A new anatomy of Ireland

"What was life like for Irish Protestants between the mid-seventeenth and the late-eighteenth centuries? How did experiences differ for peers, squires and gentlemen, for soldiers and shopkeepers, for women and servants? In this eagerly awaited study, Toby Barnard scrutinizes social attitudes and structures in every segment of Protestant society during this formative period. His richly textured account, drawing on a wide and deep trawl of contemporary sources, focuses on people, their professions, their preoccupations and their material worlds. The book abounds with entertaining episodes and memorable characters while reassessing Ireland's place in the British state and empire and comparing it to other European and colonial societies of the time."

"Through property, power and position, the Protestant minority dominated Ireland from 1649 to 1770. Barnard examines the period thematically rather than chronologically and analyses how Protestants sought to retain their precarious social and economic ascendancy. His inquiry provides new insights into not only this period of Irish history but also into its enduring impact on the shape and complexity of Irish life."--Jacket.