Chronology

1170	British settlers arrive in Ireland.
1608	The (systematic) settlement of Ulster begins.
1641	Catholic Irish uprising in response to the settlement and confiscation of land by Protestant settlers from England and Scotland.
1690	Battle of the Boyne - Protestant William III of Orange defeats the Catholic forces under James II - this victory is still celebrated in the form of parades and marches by Protestants in Northern Ireland.
1801	Act of Union - Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland created with a single parliament.
1912	The "Ulster Solemn League and Covenant" was signed by over 400,000 Protestants who wanted to remain as part of the Union (with Great Britain).
1916	Easter Risings - armed uprising of nationalists in Dublin - suppressed after 6 days by British troops.
1921	The Government of Ireland Act leads to the independence of Ireland (foundation of the Irish Free State with 26 counties), with 6 counties in Northern Ireland remaining part of the United Kingdom.
1968	Start of the Roman Catholic civil rights movement and the Troubles. Sectarian violence ensues between Protestant and Catholic activists.
1969	Following bloody disturbances in the city of Derry, British troops are sent to Northern Ireland to keep the peace on 14 August.
1970	Emergence of the Catholic Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA).
1972	On 30th January British soldiers kill 14 unarmed Catholics in Derry, an event that has been since known as Bloody Sunday. 474 people were killed during 1972. British government imposes direct rule from Westminster.
1974	35 are killed by bombs in Dublin and Monaghan planted by a pro-British organization called the Ulster Volunteer Force on the 17th of May.
	21st November: An IRA bomb kills 21 and injures 182 others in Birmingham on the British mainland.
1976	Betty Williams and Mairead Corrigan found the organization known as the Peace People and in doing so initiate Northern Ireland's civil rights movement. They are awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts [to award ceremony speech].
1979	18 soldiers and a member of the Royal Family are killed in an IRA attack on the British army.
1985	British government grants the Irish Republic an advisory role in Northern Ireland's affairs, although this is opposed by many Unionists and nationalists.
1987	11th November: IRA bomb kills 11 at a remembrance day ceremony in Ennis Killen.
1991/92	Multi-party talks in London on the future of Northern Ireland end in failure in November 1992.
1993	Secret contact by London with the IRA. On 16th December the Downing Street Declaration on the conditions for peace is signed by British and Irish prime ministers. Sinn Fein, the political wing of the IRA, gains certain powers provided violence stops.
1994	IRA declares a ceasefire on 31st August, the Protestant terrorist organizations follow suite on 13th of October.
1995	Anglo-Irish framework agreement on multi-party talks. Talks in London with Sinn Fein.
1996	IRA ends ceasefire by exploding a massive bomb in the heart of London's Docklands area.
1996	15 June: 200 are injured by an IRA bomb in a shopping centre in Manchester during the European football championships.
1997	Tony Blair begins peace negotiations on 14th September with Sinn Fein. IRA declares a return to ceasefire.
1998	On 10 April the Good Friday Agreement is signed at Stormont Castle, approved through referendums held in both Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic.
1998	15th August: At least 28 are killed and over 220 seriously injured when a car bomb explodes in Omagh.
1998	10th December: David Trimble and John Hume are awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
1999	December: Northern Ireland's executive and general assembly meet for the first time on December 1.
2000	February: United Kingdom temporarily suspends the Northern Ireland Assembly over the issue of IRA decommissioning. The peace process has been uncertain ever since.