A Concise History of Ireland

by Patrick Weston Joyce

“I have, I hope, written soberly and moderately, avoiding exaggeration and bitterness, and showing fair play all round. A writer may accomplish all this while sympathising heartily, as I do, with Ireland and her people.”

A Concise History of Ireland by P. W. Joyce is a seminal work covering the history of the nation from ancient times through to the political turmoil of the nineteenth century.

Joyce provides a detailed look at the customs and culture of ancient Ireland, its language, literature, art, and religion.

Before the first Anglo-Norman invasion in 1169, Ireland was ruled by high kings who variously ruled all or parts of Ireland. The struggle for power between these kings resulted in many conflicts and produced such famous Irish war-kings as Brian Boru, Malachi and Dermot MacMurrogh.

The book tracks the development of religion in Ireland from the pagan beliefs of ancient Ireland to the coming of St Patrick and the spread of Christianity. It also follows the religious effects of centuries of plantations and the religious divides that emerged as a result.

Joyce examines the development of Anglo-Irish relations spanning from 1169, through to the Plantations of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries to the rebellions of the nineteenth century.

A Concise History of Ireland is a fascinating account at the complex history of this small country.

P. W. Joyce was an Irish historian and writer who specialized in creating histories of localities all throughout Ireland. As a result of his efforts, he became one of the most important Irish cultural figures of the late 19th century, producing works about the languages, music, literature, folklore, and the background of the names of places all throughout Ireland. This work was published in 1893 and he passed away in 1914.

Genres: History, Ireland, Historical

259 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1914

About the author

Patrick Weston Joyce, or P.W. Joyce, (born 1827) was an Irish historian, writer and music collector, known particularly for his research in local place names of Ireland.

Reviews

[Ray · Rating 3 out of 5]

I downloaded this book to my kindle. It has exactly 1000 paragraphs which are numbered. It begins just after the biblical flood when Greeks colonized Ireland. It then proceeds many centuries to when St. Patrick converted the Irish to Catholicism. After that the Vikings controlled Ireland and then they were kicked out. Then the British dominated and all the way to the potato famine of the 1840s. If you're a real student of history or of Irish descent this is a fine book. But for the casual reader it may be of not much interest.

[Christopher · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Concise History of Ireland covers the manners, customs, and institutions of the Ancient Irish up to the Industrial Progress of the year 1905 when the text was written. The book consists of 1000 numbered paragraphs and is written in a rather dense and detailed style. It helps to already have some notions of Irish history before starting this book.

Even though the book is somewhat dated, there is a lot of information contained in it. It can be a bit overwhelming trying to keep straight all of the battles, rebellions, and historical figures mentioned. Ireland is definitely rich in history, especially in its past as a British colony and with the historical conflicts between Catholics and Protestants, landlords and peasants, Celtic and Anglo-Norman cultures, etc.

I found this book to be somewhat of a dense read. If you are interested in a highly detailed account of Irish history, you might enjoy this book.

[Hannah · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read the 1897 sixth edition of the concise history of Ireland and found it too condensed, hard to follow and lacking in many places. I would recommend not to read this version and instead start with his larger work a short history of Ireland rather than his concise version m

[Joseph Donovan · Rating 5 out of 5]

History of Ireland

I enjoyed reading about Ireland from the beginning, but I couldn’t quite get to my ancestors on both sides of my family. I think I will have to visit again and see if I can locate them in county Cork & Kerry.

[Patrick Fiorill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good work