A superb passage grave is built at Newgrange in Ireland

Niall of the Nine Hostages is the first man to be called king of Ireland, though his direct control does not extend beyond Ulster

St Patrick creates a strong tradition of Celtic Christianity in Ireland, from his base in Armagh

Monks in Ireland live in stone beehive cells on rocky islands, to achieve maximum discomfort

St Finnian founds the first of Ireland's great Celtic monasteries, at Clonard

The distinction between capital and lower-case emerges in the scriptoria of the Irish monasteries

The Scots, a tribal group of northern Ireland, extend their kingdom across the sea into Scotland

The Book of Durrow, one of the earliest of the great Celtic manuscripts, is written and illuminated in Ireland

Vikings from Norway capture Dublin and establish a Norse kingdom in Ireland

After years of raiding up the Shannon, the Vikings capture Limerick

Brian Boru becomes king of Munster and leader of the Irish campaign against the Vikings

Brian Boru, aged 73, achieves a major victory over the Vikings at Clontarf but is killed in his tent after the battle

Normans land in Ireland, seize Wexford, and in the following year capture Waterford and Dublin

Henry II, the king of England, summons the Irish and Norman lords to do homage to him in Dublin

The English government in Dublin calls a parliament on the lines of England's recent Model Parliament

Robert de Bruce, in hiding on the island of Rathlin, is supposedly given a lesson in perseverance by a spider

Edward Bruce is crowned king of Ireland at Dundalk, but his uprising ends two years later when he is killed in battle with the English

Lambert Simnel, supposedly a nephew of Edward IV, is crowned in Dublin - but ends up working in the royal kitchens of Henry VII

The earls of Tyrone and Tyrconnel sail from Ireland with their families, in the event known as the Flight of the Earls

Cromwell captures the royalist stronghold of Drogheda and massacres some 2800 people

Parliamentary reprisals against the rebellious Irish result in two thirds of Ireland's land being owned by the English or the Scots

Ireland becomes the first European region in which the potato is an important food crop

James II, landing in Ireland, is acclaimed as king in Dublin by enthusiastic Irish Catholics

The armies of James II and William III confront each at the river Boyne, with victory going to William

In the years after the battle of the Boyne, Catholic ownership of land in Ireland is reduced to just 14% of the total