<p>'All of the articles are of a very high standard and individually and collectively enhance our understanding of the period 1641–50 in early modern Irish history as part of MUP’s series. For the historian of political institutions, parliaments, and representative assemblies, there is much to learn and take for a greater understanding and awareness of important developments in Ireland during such a turbulent period. This is well worth a read.'<br /><i>Parliaments, Estates & Representation </i></p>
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Introduction: the confederate wars revisited – Patrick Little
1 Holding on: the earl of Cork’s Blackwater army and the defence of Protestant Munster, 1641–43 – David Edwards
2 The Sea Adventure to Munster and Connacht, July and August 1642 – David Brown
3 ‘To hold a good opinion of my loyalty and zealous affections’: the earl of Clanricarde and the royalist cause in Connacht, 1643–46 – Aoife Duignan
4 ‘Clotworthy is a zealous man, yet hath his purse well lined’: Sir John Clotworthy, John Davies and the politics of supply, 1644–45 – Andrew Robinson
5 The Irish Parliament after the rebellion, 1642–48 – Coleman A. Dennehy
6 The recruiter returns to the Irish Parliament, 1642–48 – Bríd McGrath
7 The politics of preferment: the marquess of Ormond, Archbishop Ussher and the appointment of Irish bishops, 1643–47 – Patrick Little
8 The marquess of Ormond, Lord Montgomery of the Ards, and the problem of authority in Ulster, 1649 – Kevin Forkan
9 The confederate Catholics of Ireland and popular politics – Eamon Darcy
10 Oliver Cromwell, priestcraft, and the ‘deluded and seduced’ people of Ireland – John Morrill
Index
This volume presents new research on the crisis in Ireland that followed the Catholic rebellion of 1641. The chapters provide fresh perspectives on a number of issues, including the importance of regional history, the nature of English intervention in Ireland, popular politics and the problems of allegiance, authority and legitimacy in church and state.
Individual chapters cover the first earl of Cork’s reaction to the outbreak of rebellion, the Sea Adventure mounted by parliamentarians in 1642, the struggle for control of supplies to the Protestant forces in the mid-1640s and the experiences of the marquess of Ormond in Dublin, the earl of Clanricarde in Connacht and Lord Montgomery of the Ards in Ulster. Other chapters examine the challenges faced by the Irish Parliament, the Church of Ireland and the Confederation of Kilkenny. The final chapter, on Oliver Cromwell and his war of words with the Catholic Church, asks new questions about the nature of the Cromwellian invasion, and comes to surprising conclusions.
As a whole, the book brings a fresh approach to this key period in Irish history, challenging old assumptions and suggesting new directions for research. It is aimed at an academic audience but will also appeal to the general reader. The contributors include not only younger scholars but also renowned experts in the field such as Dr David Edwards of the University of Cork, Dr Bríd McGrath of Trinity College Dublin and Professor John Morrill of Cambridge University.