This 'Timeline' is a graphic representation of the period covered by the Irish Legislation Database (1692 to 1800).

The Timeline has three levels: Reigns, Parliaments and Sessions. Each has a different 'scale', or level of detail. The duration of each Reign, Parliament and Session is shown as a pink or blue bar. Use your mouse to click and drag the different levels to the right (forward in time) and left (back in time).

You can see that Sessions were relatively infrequent and sometimes very short in the 1690s and 1700s. Later in the 18th century Sessions became more frequent.

Parliaments were automatically dissolved on the death of the Monarch. Otherwise they were dissolved only at the discretion of the Monarch (advised by ministers), until the passage of the Octennial Act (1768). This act prescribed that no Parliament could last longer than eight years. After the exceptionally long parliaments lasting the entire reigns of George I and George II, dissolutions of parliament and consequently elections came to be more frequent events in the later 18th century.

If you click on one of the Sessions shown in Timeline you will see a list of the acts of parliament passed, organised by Regnal Year and Chapter Number. You can go directly to these lists without using the Timeline by clicking here.