This pamphlet makes use of the most recent revisionist literature to reassess the view, much propagated by nationalist sources, that Ireland was a land of impoverished peasants oppressed by English laws and absentee English landlords. The land question has always been closely linked to the development of Irish national consciousness, and greatly exercised the minds of English politicians in the latter part of the nineteenth century. The author examines the nature of English understanding of Irish problems, which was often limited or ignorant, and attributes to it much of the unsound and ineffective ligislation passed. The book is concerned less with questions of English party politics than with the situation in Ireland itself and with the nature of the English response to it.

The years of Ireland’s union with Great Britain are most often regarded as a period of great turbulence and conflict. And so they were. But there are other stories too, and these need to be integrated in any account of the period. Ireland’s progressive primary education system is examined here alongside the Famine; the growth of a happily middle-class Victorian suburbia is taken into account as well as the appalling Dublin slum statistics. In each case, neither story stands without the other. This study synthesises some of the main scholarly developments in Irish and British historiography and seeks to provide an updated and fuller understanding of the debates surrounding nineteenth- and early twentieth-century history.

From 1800 to 1922 the Irish Question was the most emotional and divisive issue in British politics. It pitted Westminster politicians, anti-Catholic British public opinion, and Irish Protestant and Presbyterian champions of the Union against the determination of Ireland's large Catholic majority to obtain civil rights, economic justice, and cultural and political independence. In this completely revised and updated edition of The Irish Question, Lawrence J. McCaffrey extends his classic analysis of Irish nationalism to the present day. He makes clear the tortured history of British-Irish relations and offers insight into the difficulties now facing those who hope to create a permanent peace in Northern Ireland.

Perspectives on Irish Nationalism examines the cultural, political, religious, economic, linguistic, folklore, and historical dimensions of the phenomenon of Irish nationalism. Its essayists are among the most distinguished Irish studies scholars. Their essays include a comprehensive analysis of the tapestry of Irish nationalism and focused studies that often challenge myths, pieties, and the scholarly consensus. Thomas E. Hachey is Professor of Irish, Irish-American, and British history and Chair of the department at Marquette University. He wrote Britain and Irish Separatism: From the Fenians to the Free State 1807-1922 (1977), coauthored and edited The Problem of Partition: Peril to World Peace (1972); coedited Voices of Revolution: Rebels and Rhetoric (1972), and edited Anglo-Vatican Relations, 1919-1937: Confidential Annual Reports of the British Ministers to the Holy See and Confidential Dispatches: Analyses of American by the British Ambassador, 1939-45 (1974). Lawrence J. McCaffrey is Professor of Irish and Irish-American History at Loyola University of Chicago. He has published a number of articles and books, including Daniel O'Connell and the Repeal Year (1966), The Irish Question, 1800-1922 (1968), The Irish Diaspora in America (1976) and coauthored The Irish in Chicago (1987). "

The second edition of this popular title provides both a narrative and analysis of the relationship between Great Britain and Ireland, from its origins and the Act of Union in 1800 to the Anglo Irish settlement in 1922. Important events such as the Great Famine and the Easter Rising are explained, and key figures such as Parnell, Gladstone and O'Connell are assessed. This is an essential text for students studying this period to aid understanding of the complex but compelling issues that arose in Ireland and Britain during this period. Throughout the book, key dates, terms and issues are highlighted, and historical interpretations of key debates are outlined. Summary diagrams are included to consolidate knowledge and understanding of the period, and exam style questions and tips for each examination board provide the opportunity to develop exam skills.

The Making of Ireland by James Lydon provides an accessible history of Ireland from the earliest times. James Lydon recounts, in colourful detail, the waves of settlers, missionaries and invaders which have come to Ireland since pre-history and offers a long perspective on Irish history right up to the present time. This comprehensive survey includes discussion of the arrival of St. Patrick in the fifth century and Henry II in the twelfth, as well as that of numerous soldiers, traders and craftsmen through the ages. The author explores how these settlers have shaped the political and cultural climate of Ireland today. James Lydon charts the changing racial mix of Ireland through the ages which shaped the Irish nation. The author also follows Ireland's long and troubled entanglement with England from its beginning many centuries ago. The Making of Ireland offers a complete history in one volume. Through a predominantly political narrative, James Lydon provides a coherent and readable introduction to this vital complex history.

This book examines the impact of World War One on the people of Limerick. It traces how recruitment, which was weak at the commencement of the war, increased locally after the leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party, John Redmond, issued his call for Irish nationalists and others to enlist, and, as the war progressed, how Sinn Féin separatists impinged on recruiting efforts. It also shows that the British War Office were unwitting contributors to the separatists’ cause by their ill-conceived actions that only assisted them in their political cause and anti-recruiting campaign. The book also tracks how the separatists gained considerably in both military and political strength locally through the inept policies that changed public support for the war effort, thereby paving the way for the Sinn Féin victory in the General Election of December 1918; thus giving credence to the author and poet Robert Graves’ description that Limerick had become a Sinn Féin-ridden town. Further to this, it demonstrates that, despite the best efforts of local capitalists to procure war work contracted out by the British War Office, only very little was achieved; the War Office ensuring that the vast array of such work was to remain in Britain. Some local capitalists did, of course, gain as a result of the war; these were notably those such as merchants and farmers who were in a position to provide Britain and her army with all the foodstuffs that she required. Those on low incomes, namely the working class who also provided the majority of recruits for the armed forces, were to suffer through the ever-increasing price rises. This book, therefore, reveals a complex scene where social and political alignments reflect much of what was happening nationally, but also had uniquely local characteristics.

An updated printing of John O'Beirne Ranelagh's history, covering events to September 1998.

This third edition of John O'Beirne Ranelagh's classic history of Ireland incorporates contemporary political and economic events as well as the latest archaeological and DNA discoveries. Comprehensively revised and updated throughout, it considers Irish history from the earliest times through the Celts, Cromwell, plantations, famine, Independence, the Omagh bomb, peace initiatives, and financial collapse. It profiles the key players in Irish history from Diarmuid MacMurrough to Gerry Adams and casts new light on the events, North and South, that have shaped Ireland today. Ireland's place in the modern world and its relationship with Britain, the USA and Europe is also examined with a fresh and original eye. Worldwide interest in Ireland continues to increase, but whereas it once focused on violence in Northern Ireland, the tumultuous financial events in the South have opened fresh debates and drawn fresh interest. This is a new history for a new era.