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Chronology: Ireland 1915–1923
1915
May 7 SS Lusitania sunk off Kinsale by U-boat
May 25 Establishment of UK Coalition Govt: Asquith PM, Carson Attorney-General; Redmond declines to join
May IRB sets up military committee: Patrick Pearse, Joseph Plunkett, Eamonn Ceant
July Douglas Hyde resigns as president of Gaelic League; militant nationalists take control
Aug. 1 Funeral in Dublin of O’Donovan Rossa; oration by Pearse
Dec. IRB forms military council: James Connolly joins Jan. ’16
1916
Apr. 3 Pearse orders 3-day ‘manoeuvres’ of Irish Volunteers for Easter Sunday
Apr. 20 German ship Aud carrying arms for IV intercepted by RN patrol; Casement landed from U-boat next day – arrested.
Apr. 22 Eoin MacNeill issues countermanding orders to IV
Apr. 24 Easter Monday: GPO and other buildings in Dublin seized by IV and ICA led by Pearse and Connolly: Irish Republic proclaimed from GPO
Apr. 25 Govt proclaims martial law: Sir John Maxwell Cndr in Chief
Apr. 29 Unconditional surrender of rebels in GPO
May 3 Executions for treason begin with Pearse, T. Clarke and T. MacDonagh; 15 in total ending with Connolly on 12 May. Birrell resigns as Chief Secretary; Redmond and Dillon appeal for clemency
May 23 Lloyd George begins negotiations on immediate implementation of Home Rule, with 6 Ulster Cos excluded. Rejected by Redmond in July.
July 1 Somme offensive begins: 36th (Ulster) Division suffers heavy casualties
Aug. 3 Roger Casement executed for treason
Dec. 7 New Coalition Govt formed: Lloyd George PM, but Cons much stronger; Liberals split - Asquith in opposition
Dec. 23 Irish internees released from Frongoch Camp
1917
Feb. 5 N. Roscommon by-election: Sinn Féin candidate Count Plunkett (father of JM Plunkett) defeats IPP
Mar. 7 Redmond and IPP withdraw from Westminster after Lloyd George declares in favour of partition
Apr. 6 USA declares war on Germany
May 9 Sinn Féin wins S. Longford by-election (1493: 1461)
May 21 Lloyd George announces Irish Convention (meets July 1917 – SF abstains)
Jun. 16 Release of MacNeill, Markievicz, De Valera from prison
Jul. 10 De Valera wins E. Clare by-election for SF (5010: 2035); Aug. SF win Kilkenny City by-election
Oct. 25 De Valera elected President of SF; later also of IV
Nov. ‘October Revolution’ in Russia. Bolsheviks withdraw Russia from War.
1918
Jan. President Woodrow Wilson propounds ’14 Peace Points’ for post-war settlement
Feb. 2 IPP defeat SF in S. Armagh by-election
Feb. 6 Representation of the People (4th Reform Act) passed – most women over 30 and all men over 21 get vote
Mar. 6 Death of John Redmond; John Dillon becomes IPP leader
Apr. Lloyd George introduces Bill empowering Conscription in Ireland; at Mansion House conference, SF, IPP, Irish Labour Party and others agree to co-ordinate resistance
May 17 SF leaders arrested on alleged complicity in ‘German Plot’
Jun. 20 Arthur Griffith (SF) wins E. Cavan by-election
Nov. 11 Armistice ends War with Germany
Dec. 4 Cardinal Logue presides over Dillon-MacNeill agreement over single nationalist candidates in Ulster seats
Dec. General Election: in Ireland Sinn Féin 73 (25 unopposed), IPP 6, Unionists 26
1919
Jan. Paris Peace Conference opens – SF sends delegation
Jan. 21 First meeting of 1st Dáil Éireann in Dublin: Sinn Féin MPs agree provisional constitution; declaration of independence, appeal to free nations of world, and democratic programme
IV ambush on explosives convoy at Soloheadbeg, Co. Tipperary: 2 RIC killed. Start of ‘War of Independence’ or ‘Anglo-Irish War’
Feb. 3 De Valera escapes from Lincoln Gaol; other SF leaders released 10 March
Apr. 1 De Valera elected President of Dáil (head of govt)
Apr. 14-25 ‘Limerick Soviet’
June De Valera leaves for New York; Dáil sets up arbitration courts
Sept. 7 Cork Brigade of IRA (new name for IV) under Liam Lynch fire on soldiers at Fermoy
Sept. 10-12 Govt Proclamations to suppress SF, IV, Gaelic League, and Dáil
Dec. 19 Unsuccessful assassination attempt on Ld Lieut. Lord French by IRA
1920
Jan. RIC begins recruiting British ex-servicemen: ‘Black and Tans’
Local elections: SF, along with nationalists and Labour, control 172 of 206 councils
Mar. 20 Tomás MacCurtáin, Lord Mayor of Cork and commandant of 1st Cork Brigade of IRA shot dead by RIC.
Mar. 26 Michael Collins orders assassination of Alan Bell, magistrate investigating SF funds
Apr. 12 Sir Hamar Greenwood appointed Chief Secretary
Apr-Jun. Disturbances in Derry – 18 deaths
May Munitions strike by railway workers extended to movt of troops
Jun. 28 Connaught Rangers mutiny in Punjab
July RIC commander in Munster killed by IRA; provokes riots in Belfast and other Ulster towns – 30 deaths in Aug. Recruitment of RIC ‘Auxiliary Division’ of ex-British Army officers
Aug. Dáil begins ‘Belfast boycott’ of northern goods
Sept. Black and Tan raid on Balbriggan, Co. Dublin; IRA arms raid in Mallow followed by sack of town by Army
Oct. 25 Death of Terence MacSwiney, Lord Mayor of Cork and IRA commandant, on hunger strike in Brixton Gaol
Nov. Execution of Kevin Barry in Dublin for murder of a soldier
Recruitment of Ulster Special Constabulary (incl. ‘B Specials’)
Nov. 21 ‘Bloody Sunday’: Collins orders IRA assassination of 14 secret service agents and magistrates in Dublin. Auxiliaries kill 2 IRA commandants in Dublin. Black and Tans kill 12 spectators at Gaelic football match at Croke Park.
Dec. 10 Martial Law in Cork, Kerry, Limerick and Tipperary
Dec. 11-12 Sack of Cork by Black and Tans
Dec. 23 Government of Ireland Act passed at Westminster: partition formalized; De Valera returns from USA
1921
Jan. Black and Tan reprisals at Midleton, Co. Cork
Feb. Carson resigns as Unionist leader – replaced by James Craig
Feb. 28 6 IRA prisoners executed in Cork; 6 soldiers killed in reprisals
Mar. 7 Mayor of Limerick and 2 other leading citizens shot dead
Mar. 14 6 Republicans executed in Dublin: General Strike
May 5 Craig – De Valera talks in Dublin
May Irish General Elections under GOIA. In Southern Ireland: 124 SF, 4 Indeps. (all unopposed). Members form 2nd Dáil Éireann. In N. Ireland 40 Unionists, 6 Nats., 6 SF
May 25 IRA burn Customs House, Dublin – but c. 100 captured.
June 7 N. Ireland Parliament meets: Craig become PM of NI. King George V formally opens Parliament at Belfast City Hall, 22 June.
S. Ireland Parliament boycotted by SF
July 9 Truce signed by IRA and British Army ends ‘Anglo-Irish War’, but violence continues in Belfast – 20 deaths
Oct. 11 Anglo-Irish conference opens in London: Griffith and Collins lead Dáil delegation
Dec. 6 Anglo-Irish Treaty signed by British Govt, Collins and Dáil delegation
Dec. 14 Dáil begins Treaty debate; in NI, Local Govt (Emergency Powers) Act dissolves Fermanagh Co. Council and 12 others by Apr. 1922
1922
Jan. 7-9 Dáil approves Anglo-Irish Treaty 64: 57. De Valera resigns as President, replaced by Griffith. Sinn Féin splits over Treaty.
Jan. 14 Provisional Govt of Irish Free State elected by Dáil – Michael Collins chairman
Jan. 16 Lord Lieutenant formally transfers power to Irish Free State Government at Dublin Castle
Jan. 21 Craig-Collins pact lifts Belfast boycott in return for guarantees for northern Catholics. But further violence in Belfast in Feb. – 27 killed.
Feb. Recruitment of Gárda Síochána (unarmed police) starts in IFS
Mar. 30 Peace pact signed in London by Collins, Craig and Winston Churchill: UK ‘Irish Free State Act’ ratifies Treaty.
Apr. 7 Special Powers Act passed by NI Parliament
Apr. 14 Anti-Treaty group of IRA led by Rory O’Connor seizes Four Courts, Dublin
May 20 Collins – De Valera electoral pact attempts to heal SF rifts
May Riots in Belfast: 14 killed. NI Govt bans IRA, IV, IRB – sets up Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC)
Jun. 18 IFS General Election: 58 Pro-Treaty SF, 36 Anti-Treaty SF, 17 Labour, 7 Farmers’ Party, 10 Indeps.
Jun. 22 Sir Henry Wilson assassinated in London by IRA
Jun. 28 IFS Army attack Four Courts: Irish Civil War begins. O’Connor surrenders 30 June
Jul. 5 IFS Army takes control of Dublin: Cathal Brugha captured
Aug. Govt secures control of Limerick, Waterford, Cork
Aug. 12 Griffith dies of brain haemorrhage
Aug. 22 Collins killed in IRA ambush at Bealnablath, Co. Cork. William T. Cosgrave becomes chair of Provisional Govt (and President of Dáil 9 Sept.)
Oct. 10 Catholic bishops condemn IRA ‘Irregulars’
Oct. 23 In UK fall of Lloyd George Coalition: Andrew Bonar Law (Con.) PM
Oct. 25 Dáil approves Constitution of Irish Free State
Nov. 17 Govt begins executions of 77 IRA ‘Irregulars’, including Erskine Childers, Rory O’Connor and Liam Mellows
Dec. Tim Healy sworn in as Governor General of Irish Free State; Duke of Abercorn becomes Governor of Northern Ireland
1923
Apr. Death of IRA leader Liam Lynch; De Valera announces suspension of offensive operations
May End of Irish Civil War
Taken from http://www.soton.ac.uk/~pg2/chron3.html
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