Irish History

Ireland in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries was not a good place to be a woman. Among the wave of emigrants from Ireland to North America were many, many young women who travelled on their own, hoping for a better life. Some lived lives of quiet industry and piety.

On 1 June 1921, at the height of Ireland’s War of Independence, a cycling patrol of members of the RIC was ambushed by members of the IRA at Ballymacandy, between Milltown and Castlemaine in County Kerry. After an hour of fighting, four police officers lay dead and another died a day later, among them a father of... See more

The practice of terror in revolutionary Ireland remains a highly controversial topic, which seldom receives either balanced or dispassionate treatment. This collection of essays is designed to illuminate the varied origins, forms and consequences of terror, whether practised by republicans or forces of the... See more

At the end of his court-martial on August 16th, 1920, Terence MacSwiney, the Lord Mayor of Cork, greeted his sentence of two years in jail by declaring: 'I have decided the term of my imprisonment, I shall be free, alive or dead, within a month.'

Published 200 years after the original, Taylor's Map of Kildare comes in six folded sheets bound as a fascicle. Taylor, a Scotsman who held the rank of captain in the Corps of Engineers, was employed on a military survey of Ireland from 1781 to 1805. He produced this intricate map in a private capacity.

During the Irish Civil War, events of late 1922 and early 1923 together with waves of 'dishonourable' killings created poisoned relations between Republicans and 'Free Staters' which would last for several generations. The most enduring of these controversies, a policy of summary executions carried out by the... See more

Drawing on archival materials, and incorporating never-before-seen images, this volume presents a spectrum of experiences from owners, to servants and tenants, as well as the local communities that lived in the shadow of the big house.

In recent years, the role of women in country houses and estates across Ireland and the UK has been the focus of greater attention. Chatelaines, mothers, wives, daughters, widows, sisters, housekeepers, and maids were ever-present figures in the microcosm of the country house.

This volume of essays explores a range of country house collections in Ireland, the UK, the US, and Europe. It examines how collections were built up over time, how they were dispersed or destroyed, and how they have been interpreted and valued.

Irish diplomats spied for the United States during the course of the war. Irish diplomats in Europe carried messages and supplied information to the OSS - the predecessor of the CIA - with the full knowledge and consent of de Valera. Behind the Green Curtain is a comprehensive account of Irish neutrality, focusing... See more