Top Moments in Irish History

1. Decriminalising Homosexuality
Before 1993, being homosexual was classified as a crime in Ireland. David Norris, a lecturer at Trinity College in Dublin started the ball rolling by starting a campaign - the Campaign for Homosexual Law Reform. He eventually became a senator, and in 1988 he confronted the Irish State in the European Court regarding their status on homosexuality - and he won the case. He began to take important steps to achieve his aim - to decriminalise homosexuality. In 1993, Ireland passed Criminal Fraud and homosexuality was officially decriminalised in Ireland.

2. Ireland votes to legalise gay marriage
In May 2015, Ireland legalised gay marriage. Leo Vradkar (Ireland's Taoiseach), spoke openly about his homosexuality and wanted to reform the state's law on same-sex marriage. He announced that Ireland would hold a referendum in May of that year. 1.2 million people out of 1,935,907 people voted in favour of the bill, and made Ireland the first country to approve same-sex marriage by popular vote.

3. 1916 Rising

The 1916 Rising is one of the most important moments in Irish history. A group of Irish republicans fought for Irish freedom from the British during a feud known as the Easter Rising. However, the British fought back harder against the Irish and ended up winning the rising, resulting in over one million deaths.

4. Women allowed to vote

In 1922, women were given the right to vote in Ireland. Before this, in 1918, women were only allowed to vote if they were over 30 and had a qualification. However, men were given the right to vote if they were over 21 and a qualification was not necessary.

5. Good Friday Agreement

A solution to the dragged-out troubled that occurred in Northern Ireland was finally reached in April 1998. This was a huge step to achieving peace in Ireland for the first time in history.