Christopher Nugent, baron of Delvin, presented Queen Elizabeth I with an Irish language primer in 1564, which he produced while he was a student at the University of Cambridge. Although of limited practical use for learning Irish, the primer was nonetheless a landmark in the history of the Irish language and Anglo-Irish cultural relations, which has remained largely unexplored until now. This study locates the primer within a variety of contexts, including Christopher Nugent's Anglo-Irish background, the medieval Irish grammatical tradition, Renaissance second-language teaching and English attitudes to Irish culture in the 16th century.

Irish inhabitants of the 'four obedient shires' - a term commonly used to describe the region at the heart of the English colony in the later Middle Ages - were significantly anglicised, taking on English names, dress, and even legal status. However, the processes of cultural exchange went both ways. This study examines the nature of interactions between English and Irish neighbours in the four shires, taking into account the complex tensions between assimilation and the preservation of distinct ethnic identities and exploring how the common colonial rhetoric of the Irish as an 'enemy' coexisted with the daily reality of alliance, intermarriage, and accommodation. Placing Ireland in a broad context, Sparky Booker addresses the strategies the colonial community used to deal with the difficulties posed by extensive assimilation, and the lasting changes this made to understandings of what it meant to be 'English' or 'Irish' in the face of such challenges.

This volume offers a comprehensive overview of the range of varieties of English spoken on the island of Ireland, featuring information on their historical background, structural features, and sociolinguistic considerations. The first part of the volume explores English and Irish in their historical framework as well as current issues of contact and bilingualism. Chapters in Part II and Part III investigate the structures and use of Irish English today, from pronunciation and grammar to discourse-pragmatic markers and politeness strategies, alongside studies of specific varieties such as Urban English in Northern Ireland and the Irish English spoken in Dublin, Galway, and Cork. Part IV focuses on the Irish diaspora, with chapters covering topics including Newfoundland Irish English and Irish influence on Australian English, while the final part looks at the wider context, such as the language of Irish Travellers and Irish Sign Language. The handbook also features a detailed glossary of key terms, and will be of interest to a wide range of readers interested in varieties of English, Irish studies, sociolinguistics, and social and cultural history.

This book investigates the impact of the dissolution of the monasteries on women religious and examines their survival in the following decades, showing how, despite the state's official proscription of vocation living, religious vocation options for women continued in less formal ways. McShane explores the experiences of Irish women who travelled to the Continent in pursuit of formal religious vocational formation, covering both those accommodated in English and European continental convents' and those in the Irish convents established in Spanish Flanders and the Iberian Peninsula. Further, this book discusses the revival of religious establishments for women in Ireland from 1629 and outlines the links between these new convents and the Irish foundations abroad. Overall, this study provides a rich picture of Irish women religious during a period of unprecedented change and upheaval.

Describes Henry Piers's journey in 1595 to Rome through the Low Countries, Germany, and Italy.

As more and more scholars come to realise that the accepted story of William Shakespeare is untenable, this book tries to unmask the covert Irish influence on his work and the remarkable career of William Nugent, the only Irish candidate ever put forward for Shakespeare. It includes the full text of many original documents on Irish history, from the Reformation to the 1641 Rebellion. "That in these lines I could as well express, As in my soul I do admire her beauty, Or that great Daniel, fit for such a task, This wonder of our Isle, had seen, and heeded, Then should his glorious muse, her worth unmask, And he himself, himself should have exceeded; Then England, France, Spain, Greece and Italy, And all that th'Ocean from our shores divideth, Would over-run their bounds, and hither fly, To find the treasure, that our Ireland hideth, But best is, that we never do disclose it, Since known but of ourselves, we shall not lose it." - RIchard Nugent "Cynthia" (London, 1604)