An extensively documented collection of essays examining various aspects of Irish-American life in Philadelphia over a major portion of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Anglo-Irish relations in the twentieth century can be described as being close but tortuous. This paradox is fused with Ireland's geographical location - both isolated from Europe and in close proximity to the main island of the British archipelago. Using a geopolitical analysis based on the theories of Sir Halford Mackinder, this book provides a new understanding of the strategic imperatives that have driven British policy throughout the turbulent events of the twentieth century. Containing material which has only recently been released by the Public Record Office, this book brings an entirely new perspective to the reality of Irish neutrality, and the pivotal importance of Northern Ireland in the Battle of the Atlantic during the Second World War. Furthermore, using US archival material, it gives a new insight into Ireland's geopolitical importance in the First World War, and her contribution to victory against the German U-boats.

In 1969 the once peaceful Catholic civil rights movement in Northern Ireland degenerated into widespread violence between the nationalist and unionist communities. The conflict, known as the Troubles, would last for thirty years. The early years of the Troubles helped to define the nature of the conflict for years to come. This was the period in which unionism divided into moderate and extreme wings; the Provisional IRA emerged amidst the resurgence of violent republicanism; and British military and governmental responsibility for Northern Ireland culminated in direct rule. Based on extensive research in British, Irish and American archives, Anglo-Irish Relations in the Early Troubles examines the diplomatic relationship between the key players in the formative years of the Northern Ireland conflict. It analyses how the Irish government attempted to influence British policy regarding Northern Ireland and how Britain sought to affect Dublin's response to the crisis. It was from this strained relationship of opposition and co-operation that the long-term shape of the Troubles emerged.

An examination of the various dimensions - political, social and economic - to the evolution of Franco-Irish relations in the early modern period. The period 1500 to 1610 witnessed a fundamental transformation in the nature of Franco-Irish relations. In 1500 contact was exclusively based on trade and small-scale migration. However, from the early 1520s to the early 1580s, the dynamics of 'normal' relations were significantly altered as unprecedented political contacts between Ireland and France were cultivated. These ties were abandoned when, after decades of unsuccessful approaches to the French crown for military and financial support for their opposition to the Tudor régime in Ireland, Irish dissidents redirected their pleas to the court of Philip II of Spain. Trade and migration, which had continued at a modest level throughout the sixteenth century, re-emerged in the early 1600s as the most important and enduring channels of contact between the France and Ireland, though the scale of both had increased dramatically since the early sixteenth century. In particular, the unprecedented influx of several thousand Irish migrants into France in the later stages and in the aftermath of the Nine Years' War in Ireland (1594-1603) represented a watershed in Franco-Irishrelations in the early modern period. By 1610 Ireland and Irish people were known to a significantly larger section of French society than had been the case a hundred years before. The intensification of this contact notwithstanding, the intricacies of Irish domestic political, religious and ideological conflicts continued to elude the vast majority of educated Frenchmen, including those at the highest rank in government and diplomatic circles. In their minds, Ireland remained an exotic country. They viewed the Irish in the streets of their cities and towns as offensive, slothful, dirty, prolific and uncouth, just as they were depicted in the French scholarly tracts read by the French elite. This study explores the various dimensions to this important chapter in the evolution of Franco-Irish relations in the early modern period. MARY ANN LYONS is Professor of History at Maynooth University, Republic of Ireland.

Providing essays, sources with questions and worked answers, together with background to each topic within Irish history, Nick Pelling provides a good foundational text for the study of Anglo-Irish relations. For centuries the relationship between Ireland and England has been difficult. Anglo-Irish Relations, 1798–1922 explores the tempestuous events from Wolfe Tone's failed rising to Michael Collins's arguably more successful effort, culminating in the controversial Anglo-Irish treaty of 1921. Classic struggles between key figures, such as O'Connell and Peel, Parnell and Gladstone, and Lloyd George and Michael Collins, are discussed and analyzed. The deeper issues about the nature of British Imperial rule and the diversity of Irish nationalism are also examined, highlighting the historiographical debate surrounding the so-called 'revisionist' view.

The Act of Union, coming into effect on 1 January 1801, portended the integration of Ireland into a unified, if not necessarily uniform, community. This volume treats the complexities, perspectives, methodologies and debates on the themes of the years between 1801 and 1879. Its focus is the making of the Union, the Catholic question, the age of Daniel O'Connell, the famine and its consequences, emigration and settlement in new lands, post-famine politics, religious awakenings, Fenianism, the rise of home rule politics and emergent feminism.

In 1919, Prime Minister David Lloyd George of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland noted that “there is a path of fatality which pursues the relations between the two countries and makes them eternally at cross purposes.” For better or worse, Ireland has frequently been defined by its relationship with its neighbor to the east. And for centuries, English monarchs and governments have struggled with what they came to term “the Irish Question.” Through 76 primary source documents, contextualized by informative introductions and annotations, this volume explores the political, economic, and cultural impacts of the relationship between Ireland and England.

This book examines the evolution of British - Irish relations since 1921 and applies theories from political and social sciences, including international relations to the Irish/Northern Irish case. The book includes the generation and analysis of primary data on violence and constitutional debate; the analysis of primary sources such as state papers; and elite interviews with British and Irish officials, representatives of constitutional political parties in Northern Ireland, and leaders and activists of republican and loyalist parties/organisations. Part 1 looks at how the attempt to regulate the Irish nationalist challenge to the British state (through dominion status for the Irish Free State and partition) impacted on governance in both jurisdictions. The re-opening of the (Northern) Irish Question in the late 1960s is then analysed to demonstrate the continued primacy of opposing claims to national self-determination and their impact on subsidiary levels of conflict. The final part, covering the year 1985 to the present, then demonstrates how the relative equalization of national status, reflected in the bi-national, inter-governmental relationship, has been successful in regulating conflict by integrating vertically the bi-nationality at state, governmental, and societal levels. Finally, implications of the British-Irish approach are developed as contributions to the comparative theory and practice of ethno-national conflict regulation. Ã?Â?Ã?Â?