HIST 580D Ireland, 1541-1800: Kingdom, Colony, Province (and Nation?)
The Irish are often said to be a people trapped in their past--and the past in question took place during the early modern centuries. The conquest of the native Irish lords, the plantation of Ulster, the bloody rebellion of 1641, Cromwellian conquest, the "shipwreck" of Irish Catholics in 1691, the consolidation of English and Protestant control of the island in the eighteenth century, and the iconic 1798 rebellion that still grips the imagination of Irish republicans: no period has exerted so formidable an influence on subsequent Irish history. This course will examine the period not only from traditional English-language perspectives but also those of Irish-speakers, considering the ways that Ireland became more British but also the persistence of native, Gaelic viewpoints. We will consider the ambiguous legacy of conquest, Ireland's place within a larger British empire, and the powerful ways that the interpretation of the past has shaped Irish life both then and now.