Presents a documentary history of Irish civilization from ancient times. Offering a source material of letters, diaries, reports, memoirs and other accounts, this book captures the tumultuous events and distinctive texture of Irish history.

Through sources ranging from ancient forsundun (praise songs) and the hero kings to newspaper accounts, public decrees, and even graffiti, this book offers vivid portraits of major events and everyday life in Ireland through the centuries beginning with Golamh, the legendary leader of the band of Iberian Celts who settled the island more than three thousand years ago, and concluding with gripping accounts by those on both sides of the bloody civil conflict in Northern Ireland.

Acknowledgments.Introduction.1. Ancient Ireland.2. Early Christian Ireland.3. The Viking Terror.4. Ireland and the Angevin Empire.5. Irish Princes and Norman Lords.6. The Tudor Conquests.7. The Flight of the Princes.8. Obedience to the English Empire.9. The Insurrection of 1641.10. The Cromwellian Conquest.11. The Williamite Conquest.12. The Penal Laws.13. The Insurrection of 1798.14. Union, 1801
Insurrection, 1803
Catholic Emancipation, 1829.15. Repeal, Starvation, and the Insurrection of 1848.16. The Insurrection of 1867 and the Land League.17. The Insurrection of 1916.18. The War of Independence, 1919-1921.19. The Civil War, 1922-1923, and the Aftermath.20. Irish Neutrality and the Irish Republic of 1949.21. A Protestant State and Civil Rights.22. The Long War.L'Envoi.Further Reading.Index.