Quelques dates clés

432 : St. Patrick arrived to help convert the pagan Irish to Christianity
1169 : Part conquest by Norman Knights from Britain
1534 : Act of Supremacy (separating Church of England from Rome) followed by extension of Protestant Reformation to Ireland
1601 : Defeat of Gaelic Irish Catholic Chiefs by English forces at the Battle of Kinsale, to be followed by the Protestant plantation of Ulster
1690 : Defeat of Catholic King James II by Protestant King William of Orange followed by Penal Laws against Catholics and Protestant Dissenters
1798 : Failed Irish Republican rebellion
1829 : Catholic Emancipation Act
1845-48 : Great Irish Famine followed by large scale emigration
1871 : Church of Ireland (Anglican) disestablished in Ireland
1916 : Irish Nationalist rebellion
1921 : Partition of Ireland - 6 counties of Northern Ireland remain within United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
1922 : Independence for 26 counties of new Irish Free State
1937 : New Constitution
1969 : Eruption of violent conflict in Northern Ireland
1972 : Referendum removes the clause in the 1937 Constitution recognizing the special position of the Roman Catholic Church
1973 : Ireland joins the EEC (European Union)
1995 : Referendum passed to allow divorce
2013 : Legislation passed allowing abortion, in cases of threat to life of the mother
2015 : Referendum passed allowing same-sex marriage.