Between 1641 and 1649, for the first time before 1922, Ireland was recognised by the international community as an independent nation. Even though the Cromwellian conquest of 1649 made short work of Catholic Ireland's revolution, it nevertheless ranks as one of the most successful revolts of early modern history. This interdisciplinary collection of essays examines how the tumultuous events of the 1640s and 1650s transformed the course of Ireland's history. The contributors consider throughout why Restoration Ireland after 1660 was such a different world from that of the Stuart era. Was the change due simply to the passage of 20 years; or to war in the 1640s followed by English occupation in the 1650s? During these decades did active forces of change outweigh those of continuity in shaping Irish society, identities, warfare, religious beliefs, and economic and tenurial practices? These essays seek to set Ireland in its wider European and British contexts.
