Until about
9.500 years ago Ireland was uninhabited. The first people, who may have crossed
by a land bridge from Scotland, were hunter-gatherers and left few traces of
permanent settlement. The 4th millennium BC saw the arrival of
Neolithic farmers and herdsmen who built stone field walls and monumental tombs
such as Newgrange. Metalworking was brought from Europe around 2000 BC by the
Bronze Age Beaker people, who also introduced new pottery skills. The Iron Age
reached Ireland in the 3rd century BC along with the Celts, who
migrated from Central Europe, via France and Britain, and soon established
themselves as the dominant culture.
8000 BC
c. 7500 BC. First inhabitants of Ireland
6000 BC
6000 Date of huts excavated at Mount-Sandel, Co
Londonderry; oldest known dwellings in Europe
5000 – 3000 Ireland covered by dense woodland dominated by oak and
elm
4000 BC
3700 Neolithic farmers reach Ireland; they clear woods to
plant cereals
2500 Building of Newgrange passage tomb
2050 Beaker people (so called for their delicate pottery
vessels) reach Ireland at the beginning of Bronze Age
2000 BC
1500 Major advances in metalworking especially gold
1000 BC
750 BC
600 First wave of Celtic invaders
500 BC
500 Intertribal warfare; chieftains vie for title of Ard Ri (High King)
250 BC
250 Second wave of Celts, who bring La Tène style of pottery
AD 1
AD 80 Roman General Agricola considers invasion of Ireland
from Britain
c. 150 Greek geographer Ptolemy draws up map and account of
Ireland
AD 250
367 Roman Britain
attacked by Irish, Picts and Saxons
