Book Reviews

The Irish in Europe, 1580-1815, Thomas O’Connor (ed.). (Four Courts Press, £35.44) ISBN 1851825797 La emigración irlandesa en siglo xviii [Irish emigration in the eighteenth century] María Begoña Villar García (ed.) (Universidad de Málaga) I

These two collections of essays expand on works such as Micheline Kerney-Walsh’s An exile of Ireland, Hugh O’Neill, Prince of Ulster, emphasising that there was much more to Irish continental migration than dispossessed aristocracy and unemployed soldiery looking to new horizons. Both books also hint at a great deal of research waiting to be done … Read more

Die Beziehungen zwischen Spanien und Irland im 16. und 17. Jahrhundert. Diplomatie, Handel und die soziale Integration katholischer Exulanten, [The Relationship between Spain and Ireland in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth centuries: the diplomacy,

For the last fifteen years ‘confessionalisation’ has been one of the most prominent concepts in German scholarship on early modern Europe. In the wake of the methodological approaches of Heinz Schilling and Wolfgang Reinhard concerning the role of religion in social change and state formation scholars have explored the impact of confessionalisation both on German … Read more

Irlanda y el rey prudente, [Ireland and the Prudent King], Enrique García Hernán. (Ediciones del Laberinto, Madrid, 2,000 pesetas) ISBN 8487482686

Those who read Spanish will find Enrique García’s book both rewarding and interesting. For too long Ireland’s relations with Philip II have centred on the ‘invincible armada’ of 1588. As this book shows, the king was continuously interested in Ireland during his time as monarch, 1556-98. Indeed, this comprehensiveness is the main feature of this … Read more

The Heart of Dublin: resurgence of a historic city, Peter Pearson. (O’Brien Press, £30) ISBN 0862786681 Dublin: a celebration from the 1st to the 21st century, Pat Liddy. (Dublin Corporation, £25) ISBN 0946841519

Peter Pearson’s book is perhaps the best architectural history of Dublin since Maurice Craig’s Dublin 1660-1860. It presents an area by area account of the growth and development of the core of the city from its Viking origins through to the present day. The meticulously detailed account of the city’s built environment provides the reader … Read more