Excerpt from Illustrations of Irish History and Topography, Mainly of the Seventeenth Century But, apart from this consideration, it is certain that the elucidation of the social and topographical history of Ireland has failed to keep pace with the growth of scientific archaeology and the extension of antiquarian studies. No one who considers the point to which these studies had attained under the guidance of such writers as Ware and Petty can be satisfied with the progress made since their time in the spheres of their respective inquiries. Nor will a perusal of Bishop Nicholson's Irish Historical Library make us entirely satisfied with the advance effected in the interval Of almost two centuries which has elapsed since the publication of that meagre, yet still useful, analysis of the materials then existing for historical research. Sixty years ago there were signs of a genuine revival of interest in Irish historical studies. But the encouragement which historical inquiry seemed likely to receive from the Young Ireland movement was deprived of its principal impetus by the premature death of its founder. There are still no better summaries Of the main sources of knowledge, as there are certainly no more stimulating exhortations to the study of Irish history, than are to be found in the Essays of Davis, whose fine historical instinct was seldom mastered by his political prepossessions. But Davis did not live to aecom plish the work he planned, and little has since been done to give effect to his views. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

This magisterial work links the literary and intellectual history of England, Scotland, Ireland, and Britain's overseas colonies during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries to redraw our picture of the origins of cultural nationalism, the lineages of the novel, and the literary history of the English-speaking world. Katie Trumpener recovers and recontextualizes a vast body of fiction to describe the history of the novel during a period of formal experimentation and political engagement, between its eighteenth-century "rise" and its Victorian "heyday." During the late eighteenth century, antiquaries in Ireland, Scotland, and Wales answered modernization and anglicization initiatives with nationalist arguments for cultural preservation. Responding in particular to Enlightenment dismissals of Gaelic oral traditions, they reconceived national and literary history under the sign of the bard. Their pathbreaking models of national and literary history, their new way of reading national landscapes, and their debates about tradition and cultural transmission shaped a succession of new novelistic genres, from Gothic and sentimental fiction to the national tale and the historical novel. In Ireland and Scotland, these genres were used to mount nationalist arguments for cultural specificity and against "internal colonization." Yet once exported throughout the nascent British empire, they also formed the basis of the first colonial fiction of Canada, Australia, and British India, used not only to attack imperialism but to justify the imperial project. Literary forms intended to shore up national memory paradoxically become the means of buttressing imperial ideology and enforcing imperial amnesia.

Inner Empire explores the impact of imperial cultures on the landscapes and urban environments of the British Isles from the sixteenth century through to the twentieth century. It asserts that Britain’s four-hundred year entanglement with global empire left its mark upon the British Isles as much as it did the wider world. Buildings stood as one of the most conspicuous manifestations of the myriad relationships that Britain maintained with the theory and practice of colonialism in its modern history. Divided into two main sections, the volume’s content considers ‘internal’ colonisation and its infrastructures of control, order, and suppression, alongside wider relationships between architecture, the imperial economy, and cultural identity. Taken together, the essays in this volume present for the first time a coherent analysis of the British Isles as an imperial setting understood through its buildings, spaces, and infrastructure.

This lavishly illustrated and comprehensive volume is the first devoted entirely to the subject of Irish furniture and woodwork. It provides a detailed survey—encompassing everything from medieval choir stalls to magnificent drawing-room suites for the great houses—from earliest times to the end of the eighteenth century. The first part of the book presents a chronological history, illustrated with superb examples of Irish furniture and interior carving. In a lively text, the Knight of Glin and James Peill consider a broad range of topics, including a discussion of the influence of Irish craftsmen in the colonies of America. The second part of the book is a fascinating pictorial catalogue of different types of surviving furniture, including chairs, stools, baroque sideboards, elegant tea and games tables, bookcases, and mirrors. The book also features an index of Irish furniture-makers and craftsmen of the eighteenth century, compiled from Dublin newspaper advertisements and other contemporary sources.

Gerald of Wales was among the most dynamic and fascinating churchmen of the twelfth century. A member of one of the leading Norman families involved in the invasion of Ireland, he first visited there in 1183 and later returned in the entourage of Henry II. The resulting Topographia Hiberniae is an extraordinary account of his travels. Here he describes landscapes, fish, birds and animals; recounts the history of Ireland's rulers; and tells fantastical stories of magic wells and deadly whirlpools, strange creatures and evil spirits. Written from the point of view of an invader and reformer, this work has been rightly criticized for its portrait of a primitive land, yet it is also one of the most important sources for what is known of Ireland during the Middle Ages.

This study of establishment Dublin in the Elizabethan period draws on the consider- able body of documentation which survives in the city archives and elsewhere - assembly rolls from 1550, treasury and sheriffs records from 1541, and minutes of the alderman's bench the corporation from 1567 - and also on a wide variety of other contemporary writings and sources. The Dublin of the period saw the rise of the aldermanic elite to a dominant role in civic politics and society. Dr Lennon explores the world of these patricians against the background of civic privilege, state policy and the growth of recusancy. He is also concerned to show how they consolidated their social position through marriage with fellow-patricians and gentry, and investment in urban and rural properties. Reconstructed biographies of some hundred leading councillors are supplied. In the course of the study, the author provides a valuable survey of the topography and history of late medieval Dublin and of public affairs in general in the period 1548- 1613.

"A masterful attempt to describe the historical secondary literature of the British Isles -- from prehistory to the present day -- the set is comprised of substantial essays of 1,000 to 3,000 words each on a wide array of subjects -- all written by pre-eminent scholars in language accessible to beginning students and advanced researchers. Each listed essay title is given a thorough annotation."--"The Top 20 Reference Titles of the Year," American Libraries, May 2004.