Editing Timeline of Irish history (section)

== Mesolithic and neolithic periods ==
{| class="wikitable" width="100%"
! style="width:6%" | Year || style="width:10%" | Date || Event
|-
| c. 16,000 BC ||  || During the [[Last Glacial Maximum]], [[Ireland]] is covered in [[ice sheet]]s
|-
|c. 12,000 BC||  || A narrow channel forms between [[Prehistoric Ireland]] and southwest [[Scotland]]<ref name=Brad8>{{cite book |title=The prehistory of Britain and Ireland |first=Richard |last=Bradley |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-521-84811-4 |page=8 }}</ref>
|-
|c. 10,000 BC|| || Carbon-dating on bear bones indicate the presence of [[Paleolithic|Paleolithic people]] in County Clare.<ref>{{cite news | url= http://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/bear-bone-opens-new-chapter-in-ireland-s-archaeology-1.2581144 | title= Bear bone opens new chapter in Ireland's archaeology | date= 21 March 2016 | newspaper= Irish Times | access-date= 20 April 2016 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160426235726/http://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/bear-bone-opens-new-chapter-in-ireland-s-archaeology-1.2581144 | archive-date= 26 April 2016 | url-status= live | df= dmy-all }}</ref>
|-
| c. 8000 BC ||  || [[Mesolithic]] hunter-gatherers migrate to Ireland
|-
| c. 6500 BC ||  || Mesolithic hunter-gatherers occupy sites such as that at [[Mount Sandel Mesolithic site|Mount Sandel]] in [[Ulster]]
|-
| c. 4000 BC ||  || Agriculture (including the keeping of livestock, and crop farming) has its beginnings in Ireland, at sites such as the [[Céide Fields]] in [[Connacht]]
|-
| c. 3500 BC ||  || The [[Neolithic]] peoples of the [[Boyne Valley]] build a complex of chamber tombs, standing stones and enclosures over a period of hundreds of years. ([[Newgrange]] itself is dated to 3300–2900 BC).
|}