The Macmillian Atlas of Irish History

Duffy, Sean (ed.)
Publisher:  Macmillan, New York, USA
Year Published:  1997  
Pages:  144pp   ISBN:  0-02-862011-9
Book Type:  Atlases

Library of Congress Number:  DA911.M26   Dewey:  941.5DC21
Resource Type:  Book
Cx Number:  CX11915

A full-colour atlas of Irish history.

Abstract:  This full-colour atlas of Irish history, contains powerful graphical images and data that capture an overview of Irish history dating from ancient Celtic times to the IRA occurrences of 1997.

Each section is composed of a map accompanied by concurrent data. The book is separated into five major components.

The first section talks about the origins of human settlement in Ireland, detailing the anthropological development of the Neolithic settlers, and their eventual progression into the Bronze and Iron ages, which led into Christianity in the 5th century.

The second section describes the church reforms of the 12th century, at a time when many aspects of law, philosophy and theology were challenged as the Irish population increased in size into the Middle Ages. The king of England took over the Irish crown and parts of the country fell into the hands of English barons. England would exploit the natural resources of Ireland after defeating the Irish armies, imposing agricultural reforms, and turning Ireland into a British colony.

The third section continues from the 16th century. After Henry VIII's call for unprecedented power and separation from the Catholic Church, religious houses were sorely affected. Parliamentary forces fought against royal forces for power over Ireland. The political power of the English Crown became centralized in Dublin by 1600 and Ireland was under the Elizabethan administration.

Part four is about Ireland until the 19th century. Ireland was grappling with its colonial subordination to Britain and an Anglophone elite ruled its preeminently Catholic Gaelic population. Economic and legal systems further developed as Ireland was given legislative powers by England in the early 1690s, giving Irish Protestants a central role in the administration of 'their' kingdom.

Part five deals with 20th-century Ireland. Its political, economic, social modernization made it an integral part of European affairs with an enormous contribution to the Great War. This included the election of Mary Robinson, the Northern Crisis, the political and social instability of the 1970s and 1980s, the economic and social change of the 1960s, and Northern Ireland.

The atlas shows geographically varied aspects of historical progress in Ireland. It provides a variety of annotated maps that explain different topics concerning major segments of Irish history. These include the spread of Christianity, the nature of Norman colonization, the impact of the Reformation, the Elizabethan, Cromwellian, and Williamite wars, the revival of the Catholic Church, the Famine, the rise of nationalism and the conflict of the 1990s in Northern Ireland. It is written by a combination of 5 experts in Irish history and edited by Sean Duffy.

[Abstract by Vei Chong]



Table of Contents

Preface

Part I: Origins
Celtic Ireland
Early Peoples and Politics
The Golden Age
Ireland and Europe
The Viking Wars
The Age of Brian Boru
Reform of the Church
Ireland before the Normans

Part II: The English Conquest
The English Invasion
Expansion of the Colony
Irish Resistance
The Decline of English Power
The Gaelic Revival
The Late Middle Ages
The Growth of Dublin

Part III: Reformation to Restoration
The Protestant Reformation
Elizabethan Administration
Plantation and Resistance
O'Neill's Rising
Jacobean Plantations
The Rising of 1641
Cromwell's Campaigns and Administration
The Williamite Revolution

Part IV: From Splendor to Famine
The Penal Laws
The Georgian Economy
The Government of Ireland, 1692-1785
The 1798 Rebellion
Catholic Emancipation and Repeal
Nineteenth-Century Catholicism
The Pre-Famine Economy
Emigration to 1845
The Great Famine
The Decline of the Irish Language

Part V: Modern Ireland
Post-Famine Emigration
Economic Development before the Great War
The Growth of Irish Nationalism
Government Policy
The Ulster Question
The Great War and the Easter Rising
Separation 1916-23
Cumann na nGaedheal
Fianna Fail
The '40s and '50s: Turmoil and Malaise
Northern Ireland
The '60s: Economic and Social Change
The '70's and the '80s: Political and Social Instability
The Northern Crisis
Ireland in the '90s

Chronology
Further Reading
Index
Acknowledgments

Subject Headings