| The “Devil’s Era” |
|
| 1831 | Beginning of National School system in Ireland. |
| 1837 | Accession
of Victoria to the throne of Great Britain. |
| 1856 | Birth
of mother, Catherine (“Kate”) Coll, in Bruree, County Limerick. (Bruree is about 15 miles south of Limerick City and was until 1746
the site of the half- yearly meetings of Ireland’s bards.) |
| 1858 | Founding
of the “secret” Irish Republican Brotherhood as a “physical-force” alternative
to O’Connellite strategies. |
| 1867 | FENIAN
UPRISINGS & Execution of Manchester Martyrs |
| 1879 | Mother
emigrates to America to live with her aunt in Brooklyn, finding employment
there as a domestic servant to the Giraud family. Meets future husband,
Vivion Devalera, a Spaniard employed by the Girauds as a music teacher for
their children. |
| 1882 |
Born,
October 14th, in New York city. Birth
of James Joyce in Dublin. |
| 1884 |
Foundation
of Gaelic Athletic Association (by Michael Cusack, in Thurles, Tipperary). |
| 1885 | Death
of father in Colorado from consumption. Mother forced to return to work,
leaving him in care of another Bruree emigrant. |
| 1886 (?) |
In
the company of his Uncle Ned, emigrates to Ireland to live with grandmother,
Uncle Pat and Aunt Hannie on a small farm in Bruree. Prime
Minister Gladstone and the first “Home Rule” Bill defeated. |
| 1888(?) |
Mother
remarries in America, Aunt Hannie emigrates to America. |
| 1891 | DEATH
of PARNELL (October 6). |
| 1893 | Founding
of Gaelic League by Douglas Hyde and Eoin MacNeill. Gladstone’s second “Home Rule”
bill passes the House of Commons but is overwhelmingly defeated in the
House of Lords. |
| 1896 | Following mother’s denial of request to return to America, begins two years of study in the Christian Brothers’ school at Charleville (now Rathluirc) to which he walked seven miles each way. |
| 1898 | Wins
scholarship to attend Blackrock College in Dublin, run by the Holy Ghost
Fathers. Attends for five years, discovering a talent and passion for mathematics. |
| 1899 | Yeats
& Lady Gregory found the Irish Literary Theater Arthur
Griffin founds the United Irishman (later renamed Sinn Fein) |
| 1899-02 | THE
BOER WAR |
| 1900 | Maud
Gonne founds Inghinidhe na hEireann |
| 1901 | Death
of Queen Victoria and accession of Edward VII. |
| 1903 | Begins
a two-year stint as a teacher of mathematics at the Holy Ghost Fathers’
Rockwell College in Cashel (County Tipperary) |
| 1904 | Yeats
& Lady Gregory open Abbey Theater (December 27). Joyce
writes Dubliners Not published until 1914. |
| 1907 | Riots
in Abbey Theater greet production of Synge’s Playboy of the Western World. |
| 1908 | Joins
the Gaelic League. Among the teachers under whom he studies Gaelic is his
future wife, Sinead Ni Fhlannigain. |
| 1910 | Marries
Sinead, with whom he has eight children over the course of their 60-year
marriage. King George V assumes throne
of Great Britain. |
| 1911 | REVOLUTIONS
in CHINA and MEXICO |
| 1912 | Receives
appointment as lecturer in mathematics and mathematical physics at St. Patrick’s
College, Maynooth, Ireland’s largest and most famous training ground for
future priests. |
1913
|
Lockout
in Dublin. Third
“Home Rule” Bill defeated by House of Lords. Enrolls with the Irish Volunteers (the nationalist response to the Ulster Volunteers) and becomes a battalion-commander. Accommodates with the IRB. |
| 1914 | OUTBREAK
of FIRST WORLD WAR (August 3rd and 4th) “Home
Rule” bill suspended. Volunteer
movement splits into pro-War “National Volunteers” and conscription-resisting,
pro-German “Irish Volunteers.” |
| 1915 | Hyde
resigns as president of the Gaelic League. |
| 1916 | David
Lloyd George becomes Prime Minister of Great Britain. Retains position
until 1922. THE
EASTER REBELLION, April 24-29. (Setting of 0’ Casey’s The Plough and
the Stars) Commands
battalion at Boland’s Mill, the last post to surrender. Imprisoned until
June 1917. Execution
(May 3rd through 12th) of 16 leaders of the Rebellion. Spared (along with
Markievicz) Publication
of Joyce’s Portrait... |
| 1917 | THE
RUSSIAN REVOLUTION Count
(George Noble) Plunkett, father of executed Easter-Rebellion leader, Joseph
Mary Plunkett, stands and wins in February as a Sinn-Fein candidate for
Westminster Parliament and then refuses to take his seat. Strategy duplicated
by DeValera in July. Holds seat for 42 years. With
Griffin stepping aside to promote unity, elected President of Sinn Fein
and of the “Irish Volunteers.” Retains both posts until 1922. |
| 1918 | Lloyd
George introduces “Military Service Bill” to conscript Irish into World
War I, linked to promise of “Home Rule.”
Virtually all of Ireland (including the Church) unites behind Sinn
Fein in opposition. The
“German Plot” arrests (May 17—18) : Sinn Fein leaders (including Devalera,
Griffin, Maud Gonne and W.T. Cosgrave) arrested by English for alleged
cooperation with German plans in World War I. Collins springs him. |
| 1919 | TREATY
OF VERSAILLES, ending World War I First
meeting of Dail Eireann. Election as president repeated/confirmed. Dail
Eirann declared illegal by English government. Red
Sox sell Babe Ruth to the Yankees |
| 1919-1921 | ANGLO-IRISH
WAR (setting of O’Casey’s The Shadow of a Gunman Raises
millions of dollars in USA with Harry Boland, June 1919 to December of
1920. Quarrels repeatedly with Irish-American leadership. |
| 1920 | Death
(October 25) of Terrence MacSweeney after 74-day hunger-strike. Execution
(November 1) of Kevin Barry “Bloody
Sunday” (November 21) |
| 1921 | Arrested
and released to go to London. Signs TRUCE in Anglo-Irish War (July 9th). Peace Conference begins in London in October SIGNING of ANGLO-IRISH TREATY (December 6) |
| 1922 | Treaty
approved in January by Dail (64 to 57).
Resigns presidency and is succeeded by Griffin. General elections
in June approve the Treaty far less narrowly. First
Constitution of Ireland. Death
of Arthur Griffin, August 12th. Cosgrave
succeeds him as President. W.B. Yeats begins 6-yr. term as Senator. Beginnings
of CIVIL WAR: pro-treaty forces become the “Free State” army (led by Michael
Collins) and the “anti-Treaty” forces (led by Liam Lynch) become the “Republicans”
or the “Irregulars.” Republicans seize the Four Courts in Dublin on April
14th. Re-taken by Free-Staters
on June 30th. Collins ambushed
on Aug.21. MUSSOLINI
in POWER IN ITALY |
| 1922-23 | THE
IRISH CIVIL WAR (setting of O’Casey’s Juno and the Paycock.) Military phase lasts 10 months. Free
State government executes 77 Republican prisoners. (November 17th to May
2nd) In
May, 1923, Devalera orders a dumping of all IRA weapons. |
| 1923 | Arrested and held without trial for almost a year. Cosgrave founds the political party Cumann na nGaedheal which eventually emerges as Fine Gael. |
| 1925 | Divorce
outlawed in the Free State. |
| 1926 | Leaves
Sinn Fein party and founds Fianna Fail (the self-described Republican
or “slightly constitutional party”) The
Plough and the Stars opens (February 8) at the Abbey Theater. Week-long
riots, led by Hanna Sheehy Skeffington, begin on February 10. |
| 1927 | Takes
seat in Dail. Death
of Countess Markievicz |
| 1929 | Censorship
Board established. Wall
Street crash. |
| 1930 | Protesters
in Limerick burn Alfred Hitchcock film-version of Juno and the Paycock. |
| 1932 | Statute
of Westminster grants legislative autonomy to all dominions in the Commonwealth. Leads
Fianna Fail party to electoral victory with support of the Labor Party. Cosgrave bows out democratically. Elected president of the Council of the League
of Nations. Sinn
Fein continues its (increasingly unpopular) stance of non-participation
in the Dail. |
| 1933 | HITLER
CHANCELLOR of GERMANY Beginning
of 5-yr. “Tariff War” with Great Britain. Beginnings of 2-yr. anti-Catholic riots in six counties. |
| 1936 | Operation
in Zurich to save eyesight. IRA
declared an illegal organization in the Free State. CIVIL
WAR in SPAIN Abdication
of England’s King Edward VIII |
| 1937 | Second Constitution of Ireland. Becomes Taoiseach and holds that position for next 11 years. |
| 1938 | Calls
in vain for international Peace conference. Douglas Hyde elected first President
of the Republic. |
| 1939 | Declares
neutrality in WORLD WAR II. IRA
begins bombing-campaign in England and in northern Ireland. Two IRA men
executed in 1940. Over 650 persons imprisoned by 1943 in Curragh (County
Kildare). |
| 1945 | End of WORLD WAR II. Expresses condolences (May 2) at German embassy. Rebukes (May 16) the arrogance of Winston Churchill’s mockery of Irish neutrality. |
| 1948 | Six
operations to save detached retinas. J.
A. Costello and coalition-government defeat Fianna Fail. |
| 1949 | Ireland
declares itself a Republic. |
| 1950 | Catholic hierarchy (at height of its influence?), subverts socializing of maternal healthcare. |
| 1951-54 | Elected
Taoiseach again. |
| 1955 | Ireland
admitted to the United Nations. Takes
on peace-keeping roles in Belgian Congo and Cyprus. |
| 1957 | Creation
of Bord Failte. Tourist-income nearly doubles (to 80 million pounds) before
eruptions in the North. |
| 1957-59 | Elected
Taoiseach a third time. |
| 1959 | Elected
President of Ireland. (Serves in that office for 14 consecutive years.) On very same day, people reject his proposal
to abolish proportional representation. |
| 1962 | First
broadcast (Dec 31) of Telefis Eireann. |
| 1966 | Jack
Lynch succeeds Sean Lemass as Taoiseach |
| 1968 | Sectarian
riots in Derry |
| 1970 | Church
lifts ban on Catholic students attending Trinity. |
| 1972 | Popular
referendum removes from the 1937 Constitution the clause honoring the
special position of the Catholic Church. Signs
Ratification of the Treaty of Access to the European Union. Direct-rule
imposed by Britain in Northern Ireland. Garrett Fitzgerald publishes Toward
a New Ireland, assumes leadership of Fine Gael (1977—87), and serves
as Taoiseach for six years in that period. |
| 1973 | Term
as President of Ireland ends. Liam Cosgrave (son of W.T.) leads new coalition government |
| 1975 | Death
in Dublin at age 93. |