This study provides the first sustained address of The Book of Howth and its compiler, Christopher St. Lawrence, 7th baron of Howth (ca. 1510-1589). The Book of Howth ultimately offers a unique and extended Old English perspective on colonial conflict, displacement and identity formation in response to the Tudor question of -failed- conquest and the measures of reform government it generated.

The first sustained consideration of the roles played by Elizabeth and by the Irish in shaping relations between the realms.