Situated on one of Europe's busiest sea-roads, Ireland has always been connected to other cultures. This accessible and engaging history explores these connections across 1,600 years, from the arrival of Christianity in the fifth century to the present day. While the Norman invasion in 1169 brought the English crown into Irish politics, the impulse to preserve the Irish language and early Irish history united many of the Gaelic-Irish and Anglo-Normans from the fourteenth century. The Irish nationhood that emerged later was based more on Catholicism, as Ireland became a minor theatre of bitter European conflicts of the early modern period. Political (and religious) loyalties which solidified at this point determined Irish politics for the next three centuries, through the Troubles and beyond. Alongside these major political events, Caitriona Clear examines the living and working conditions of ordinary men and women — what they traded and farmed, how they lived and loved, and how they were often affected, but not always overwhelmed, by the politics of their time.
By:
Caitriona Clear
Imprint: Cambridge University Press
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Weight: 250g
ISBN: 9781009494007
ISBN 10: 1009494007
Series: Cambridge Concise Histories
Pages: 374
Publication Date: 12 March 2026
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Further / Higher Education
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Introduction; 1. TRANSFORMATION: early medieval Ireland c.430–1169; 2. INVASIONS: late medieval Ireland 1169–1520; 3. WARS: from Silken Thomas's rebellion to the penal laws, 1534–1704; 4. PEACE? Ireland's short eighteenth century, 1704–1791; 5. CONSTRUCTION and DESTRUCTION: war, peace and famine 1791–1851; 6. MODERNISATION: from the famine to the farmers' victory, 1850–1903; 7. REVOLUTION: twenty decisive years 1903–1923; 8. STABILITY 1922–1969; 9. THE THIRTY YEAR 'TROUBLES' 1969–1998; 10. PROSPERITY/AUSTERITY/PROSPERITY? 1998–c.2016; CONCLUSION; Appendix: Irish population 1821–2016.
Caitriona Clear lectured in history at the University of Galway until her retirement. Her publications include Nuns in 19th-Century Ireland (1987), Women of the House in Ireland 1926–1961 (2000), Social Change and Everyday Life in Ireland 1850–1922 (2007) and Women's Voices: Women's Magazines in Ireland in the 1950s and 60s (2016).
