 November 1st 1884 The Gaelic Athletic Association founded to promote Irish sport and games. The association denies membership to the police and army and was immediately infiltrated by the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB).
First Home Rule Bill for Ireland presented by Gladstone, the Liberal Prime Minister of Britain, to the House of Commons.
First Home Rule Bill defeated by 343 votes to 313.
Gaelic League founded by Douglas Hyde and Eoin MacNeill in order to encourage Irish people to speak the language and take a greater interest in their culture.
Gladstones' Second Home Rule Bill passed by House of Commons but vetoed by The House of Lords by 419 votes to 41.
Cumann na nGaedheal (Irish Council) founded by Arthur Griffith in order to promote a buy Irish campaign.
National Council formed by Griffith to protest the proposed visit of Edward VII to Ireland. The Council attracts members such as W B Yeats and Maude Gonne.
Dungannon Clubs founded in Ulster to promote separatism from Britain. Bulmer Hobson and Denis McCullogh, IRB revivalists, were the main organisers of these societies.
Cumann na Gaedheal, the National Council and The Dungannon Clubs are amalgamated to form Sinn Féin (Ourselves)
Countess Markievicz and Bulmer Hobson organise nationalist youths into Na Fianna Éireann (Warriors of Ireland) a kind of Boy Scout brigade. The emphasis was on the Irish Language and establishing independence. Many members were later to join the IRB.
Asquith introduces the Third Home Rule Bill to the British Parliament. Passed by the Commons and rejected by the Lords the Bill would have to become law thanks to the Parliament Act. Home Rule expected to be introduced for Ireland by autumn 1914.
Sir Edward Carson and James Craig set up Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) with the intention of defending Ulster against Home Rule.
Jim Larkin founder of the Irish Transport and General Workers Union (ITGWU) calls for a workers strike for better pay and conditions.
Massive protest rally on Sackville Street attacked by the Dublin Metropolitan Police. Two strikers killed by the police.
Larkin and James Connolly establish the Irish Citizens Army in order to protect strikers.
The Irish Volunteers founded in Dublin to "secure the rights and liberties common to all the people of Ireland". By 1914 their ranks swell to 100,000. In line with the Volunteers, a womens league, (Cumann Na mBan) is founded and organised by Countess Markievicz, Agnes O'Farrelly and Mary MacSwiney.
A shipment of 35,000 rifles and 5 million rounds of ammunition are landed at Larne for the UVF.
Irish Volunteers unload a shipment of 1,500 rifles and 45,000 rounds of ammunition freshly arrived from Germany aboard Erskine Childers' yacht the Asgard. British troops fire on jeering crowd on Bachelors Walk, Dublin, killing three citizens.
First World War declared. Home Rule for Ireland shelved for the duration of the war with Germany.
Meeting held at Gaelic League headquarters between IRB and other extreme republicans. Initial decision made to stage an uprising while Britain is at war.
John Redmond urges Irish Volunteers to enlist in the British Army. A split occurs in the movement as 170,000 leave the Volunteers and form the National Volunteers or Redmondites. Only 11,000 remain as the Irish volunteers under Eóin MacNeill.
Military Council of the IRB is formed consisting of Pearse, Plunkett, MacDiarmada, Ceantt and Clarke. These men take effective control of the plans for the Rising.
Pearse gives fiery oration at the funeral of Jeremiah O'Donovan Rossa warning Britain that "Ireland unfree shall never be at peace".
Military Council manipulation ensures Denis McCullough becomes president of the IRB. McCullough has no knowledge of the Military Council or their plans.
James Connolly encouraged to join the IRB and is voted onto the Military Council thus ensuring that the Irish Citizens Army shall be involved in the Rising. Thomas MacDonagh becomes the seventh member of the Military Council several weeks later. Rising date confirmed for Easter Sunday.
The Libau sets sail from Lubeck in Germany. Captain Karl Spindler changes the name of the vessel to the Aud to avoid detection by the British who would be very interested in her cargo of 20,000 rifles bound for Tralee Bay on the south west coast of Ireland.
Sir Roger Casement boards submarine U-19 at Wilmshaven, Germany, bound for a rendezvous with the Aud at Tralee. With him are Robert Monteith an IRB man and Sergeant Daniel Bailey a former prisoner of war who had joined Casements Irish Brigade. Casement tired and ill after many months in Germany seeking military assistance for the Rising.
Alderman Kelly reads the Castle Order to a meeting of Dublin Corporation. This forged document supposedly from Dublin Castle, indicated that there was to be mass arrests of Irish Volunteers to prevent "trouble".
The Aud arrives at Tralee Bay. As the local Volunteers expect the ship to arrive on Easter Saturday, the arms are not landed. Spindler waits in vain for a signal from shore.
Roger Casement and his two companions go ashore from U-19 and land on Banna Strand. Bailey and Monteith go to seek the local Volunteers. Hour's later Casement is discovered at McKenna's Fort and is arrested by the Royal Irish Constabulary.
The Aud is captured by the British Navy and forced to sail towards Cork Harbour.
Karl Spindler and his crew scuttle the Aud to prevent her precious cargo falling into enemy hands. The weapons for the Rising are lost to the sea off Daunt's Rock.
Eóin MacNeill as Chief of Staff of the Irish Volunteers issues the Countermanding order in Dublin to try to stop the Rising. The O'Rahilly embarks on a journey to the South with these orders.
The Military Council meet to discuss the situation considering MacNeill has placed an advertisement in a Sunday newspaper halting all Volunteer operations. The Rising is put on hold for 24 hours. Hundreds of copies of The Proclamation of the Republic are printed in Liberty Hall.
The 1916 Rising begins in Dublin.
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