Based on the popular BBC Radio Ulster series of the same name, A Narrow Sea traces the epic sweep of Ireland's relationship with Scotland, exploring the myriad connections, correlations, personalities and antagonisms that have, over the years, defined the relationship between these two spirited neighbours.Roving freely across the centuries, from the first migrations of the regions' intrepid Mesolithic pioneers, to the grand colonial projects of the Vikings, Normans and Stuarts, this is the...

THE ONLY BOOK ON IRISH HISTORY YOU'LL EVER NEED!From invasions to rebellions, heroic martyrs to pragmatic politicians, industrial development to mass emigration, A History of Ireland in 250 Episodes by renowned Irish historian Jonathan Bardon will take you on a sweeping journey through Irish history, getting behind the historical headlines to reveal the lived experience of Irish people.Written in easy-to-read bitesize episodes, Bardon's original and engaging style will make you feel as tho...

In this vivid account, the author punctures some generally held assumptions: despite slaughter and famine, the province on the eve of the Plantation was not completely depopulated as was often asserted at the time; the native Irish were not deliberately given the most infertile land; some of the most energetic planters were Catholic; and the Catholic Church there emerged stronger than before. Above all, natives and newcomers fused to a greater degree than is widely believed: apart from rec...

This authoritative and comprehensive history of Ireland covers the entire history of the island from the Ice Age to the peace process in 100 short episodes. In this thoughtful analysis of Irish society, Bardon integrates the significant cultural and literary history of Ireland with its political and social past.Based on the hugely popular BBC radio series A Short History of Ireland, each episode stands alone, providing a snippet of Irish history in five minutes' reading. I...

18 November, 1741. George Frideric Handel, one of the world's greatest composers, arrives in Dublin – the second city of the Empire – to prepare his masterpiece, Messiah, for its maiden performance the following spring …In Hallelujah, Jonathan Bardon, one of Ireland's leading historians, explores the remarkable circumstances surrounding the first performance of Handel's now iconic oratorio in Dublin, providing a panoramic view of a city in flux – at once struggling to contain the chaos unl...

Starting out as a small but energetic and, above all, committed group of parents in County Down in the early 1970s, All Children Together (ACT) believed that, as long as children continued to be educated separately, there was little hope of healing the festering wounds in a society blighted by bitter division. This is the story of the pioneers of the integrated education movement in Northern Ireland.The book chronicles how ACT faced powerful establishment resistance – both clerical...

Jonathan Bardon's A History of Ulster is widely regarded as the definitive text on the region. Updated with a more recent preface from the author, this illustrated, abridged version offers a comprehensive but accessible overview of life in the province for anyone seeking to understand the roots of its troubled history.The Vikings, the Norman invasions, the plantations, the Penal Laws, the rise of the United Irishmen and Orangeism, the Act of Union, the linen and shipbuildi...

From The Ice Age to Northern Ireland's Peace Settlement and everything in between, the acclaimed academic Dr Jonathan Bardon presents a history of Ireland spanning 10,000 years.Beginning with the Ice Age and Ireland's first plants and wildlife, this history encompasses the arrival of Christianity, the age of the Celts, the Viking era, Brian Boru, the Norman invasion, the plantation and the famine through to rebellion, partition and the creation of the Irish Free St...

One of the greatest frustrations for generations of genealogical researchers has been that reliable guidance on sources for perhaps the most critical period in the establishment of their family’s links with Ulster, the period up to 1800, has proved to be so elusive. Not any more. This book can claim to be the first comprehensive guide for family historians searching for ancestors in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Ulster.Whether their ancestors are of English, Scottish or Gaeli...

Brimming with vitality and information, Nicholas Furlong's comprehensive A History of County Wexford is an indispensable guide to Wexford's history, culture and people. Furlong starts with Wexford's first settlement and tells the story of Wexford up to the present day, looking at its Gaelic origins, its turbulence during Cromwellian times and its pivotal role in 1798. County Wexford lies in the south eastern corner of Ireland. It is bounded to the west by the River Barrow and the Blackstai...

The background history of Ireland is vital to an understanding of its people and culture. <I>A Travellers History of Ireland</I> offers a chronological outline of the country up to the present day as well as an invaluable introduction to a land of poets, saints, illustrious soldiers and inspiring and persistent rebels. The book includes a comprehensive description of modern Ireland, both North and South, and of its two separate Catholic Nationalist and Protestant U...

The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political upheavals which spanned the British Isles in the mid-seventeenth century. It was fought on a wide range of religious, political and racial issues, and succeeded in dividing the traditional loyalties of class, friendship and family ties within all four kingdoms. This unprecedented period of disruption resulted in far-reaching political revolution, the re-evaluation of political representation and social str...