Irish Perspectives

The 1790s is one of the most critical decades in the history of modern Ireland. The decade witnessed the birth of the modern ideology of separatist Irish republicanism, the creation of the Orange Order, and the greatest bloodletting in modern Irish history in the form of the 1798 rebellion. In the aftermath of the rebellion came the Act of Union that brought Ireland into the United Kingdom for the next 121 years, and the smaller rebellion of Robert Emmet, possibly one of the most famous – and, to later generations, inspirational – of Irish republicans. Now, in the second instalment of the collaboration between Pen and Sword and History Ireland magazine, some of the world's leading experts on the 1790s explore the origins, nature and aftermath of the decade from a range of perspectives: from the individuals involved and their international links, to the events of the rebellion and the responses of the government, to the manoeuvres that led to the Act of Union, this volume explore the motives, actions and legacies of the republicans, loyalists, and propagandists who shaped one of the most important decades in Ireland's modern history.

The history of sexuality in Ireland remains relatively understudied when compared with the more well-worn paths of political and military history, but that is not to say that it has never been considered. Now, in the fourth installment of the 'Irish perspectives' collaboration between Pen and Sword and History Ireland, a range of experts explores Irish history from the perspective of the broad concept of sexuality, in both theory and practice. From the legalities that defined gender roles in the middle ages and early modern periods, to women's role in political life and civil society, Gender and Sexuality in Ireland provides a comprehensive overview of the nation's understanding and relationship with sexuality and patriarchy. Population change, prostitution, incarceration, infanticide, abortion and homophobia are all considered alongside attempts to impose - and ignore - Catholic morality in independent Ireland. Struggles for women's rights and reproductive rights, the culture wars of the 1980s, and Irish people simply trying to have good sex lives, the essays gathered here cast light on aspects of Ireland's past that are often overlooked in more mainstream narratives of Irish history.

In the aftermath of the First World War, a political revolution took place in what was then the United Kingdom. Such upheavals were common in postwar Europe, as new states came into being and new borders were forged. What made the revolution in the UK distinctive is that it took place within one of the victor powers, rather than any of their defeated enemies. In the years after the Easter Rising of 1916 in Ireland, a new independence movement had emerged, and in 1918-19 the political party Sinn Féin and its paramilitary partner, the Irish Republican Army, began a political struggle and an armed uprising against British rule. By 1922 the United Kingdom has lost a very substantial portion of its territory, as the Irish Free State came into being amidst a brutal Civil War. At the same time Ireland was partitioned and a new, unionist government was established in what was now Northern Ireland. These were outcomes that nobody could have predicted before 1914. In The Irish War of Independence and Civil War, experts on the subject explore the experience and consequences of the latter phases of the Irish revolution from a wide range of perspectives.

A history of the Irish migrant experience across the globe, as told through real-life stories from throughout the centuries. Ireland is known worldwide as a country that produced emigrants. The existence of the Irish "diaspora" is the subject of this fifth installment of the Irish Perspectives series. From the early Christian era, Irish missionaries traveled across Europe. From the early modern period, Irish soldiers served across the world in various European armies and empires. And in the modern era, Ireland's position on the edge of the Atlantic made Irish emigrants amongst the most visible migrants in an era of mass migration. Ranging from Europe to Africa to the Americas and Australia, this anthology explores the lives and experiences of Irish educators, missionaries, soldiers, insurgents, from those who simply sought a better life overseas to those with little choice in the matter, all establishing an Irish presence across the globe as they did so.

In the twenty-first century there are two jurisdictions on the island of Ireland, and two very different heads of state represent the populations of Ireland and Northern Ireland respectively: the elected presidency of the republic, and the hereditary monarchy of the United Kingdom. But the idea of monarchy, and the related notion of aristocracy, has a long heritage in Ireland. There was a native aristocracy long before the British conquest, and British monarchs were not the only monarchs to matter to Irish people. Now, in the third installment of the collaboration between Pen and Sword and History Ireland magazine, a range of experts examine how the role played by monarchs and their monarchies from the middle ages up to the present has had a role in shaping Ireland and its peoples, exploring some unexpected highways and byways along the way. From the Vikings to the Jacobites, and from the high-kings of Irish mythology to Mrs Simpson, this volume looks at kings, queens, their followers and their opponents to cast light on Ireland's history from an unexpected angle.