May Books 16) Contested Island

[nwhyte]

16) Contested Island: Ireland 1460-1630, by S.J. Connolly

I found this a much more interesting and well-structured book than Lennon's Sixteenth Century Ireland. By the end of it I had a much better idea of the two key narratives - the shift of the Old English areas to permanent alliance with Gaelic Ireland, and the growth in power of the state

Comments

[haddayr]

Wow; this looks incredibly interesting. Thanks for the review!

[inulro]

Sounds fascinating!

[inuitmonster]

One question that is rarely asked is, given the huge costs of Ireland to England, why bother?

My impression is that kings back then simply thought that the bigger their realm, the better, even if much of it was a permanently rebellious moneypit of mud.

[nwhyte]

I dunno; at almost exactly the same time, the Moroccans successfully invaded Mali and then cut off their own garrisons because they were too expensive to maintain. And again at the same time the cost of maintaining a troublesome sovereignty throughout the entire Netherlands was eventually too much for the Spanish. Empires did cut their losses and evacuate, and it is interesing to consider why England did not in this case, and what alternative developments might have made Henry VIII or Elizabeth I decide that it wasn't worth the hassle.