Westminster is passed in Britain

    • Dominions now have the right to repeal acts which were passed in Britain.

  • Saor Éire, a republican socialist group, is formed.

  • Eamon de Valera founds The Irish Press newspaper.

  • The All-Ireland Champions are Cork (hurling) and Kerry (football)
    

1932 
1933

  • 1933 General Election

  • Fine Gael - the United Ireland Party is founded.

  • The All-Ireland Champions are Kilkenny (hurling) and Cavan (football)
    

1934  

  • Eoin O'Duffy resigns from Fine Gael.

  • Britain and the Free State signs a Coal-Cattle Pact.

  • Irish becomes a compulsory subject for the Laeving Cert.

  • The All-Ireland Champions are Limerick (hurling) and Galway (football)
    

1935

  • W. T. Cosgrave is elected Chairman of Fine Gael.

  • Foynes, County Limerick, is chosen as the European terminal for transatlantic air services.

  • Unionist politician, Edward Carson, dies.

  • The All-Ireland Champions are Kilkenny (hurling) and Cavan (football)
    

1936 

  • The Irish Free State census shows the population to be 2,969,000.

  • The Irish national airline, Aer Lingus, is founded.

  • Sean MacBride becomes the chief of staff of the IRA.

  • The government declare the IRA an illegal organisation.

  • The Senate of the Irish Free State is abolished.

  • The All-Ireland Champions are Limerick (hurling) and Mayo (football)
    

1937 
The Northern Ireland census shows the population to be 1,280,000.

  • Bunreacht na hÉireann is introduced.

    • The head of state is now the President of Ireland.

    • The head of government is the Taoiseach.

    • The national territory consists of the whole island of Ireland.

  • The referendum on the constitution is held on the same day as the election.

  • 1937 General Election

    • Fianna Fáil is returned to power and the referendum is carried.

  • The All-Ireland Champions are Tipperary (hurling) and Kerry (football)
    

1938 

  • Dr. Douglas Hyde is appointed the first President of Ireland.

  • The government falls unexpectedly this year.

  • 1938 General Election

  • The 'Economic War' with Britain ends.

  • The Traety ports are handed back to the Free State.

  • Clann na Talmhan is founded.

  • The All-Ireland Champions are Dublin (hurling) and Galway (football)
    

1939

  • The IRA begin a bombing campaign in England.

  • World War II begins.

    •  Éire decalres its neutrality.

    • Consription is not introduced in Northern Ireland

  • The Irish Red Cross is founded.

  • The All-Ireland Champions are Kilkenny (hurling) and Kerry (football)
    

1940 

  • Dr. John Charles McQuaid becomes Archbishop of Dublin

  • John M. Andrews becomes Prime Minister of Northern Ireland.

  • The All-Ireland Champions are Limerick (hurling) and Kerry (football)
    

1941-1950

1941 

  • 28 people are killed when German bombs fall on the North Strand in Dublin.

  • 900 people are killed in a bomb attack in Belfast.

  • The new terminal at Dublin Airport is completed.

  • Irish novelist James Joyce dies in Zurich, Switzerland.

  • The All-Ireland Champions are Cork (hurling) and Kerry (football)
    

1942 

  • US troops arrive in Northern Ireland.

  • The Irish Blood Transfusion Service is founded. 

  • The All-Ireland Champions are Cork (hurling) and Dublin (football)
    

1943
1944 

  • 1944 General Election

    • Fianna Fáil achieves a 14 seat overall majority.

    • The National Labour Party is formed.

  • Gen. Richard Mulcahy becomes the new leader of Fine Gael.

  • The All-Ireland Champions are Cork (hurling) and Roscommon (football)
    

1945

  • World War II ends after six years of violence. 

  • Sean T. O'Kelly is elected the second President of Ireland.

  • Nationalist Eoin MacNeill dies.

  • Irish tenor Count John McCormack dies.

  • Córas Iompair Éireann (CIÉ), the state transport service, begins.

  • The National Stud is established in Kildare.

  • The All-Ireland Champions are Tipperary (hurling) and Cork (football)
    

1946 
1947 

  • Shannon Airport becomes a duty-free area.

  • The All-Ireland Football Final takes place in the Polo Grounds, New York.

    • Cavan beat Kerry to take the Sam McGuire Cup.

  • The All-Ireland Hurling Champions are Kilkenny.
    

1948

  • 1948 General Election

  • The government announces that the External Relations Act is to be repealed and Éire is to leave the Commonwealth.

  • The All-Ireland Champions are Waterford (hurling) and Cavan (football)
    

1949 
1950

  • Noel Browne proposes the 'Mother and Child Scheme'.

  • Dublin-born writer, George Bernard Shaw, dies aged 94.

  • The All-Ireland Champions are Tipperary (hurling) and Mayo (football)
    

1951-1960

1951 

1952 

  • The government introduce the Social Welfare Act which increases unemployment and sickness benefits.

  • Sean T. O'Kelly is re-elected President of Ireland.

  • Bord Fáilte is established to encourage tourism.

  • The All-Ireland Champions are Cork (hurling) and Cavan (football)
    

1953 

  • Fianna Uladh is founded.

  • Gael-Linn is set up to promote the use of Irish.

  • The All-Ireland Champions are Cork (hurling) and Kerry (football)
    

1954 

  • 1954 General Election

    • Fine Gael, Labour and other parties form the second Inter-Party Government.

    • John A. Costello becomes Taoiseach for the second time.

  • The Flags & Emblems Act in Northern Ireland prohibits the display of the Irish tricolor or disturbing a display of the Union Jack

  • Michael Manning becomes the last man to be hanged in the Republic of Ireland.

  • Christy Brown publishes his autobiography - My Left Foot.

  • The All-Ireland Champions are Cork (hurling) and Meath (football)
    

1955

  • Ireland becomes a member of the United Nations.

  • Cork Opera House is destroyed by fire.

  • The All-Ireland Champions are Wexford (hurling) and Kerry (football)
    

1956 

  • The census shows the population of the Republic of Ireland to be 2,818,000.

  • Ronnie Delaney wins a gold medal for Ireland at the Olympic Games in Australia.

  • The IRA begins a bombing campaign along the border.

  • The All-Ireland Champions are Wexford (hurling) and Galway (football)
    

1957 

  • 1957 General Election

  • Seán South and Fergal O'Hanlon are killed in an IRA attack on a RUC barrcks.

  • The All-Ireland Champions are Kilkenny (hurling) and Louth (football)
    

1958 

  • Irish Army soldiers begin a United Nations peace-keeping mission in the Lebanon.

  • The First Programme for Economic Expansion is drawn up by T. K. Whitaker.

  • Aer Lingus begins its first service to the United States.

  • The All-Ireland Champions are Tipperary (hurling) and Dublin (football)
    

1959 
1960

  • Irish troops are sent on United Nations peace-keeping missions to the Congo.

  • F. H. Boland becomes President of the General Assembly of the United Nations.

  • The All-Ireland Champions are Wexford (hurling) and Down (football)
    

1961-1970

1961 

  • The census results are announced:

  • 1961 General Election

  • Telefís Éireann (later RTÉ) commences broadcasting on New Years Eve.

  • Sean Lemass returns as Taoiseach following the general election.

  • The All-Ireland Champions are Tipperary (hurling) and Down (football)
    

1962

  • The second Vatican Council takes place - this leads to greater openness within the Catholic Church.

  • The IRA calls of its bombing campaign along the border.

  • The All-Ireland Champions are Tipperary (hurling) and Kerry (football)
    

1963
1964

  • The Second Programme for Economic Expansion is launched.

  • The playwrights, Seán O'Casey and Brendan Behan die.

  • The All-Ireland Champions are Tipperary (hurling) and Galway (football)
    

1965 
1966 
1967 

  • The Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA) is founded.

  • 3 people are killed when an Aer Lingus plane crashes in Dublin.

  • Censorship is lifted on all books this year.

  • Minister for Education, Donagh O'Malley, announces free secondary school education.

  • The All-Ireland Champions are Kilkenny (hurling) and Meath (football)
    

1968 

  • Plans to merge Trinity College Dublin and University College Dublin are scrapped.

  • Crisis in the North

    • Oct. 5: Two days of rioting follows after a banned civil rights march in Derry is broken up by RUC batons. Many view this incident as the start of 'the Troubles'.

    • Oct. 9: Following a student demonstration in Belfast, the People's Democracy (PD) a radical, left-wing student group, is formed.

    • Oct. 30: The Taoiseach, Jack Lynch calls for an end to partition to resolve the unrest.

    • Nov. 4: The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland, Terence O'Neill, says there will be no transfer of the North to the Republic without the consent of the NI parliament.

    • Nov. 22: O'Neill announces a five point reform plan which goes some way to easing the Catholic sense of grievance over matters including unfair housing allocation, council elections.

    • Dec. 11: William Craig, Minister of Home Affairs, is dismissed from the Northern Ireland cabinet.

    • Dec. 20: People's Democracy (PD) announce Belfast-Derry March.

  • 61 people die when an Aer Lingus plane crashes at Tuskar Rock.

  • The All-Ireland Champions are Wexford (hurling) and Down (football)
    

1969 

  • 1969 General Election

  • Crisis in the North

    • Jan. 4: A march from Belfast to Derry is attacked by a loyalist mob at Burntollet bridge, near Derry. 

    • April 28: Terence O'Neill resigns as Prime Minister

    • May 1: James Chichester-Clark is his replacement.

    • July: First deaths of the 'Troubles'

    • Aug. 12: Apprentice Boys' march in Derry attacked by nationalists; RUC storm Bogside, leading to the Battle of the Bogside

    • August: British army arrives in North.

    • Dec: A split in the IRA produces Provisional and Official IRA.

  • The government introduce special tax concessions for creative artists and writers.

  • Dublin-born Samuel Beckett is awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature.

  • The All-Ireland Champions are Kilkenny (hurling) and Kerry (football)
    

1970

  • The Arms Crisis 

    • Charles Haughey and Neil Blaney are dismissed from the Cabinet amid allegations of illegal arms importation.

    • Kevin Boland resigns in sympathy with the two sacked ministers.

    • Haughey and Blaney are later acquitted of the crime.

  • Ireland wins the Eurovision Song Contest for the first time when Dana sings All Kinds of Everything.

  • U.S President Richard Nixon visits Ireland in October.

  • The SDLP is founded by Gerry Fitt.

  • Moderate Protestants and Catholics form the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland.

  • The All-Ireland Champions are Cork (hurling) and Kerry (football)
    

1971-1980

1971 

  • Internment without trial is introduced in Northern Ireland.

  • Aer Lingus takes delivery of two Boeing 747 Jumbo Jets.

  • RTÉ televises its first live colour television production - the Eurovision Song Contest.

  • Kevin Boland directly challenges the leadership of Fianna Fáil and demands military action on Northern Ireland.

  • Former Taoiseach Sean Lemass dies aged 71.

  • Cigarette advertising on television is banned.

  • The new 'decimal system' replaces pounds, shillings and pence in Ireland.

  • Brian Faulkner becomes Prime Minister of Northern Ireland.

  • The All-Ireland Champions are Tipperary (hurling) and Offaly (football)
    

1972 

  • Bloody Sunday 

    • British paratroopers shoot 13 civilians dead in Derry.

  • In a referendum Ireland votes to join the European Economic Community.

  • Northern Ireland comes under direct rule from Westminster.

  • Bloody Friday

    • 19 people are killed when several bombs explode in Belfast.

  • Mother Teresa returns to Ireland, the country where she began her religious life.

  • The voting age is reduced from 21 to 18.

  • Radio na Gaeltachta begins broadcasting.

  • The All-Ireland Champions are Kilkenny (hurling) and Offaly (football)
    

1973 

  • Ireland joins the EEC along with Britain and Denmark.

  • Erskine Hamilton Childers is elected fourth President of Ireland.

  • 1973 General Election

  • The Sunnigdale Agreement is signed.

    • Elections are held for a Power-Sharing Assembly in Northern Ireland.

    • A 'Council of Ireland' is also established.

  • The Irish Civil Service removes its ban on female employees marrying.

  • The All-Ireland Champions are Limerick (hurling) and Cork (football)
    

1974 

  • Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh becomes the fifth President of Ireland following the death of President Childers.

  • Car bombs planted by Unionist terrorists kill 24 people in Dublin and 6 people in Monaghan.

  • Former IRA leader and government minister, Sean MacBride is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

  • Northern Ireland

    • A Loyalist general strike blockades Belfast.

    • The Power-Sharing Assembly is abandoned.

    • The IRA announce an 11 day ceasefire.

  • The Birmingham Six are wrongly convicted and imprisoned.

  • The All-Ireland Champions are Kilkenny (hurling) and Dublin (football)
    

1975 

  • Eamon de Valera dies in Dublin aged 92.

    • His life has spanned the history of the Irish state.  

    • He was a leader of the 1916 Rising, President for 14 years and Taoiseach for 21 years.

  • Dutch industrialist Dr. Tiede Herrema is kidnapped.

  • Ernest Blythe, Gaelic scholar, managing director of the Abbey theatre and former Minister for Finance dies.

  • Internment without trial ends in Northern Ireland.

  • The All-Ireland Champions are Kilkenny (hurling) and Kerry (football)
    

1976 
1977 

  • 'The Brendan Voyage' comes to an end after sailing 6,000 miles to Canada.

  • 1977 General Election

  • The Workers Party is founded after a split in Sinn Féin.

  • A Belfast-man, Alex Higgins, wins the World Professional Snooker Championship.

  • The All-Ireland Champions are Cork (hurling) and Dublin (football)
    

1978 

  • An Irish Army battalion joins a UN Peacekeeping Force in Lebanon.

  • An Taoiseach, Jack Lynch, addresses the United Nations General Assembly.

  • David Cook is elected Belfasts first non-Unionist mayor.

  • Ireland's second television channel, RTÉ 2, begins broadcasting.

  • Former President of Ireland Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh dies.

  • Citizens clash with Dublin Corporation over plans to build offices on the site of Dublin's original Viking settlement at Wood Quay. 

  • Proposals to build a nuclear power station in Wexford are dropped.

  • The All-Ireland Champions are Cork (hurling) and Kerry (football)
    

1979 

  • The census reveals that the population is 3,365,000.

  • Euorpean Parliament elections are held for the first time.

  • Ireland joins the European Monetary System.

  • Pope John Paul II visits Ireland on a three day visit.

    • 1,000,000 attend an open-air mass in the Phoenix Park.

  • 1979 is the worst tear ever for industrial disputes in Ireland.

  • 50 people die when an explosion destroys the oil tanker 'Betelguese'.

  • Lord Mountbatten is killed when his boat is blown up by the IRA. 

  • Jack Lynch retires as Taoiseach and Fianna Fáil leader.

  • The All-Ireland Champions are Kilkenny (hurling) and Kerry (football)
    

1980 

  • Charles Haughey, in a television broadcast, warns the Irish people about the state of Ireland's finances.

  • 700,000 PAYE workers join in a one-day protest.

  • Johnny Logan wins the Eurovision Song Contest for Ireland.

  • At Derrynaflan an eighth century chalice is discovered.

  • 17 people die when the Dublin-Cork train is derailed at Buttevant, Co. Cork.

  • The death toll during 'the troubles' reaches 2,000.

  • [[Charles Haughey] and Margaret Thatcher establish the Anglo-Irish Committee.

  • A hunger strike begins by republican prisoners in Northern Ireland's prisons.

  • The All-Ireland Champions are Galway (hurling) and Kerry (football)
    

1981-1990

1981 

  • The census shows that the population is 3,443,405.

  • 1981 General Election

  • 48 young people are killed in a fire at the Stardust Ballroom.

  • The IRA hunger-strike at the Maze Prison lasts for seven months.

    • Bobby Sands (MP for South Fermanagh), Kieran Doherty (TD for Cavan-Monaghan) and  and 8 others die.

  • An Aer Lingus plane is hi-jacked on its way from Dublin to London.

  • The All-Ireland Champions are Offaly (hurling) and Kerry (football)
    

1982 

  • The Fine Gael-Labour coalition collapses after the introduction of a controversial budget.

  • 1982 General Election (February)

  • Corporal punishment is banned in schools in the Republic of Ireland.

  • Ireland win the Rugby Union Triple Crown.

  • 1982 General Election (November)

    • Garret FitzGerald becomes Taoiseach for the second time.

    • He leads another Fine Gael-Labour coalition government.

  • The All-Ireland Champions are Kilkenny (hurling) and Offaly (football)
    

1983 

  • The 'Bugging Scandal'

    • It is revealed that the last Fianna Fáil government tapped the phones of two journalists.

  • The New Ireland Forum is set up by an Taoiseach, Garret FitzGerald.

  • Dr. Patrick Hillery is elected un-opposed for a second term as President of Ireland.

  • The champion racehorse, Shergar, is kidnapped from a County Kildare stud.

  • Gerry Adams becomed the new President of Sinn Féin.

  • Nine prisoners escape from the Maze prison.

  • Eight people are killed when two trains crash outside Kildare.

  • The country's first motorway is opened.

  • Abortion Referendum

    • An anti-abortion amendment is made to the Irish Constitution.

  • Eamon Coughlan wins the 5,000 metres race at the World Championships.

  • The All-Ireland Champions are Kilkenny (hurling) and Dublin (football)
    

1984 

  • US President Ronald Reagan visits Ireland this year.

  • The DART (light rail system) opens in Dublin.

  • Singer Luke Kelly of the Dubliners dies aged 43.

  • The IRA bomb the Conservative Party conference in Brighton hoping to assassinate the British Cabinet.

  • The New Ireland Forum report is published.

    • Three solutions are proposed for solving the problems in the North.

    • British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher rejects all three proposals.

  • An Post and Telecom Éireann are set up.

  • The Irish Shipping Company is liquidated.

  • John Tracey wins a silver medal at the Olympic Games in Los Angeles.

  • The GAA celebrates its Centenary Year 

    • The hurling final is won by Cork in Semple Stadium, Thurles.  

    • The All-Ireland Football Champions are Kerry.
      

1985 

  • The Anglo-Irish Agreement is signed between the governments of Britain and Ireland.

  • Schoolchildren claim to have seen a 'moving' statue of the Virgin Mary at Asdee, and another one at Ballinspittle. 

  • Breakaway Fianna Fáil TD's leave the party.

  • An Air India Boeing 747 crashes into the sea off the Irish coast.  All passengers are killed. 

  • Knock International Airport receives its first commercial flight.

  • Irish musician Bob Geldof organises Live Aid to raise money for famine victims in Ethiopia.

  • Barry McGuigan becomes the WBA featherweight champion of the world.

  • The All-Ireland Champions are Offaly (hurling) and Kerry (football)
    

1986 

  • The census reveals that the population is 3,541,000.

  • Desmond O'Malley and Mary Harney found the Progressive Democrats.

  • Phil Lynnot, lead singer with Thin Lizzy, dies aged 35.

  • CIÉ is dissolved into three separate bus, rail and Dublin Bus services.

  • Jack Charlton becomes the new manager of the country's soccer team.

  • Hurricane Charlie reaches Ireland during this summer causing unprecedented damage.

  • Divorce Referendum

    • The people of Ireland reject an amendment to allow divorce.

  • The All-Ireland Champions are Cork (hurling) and Kerry (football)
    

1987 

  • The government collapses when the Labour Party withdraws from the coalition

  • 1987 General Election

  • Ireland's national debt heads towards £260 billion.

    • The government introduces major cutbacks.

  • Stephen Roche wins cycling's World Championship, Tour de France and Giro d'Italia.

  • The All-Ireland Champions are Galway (hurling) and Meath (football)
    

1988 
1989 
1990 

1991-2000

1991 

  • The census shows that the population is 3,526,000.

  • An investigation is launched into fraud in the beef industry.

  • Ireland adopts the Maastricht Treaty and joins the European Monetary Union.

  • Charles Haughey survives a Fianna Fáil leadership challenge from Albert Reynolds.

  • The Birmingham Six are released after 16 years wrongful imprisonment.

  • Eddie Jordan sets up his own Formula 1 racing team.

  • The All-Ireland Champions are Tipperary (hurling) and Down (football)
    

1992 

  • Unemployment reaches its peak in Ireland - 300,000 people are now out of work.

  • Charles Haughey resigns as Taoiseach

  • 1992 General Election

    • The result is inconclusive.

  • The High Court prevents a 14 year old girl from travelling to Britain for an abortion.

  • Ireland wins the Eurovision Song Contest when Linda Martin sings Why Me.

  • The Olympic Games are held in Barcelona.

    • Michael Carruth wins Ireland's first gold Olympic medal for 36 years.

    • Wayne McCullough wins a silver medal for Ireland.

  • Bishop Eamon Casey resigns after it is revealed he fathered a son.

  • The All-Ireland Champions are Kilkenny (hurling) and Donegal (football)
    

1993 

  • Fianna Fáil and Labour form the new government.

  • The Downing Street Declaration is signed between the Irish and British governments.

  • Irelands wins the Eurovision Song Contest when Niamh Kavanagh sings In Your Eyes.

  • Desmond O'Malley retires as leader of the Progressive Democrats.

  • Gerry Adams and John Hume begin diplomatic negotiations.

  • Homosexuality is decriminalised in the Republic of Ireland.

  • The All-Ireland Champions are Kilkenny (hurling) and Derry (football)
    

1994

  • The IRA call a ceasefire following the progress in the peace-process.

  • The Labour Party withdraws its support from the government.

  • Bertie Ahern becomes the sixth leader of Fianna Fáil.

  • Irelands wins the Eurovision Song Contest for a record third time in a row.

  • The Republic of Ireland reach the last 16 in the World Cup Finals in the U.S. 

  • The All-Ireland Champions are Offaly (hurling) and Down (football)
    

1995 

  • Ireland play England at Lansdowne Road.  The match ends prematurely when England fans start rioting.

  • Séamus Heaney is awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature.

  • The Celtic Tiger is born.

  • U.S President Bill Clinton visits Ireland for the first time.

  • In the closest referendum result ever Ireland votes for divorce by 50.3%.

  • The All-Ireland Champions are Clare (hurling) and Dublin (football)
    

1996 

  • The census reveals the population of the Republic is 3,621,000.

  • Ireland holds the Presidency of the European Union for the latter half of the year.

  • Michelle Smith wins 3 Gold Medals for Ireland at the Olympic Games in Atlanta.

  • Teilifís na Gaeilge starts broadcasting.

  • George Mitchelll tries to move the stalled peace-process in the North.

  • The IRA ends its ceasefire by exploding a massive bomb in London.

  • Ireland wins the Eurovision Song Contest for the fourth time in five years.

  • Journalist Veronica Guerin is murdered by a drugs gang.

  • The All-Ireland Champions are Wexford (hurling) and Meath (football)
    

1997 

  • Mary McAleese is elected the eighth President of Ireland.

  • Bertie Ahern becomes Taoiseach of a Fianna Fáil/Progressive Democrats coalition government.

  • Radio Ireland begins on St. Patricks Day.

  • Refugees and asylum seekers arrive in Ireland in record numbers.

  • The IRA calls a new ceasefire.

  • Mary Robinson become UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

  • Ray Burke resigns as Minister for Foreign Affairs amid corruption allegations.

  • The All-Ireland Champions are Clare (hurling) and Kilkenny (football)
    

1998 
1999

  • After 37 years, Gay Byrne retires as host of the Late Late Show.

  • Former Taoiseach, Jack Lynch dies in Dublin aged 82.

  • Two judges, Hugh O'Flaherty and Cyril Kelly, resign following the early release of Phillip Sheedy.

  • Terry Keane reveals her affair with former Taoiseach Charles Haughey.

  • Northern Ireland gets devolution.

  • Former Eurovision winner Dana is elected to the European Parliament.

  • Ireland adopts the Euro as currency.

  • The All-Ireland Champions are Cork (hurling) and Meath (football)
    

2000 

  • The Northern Ireland Assembly is suspended but later resumes its functions

  • US President Bill Clinton makes his third visit to Ireland.

  • The All-Ireland Champions are Kilkenny (hurling) and Kerry (football)

  • As the 20th Century draws to a close Ireland celebrates the dawn of the third Millennium.