First published in 1979 as a tribute to the late Professor J.C. Beckett, this volume of original essays on the history of 18th-century Ireland was conceived both as an exercise in revision, challenging accepted orthodoxies, and as an attempt to open up new areas of study in a period grown stale with competing cliches: the "penal era" for Catholic Ireland which was also the "golden age" of Protestant Ascendancy.

As a collection, these essays may fairly be said to have inaugurated a new era in the writing of 18th-century Irish history, as well as launching the careers of a generation of young scholars, a number of whom have gone on to establish themselves as leading authorities in the period. 25 years on, the volume still stands as a landmark, the impact and freshness of the essays undiminished.