Synopses & Reviews
either they or we must be ruined concluded Archbishop William King of Protestant Catholic relations in Ireland. And this, argues Pádraig Lenihan, was the default state of relations between the two communities throughout the 17th century.
This groundbreaking and controversial new study tells the story of two nations in Ireland; an Irish Catholic nation and a Protestant nation, emerging from a blood-stained century. This survey confronts the violence and enmity inherent in the consolidation of conquest. This was the age of:
· the Ulster plantation
· Cromwells conquest and post-war settlement.
· the battles of the Boyne and Aughrim, the sieges of Derry and Limerick.
· the economic and parliamentary foundations of Protestant ascendancy.
Lenihan contends that the overriding grand narrative of this period was one of conflict and dispossession as the native elite was progressively displaced by a new colonial ruling class. This struggle was not confined to war but also had cultural, religious, economic and social reverberations. At times the darkness was relieved throughout the period by episodes of peaceful cooperation. Consolidating Conquest places events in Ireland in the context of three Stuart kingdoms, religious rivalry within and between those kingdoms, and the shifting balance of power as monarchy and commonwealth, Whitehall and Westminster, fought for ultimate power.
If the project of creating a common Irish national identity, embracing Catholic, Protestant and Dissenter was for the most part a failure, and divisions between native and newcomer froze into permanence, then the explanation must be sought in the catastrophic seventeenth-century. Consolidating Conquest shows how this failure has left a legacy of contending histories which offer material for latter day triumphalism and victimhood. For any student wishing to understand Irelands troubled past and complex present, this book is essential reading.
Pádraig Lenihan lectures in history at the University of Limerick. His recent publications include, Conquest and Resistance: War in 17th Century Ireland (2001) and 1690 the Battle of the Boyne (2003).
Synopsis
This groundbreaking and controversial new study tells the story of two nations in Ireland; an Irish Catholic nation and a Protestant nation, emerging from a blood-stained century. This survey confronts the violence and enmity inherent in the consolidation of conquest.
Lenihan contends that the overriding grand narrative of this period was one of conflict and dispossession as the native elite was progressively displaced by a new colonial ruling class. This struggle was not confined to war but also had cultural, religious, economic and social reverberations. At times the darkness was relieved throughout the period by episodes of peaceful cooperation. Consolidating Conquest places events in Ireland in the context of three Stuart kingdoms, religious rivalry within and between those kingdoms, and the shifting balance of power as monarchy and commonwealth, Whitehall and Westminster, fought for ultimate power.
Synopsis
Accessible account of a crucial period in Irish history, including such iconic events as the Ulster plantations, the massacres of Drogheda and Wexford and the Battle of the Boyne.
§ Covers a crucial period for any understanding of the Troubles and of contemporary Ireland
§ Written in a lively, attractive and crisp style
§ Links events in Ireland to the other two Stuart kingdoms and to changes in the balance of power in England before and after the Civil War.
§ Author combines an unrivalled understanding of seventeenth century warfare with deep knowledge of Gaelic society in transition.
Synopsis
either they or we must be ruined concluded Archbishop William King of Protestant Catholic relations in Ireland. And this, argues Pádraig Lenihan, was the default state of relations between the two communities throughout the 17th century.
This groundbreaking and controversial new study tells the story of two nations in Ireland; an Irish Catholic nation and a Protestant nation, emerging from a blood-stained century. This survey confronts the violence and enmity inherent in the consolidation of conquest. This was the age of:
· the Ulster plantation
· Cromwells conquest and post-war settlement.
· the battles of the Boyne and Aughrim, the sieges of Derry and Limerick.
· the economic and parliamentary foundations of Protestant ascendancy.
Lenihan contends that the overriding grand narrative of this period was one of conflict and dispossession as the native elite was progressively displaced by a new colonial ruling class. This struggle was not confined to war but also had cultural, religious, economic and social reverberations. At times the darkness was relieved throughout the period by episodes of peaceful cooperation. Consolidating Conquest places events in Ireland in the context of three Stuart kingdoms, religious rivalry within and between those kingdoms, and the shifting balance of power as monarchy and commonwealth, Whitehall and Westminster, fought for ultimate power.
If the project of creating a common Irish national identity, embracing Catholic, Protestant and Dissenter was for the most part a failure, and divisions between native and newcomer froze into permanence, then the explanation must be sought in the catastrophic seventeenth-century. Consolidating Conquest shows how this failure has left a legacy of contending histories which offer material for latter day triumphalism and victimhood. For any student wishing to understand Irelands troubled past and complex present, this book is essential reading.
Pádraig Lenihan lectures in history at the University of Limerick. His recent publications include, Conquest and Resistance: War in 17th Century Ireland (2001) and 1690 the Battle of the Boyne (2003).
Synopsis
This book covers the crucial period of Irish history from the completion of the Tudor conquest of Ireland and the end of Gaelic resistance to the temporary achievement of political stability in the early eighteenth century. This was a period of not entirely successful attempts to turn Ireland into a kingdom that was thoroughly English in terms of land settlement, law and government. It was also a period of revolts, suppression and the threat of invasion of the Ulster plantations, Cromwells campaigns, the massacres of Drogheda and Wexford and the Battle of the Boyne iconic events which laid the foundations for many centuries of trouble to come.
About the Author
Padraig Lenihan has spent many years introducing undergraduates to this fascinating period. He is also an experienced author (including 1690: The Battle of the Boyne) who focuses on the history of warfare in Ireland in the mid and late seventeenth-century.
Table of Contents
- Reform to conquest 1534-1603
- Consolidating conquest
- Plantation 1608-22
- English, Old and New 1613-40
- Rising 1641-42
- God or King? 1642-49
- Cromwellian conquest and settlement 1649-59
- Charles II 1660-85
- James II 1685-91
- Parliament, patronage and 'patriots' 1692-1727
- Land and people
Conclusion: Wars and Peace