The French revolution had an electrifying impact on Irish society. The 1970s saw the birth of modern Irish republicanism and Orangeism, whose antagonism remains a defining feature of Irish political life. The 1970s also saw the birth of a new approach to Ireland within important elements of the British political elite, men like Pitt and Castlereagh. Strongly influenced by Edmund Burke, they argued that Britain's strategic interests were best served by a policy of catholic emancipation and political integration in Ireland. Britain's failure to achieve this objective, dramatised by the...

Going right to the heart of the Irish Question, Paul Bew offers a re-interpretation of Irish politics in the critical 1912-1916 period. Bew offers a full treatment of the debate concerning land, economy, religion, language, and national identity in the period, and ends with a discussion of the Easter Rising of 1916 which destroyed Redmond's party. The political, cultural, and economic implications of this development are drawn out, and Bew examines their continuing effect on Irish history.

This book explores the evolution of Irish constitutional nationalism from the fall of Parnell to the rise of Sinn Fein, when the two competing wings of conciliators and militants struggled bitterly for control of the movement. The author, stressing the grass roots dimensions of this rift, shows that while the advocates of conciliation took a peaceful path, striving to achieve a modus vivendi with the protestants who opposed home rule, the supporters of militancy stressed the need for vigilance and strict maintenance of the Catholic nationalist tradition.

A detailed account, in diary form, of the thirty-year development of civil and political unrest in Northern Ireland.

The French revolution had an electrifying impact on Irish society. The 1790s saw the birth of modern Irish republicanism and Orangeism, whose antagonism remains a defining feature of Irish political life. The 1790s also saw the birth of a new approach to Ireland within important elements of the British political elite, men like Pitt and Castlereagh. Strongly influenced by Edmund Burke, they argued that Britain's strategic interests were best served by a policy of catholic emancipation and political integration in Ireland. Britain's failure to achieve this objective, dramatized by the...

It is widely argued that Britain has always followed a coherent imperialist strategy in Northern Ireland. Paul Bew and Henry Patterson take issue with this assumption in the first serious study of British policy towards Ulster over the past twenty years. They demonstrate, through a detailed examination of the twists and turns of successive governments, the fundamental incoherence of Britain's approach in its oldest colony.
Simplified notions about the consistency of British policy have led to undue pessimism amongst those advocating progressive change in the North. As a consequence they...

Winston Churchill spent his early childhood in Ireland, had close Irish relatives, and was himself much involved in Irish political issues for a large part of his career. He took Ireland very seriously -- and not only because of its significance in the Anglo-American relationship. Churchill, in fact, probably took Ireland more seriously than Ireland took Churchill. Yet, in the fifty years since Churchill's death, there has not been a single major book on his relationship to Ireland. It is the most neglected part of his legacy on both sides of the Irish Sea.

Distinguished historian of...