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| 1766, June–Aug |
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| More rioting regarding food shortages, which were partly the result of droughts in the preceding year. | 1 |
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| 1769 |
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| The Belfast barracks attacked by Steelboys, a Presbyterian peasant movement. | 2 |
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| 1772 |
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| Dublin Foundling Hospital and Workhouse Act established overseers to care for abandoned children. Parliament also enacted legislation to badge beggars and establish workhouses. | 3 |
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| 1778 |
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| Catholic Relief Act allowed Catholics to sign 999-year leases and use normal inheritance proceedings. This act partially rectified the land legislation of the 17th century. | 4 |
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| 1782 |
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| Catholic Relief Acts allowed Catholics to acquire land and teach school. | 5 |
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| 1782 |
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| Protestant dissenter Relief Act recognized the legality of Presbyterian marriages. | 6 |
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| 1783 |
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| National Volunteer Convention proposed parliamentary reforms which the House of Commons rejected. The Volunteers provided a strong impetus for resisting the Act of Union. | 7 |
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| 1787 |
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| Tumultuous Rising Act sought to quell riots. It was patterned after the English Riot Act. | 8 |
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| 1791, July 14 |
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| Demonstrations throughout Ireland in commemoration of the fall of the Bastille. The Irish sought support for their own independence from the French revolutionaries, which greatly concerned the British. | 9 |
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| 1792, Jan. 4 |
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| The first issue of the Northern Star, published by the United Irishmen of Belfast. This organization supported efforts to gain independence from Britain. | 10 |
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| 1793, Aug. 16 |
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| Convention Act prohibited assemblies for the purpose of petitioning the king. It marked the beginning of efforts to quell the activities of the United Irishmen and Volunteers. | 11 |
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| 1798 |
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| Martial Law imposed in an effort to quell insurrection. | 12 |
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| Aug. 22 |
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| French force landed at Killala and had success at Castlebar. It surrendered at Bullinamuck on Sept. 8. | 13 |
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