Conquest and Colonization: Early Modern Ireland

Overview

Overview

The early modern period c.1500-c.1800 is a crucial and transformative one in Irish History. From 1500, after centuries of neglect, the English state takes a growing interest in Irish affairs, and finally completes the military conquest by the end of the Nine Years War. For the next two centuries, Ireland undergoes an intense phase of colonization and ethno/religious discrimination. Periodic opposition results in genocidal polices of suppression and the complete replacement of Irish Catholic landowners with Protestant settlers from England and Scotland. Systematic economic exploitation enables England and then Britain to plunder Ireland of much of its wealth, fueling in the process the rapid growth of the imperial project on a global scale.

This module, co-taught by Professor Micheál Ó Siochrú and Dr Patrick Walsh, adopts a chronological framework, exploring key political, military, religious, economic, and social themes across three centuries, primarily through the framework of Anglo-Irish relations, though engaging with both Europe and Wider World at different stages.

The module does not presume any prior knowledge of the early modern period, and consists of a one-hour lecture each week, alongside a series of small-group tutorials, to allow for further discussion and debate of the issues raised in the lectures.

Time, Date, and Place

This lecture-only module comprises of one lecture per week over one term, commencing the week beginning 19 January 2026. Lectures take place on the Trinity Campus