Early Modern History (1500–1700) – Page 65

Atlas of the Irish Rural Landscape, F.H.A. Aalen, Kevin Whelan and Matthew Stout (eds). (Cork University Press, £35) ISBN 1-85918-095-7

Among the various terms applied to works of reference, ‘atlas’ has now become the most user-friendly, more companionable than ‘companion’ and certainly less repellent than ‘dictionary’, ‘directory’ or ‘encyclopaedia’. To match its changing semantic context, the typical modern atlas has fewer and simpler maps than its mid-century predecessors; it also has more non-cartographic illustrations, especially … Read more

The Wild Geese of the Antrim MacDonnells, Hector MacDonnell. (Irish Academic Press, £25 ISBN 0-7165-2609-3

The purpose of this book is to give an insight into the achievements and tribulations of an Irish family in exile—namely the descendants of Sorley Boy MacDonnell, a sixteenth-century County Antrim lord. The book is divided into three parts. Part I examines some prominent MacDonnells who made their homes in the Spanish Netherlands in the … Read more

The Protestant Reformation in Ireland 1590-1641 (new edition), Alan Ford. (Four Courts Press, hb £37, pb£17) ISBN 1-85782-314-X, 1-85182-282-8

It is a pleasure to see Alan Ford’s impressive study of the early Stuart church in Ireland reprinted. Four Courts Press is to be highly commended for undertaking this venture, and for producing a book whose format is infinitely superior to that of the edition of 1985. Dr Ford has not altered his original text … Read more

Myths and Marches History, Class and the Siege of Derry 1689

In August this year, as in almost every year for the last two centuries, members of the Apprentice Boys of Derry marched in the city to commemorate the ending of the Siege of Derry of 1689. The deal struck between the Apprentice Boys and the various Residents Groups representing Catholic areas in the city and … Read more

Edmund Burke on our Present Discontents

In one of his rare appearances in contemporary Irish culture, Edmund Burke surfaces as a footnote to one of the more poignant refrains in Brian Friel’s classic play, Philadelphia, Here I Come. As the loss of his dead mother comes to haunt the protagonist of the play, Gar, on the eve of his departure for … Read more