Where to start learning about the history of the Irish?
Happy to help, OP!>Early Medieval Ireland, 431-1169 (Stout)Perfect book to start. It has a great overview of Irish society, politics, wars, economy, etc. Really interesting. If you want some more meat about medieval Ireland, try "Brian Boru and the Battle of Clontarf" (Seán Duffy) or Marie Flanaghan's work on the Normans (if you can find it). If you can't, try "Colonial Ireland, 1169-1369" by Robert Flame.>Late Medieval Ireland/Early ModernEveryone will tell you to get Beckett's "The Making of Modern Ireland", and it is a good book, but maybe you want something specific. For the very late-stages of Gaelic Ireland (and its downfall) go for "The Nine Years War 1593-1603" by James O'Neill. Next it's Cromwell, so go for "God's Executioner: Oliver Cromwell and the Conquest of Ireland" by Micheál Ó Siochrú. The contents aren't half as melodramatic as the title, I recommend it because it avoids some of the "muh evil genocider" stuff you might find in other books on the topic. Lastly, Williamites-but honestly I find the contents of Beckett's stuff just fine for this.>Industrial/ModernAgain, Beckett's book will carry you here. The 1780s-1790s contain the meat of historical developments in Ireland in the 18th Century. Grab "The Year Of Liberty: The Great Irish Rebellion of 1789" (Pakenham) as it contains information not only about the famous revolutionary period but also about what lead up to it with the Patriot parliament and so on.Once you're into the 19th Century your main focus will be O'Connell-Famine-Home Rule. Everyone recommends Patrick Geoghegan's books on O'Connell and his work with repeal/emancipation, and they're right. For the famine, take your pick-Atlas of the Irish Famine is the best you'll find, but there's plenty. Just avoid those that use the word genocide. For Home Rule onwards "The Green Flag" by Robert Kee will have plenty. Lots of these books spill into the 20th Century, though-the Green Flag covers that just fine for your purposes.
>>18545820>20th Century IrelandThe big ones here, naturally, are late stage home rule then revolution-partition-troubles. For the revolutionary period and the run-up to it, the Green Flag will have plenty but can be a bit of a drag to read at this point. Start with ATW Stewart's book "The Ulster Crisis; Resistance to Home Rule" for a very Ulster centric approach, or "Judging Redmond and Carson: Comparative Irish Lives" by Alvin Jackson for a more heavyweight look at the two political titans that defined the crisis. For the revolution, there's a million books. You'll need to know about the Easter Rising, so either read one of the other books (again, Green Flag has plenty) or grab Charles Townshend's book on it. Try "Bitter Freedom" by Maurice Walsh; the Atlas of the Irish Revolution is King here but it's expensive and very hefty, better for research than learning.Birth of the Border by Cormac Moore is the best accessible book out there about the partition and the creation of Northern Ireland, in my view. It has a wealth of detail and plentiful very well selected sources for a very contentious topic. Charles Townsend's "The Partition" is great too. If you want specific Free State/Republic of Ireland history I can recommend some books, otherwise you can jump ahead to the Troubles. I'll simply recommend "Making Sense of the Troubles" by David McKittrick, rather than get bogged down in the billion books about the period.
>>18545820>>18545828Appreciate it.
>>18545693Learn to write
>>18545693>Irish weren't white memeGenuinely gets me apoplectic how widespread this has become, it's like trying to fight back against a fucking bush fire in Australia now. Just the fact that Irish people were permitted to naturalize as citizens in the USA before the 14th amendment is enough to blow this bullshit claim out of the water.
>>18545820>Colonial Ireland, 1169-1369lol seriously? What is that title
>>18545828
>>18545693Lately I've been on a bit of an Irish binge myself.Read up on The Troubles obviously, but also the Protestant Ascendancy and now the Irish Potato Famine.The Irish are literally the most oppressed people in the world (behind gamers).Did you know they were forced to labor in plantations like Africans in the New World AND segregated into in a pale like Jews in the Russian Empire?Brave people to have endured so much.
>>18546379>Irish people were permitted to naturalize as citizens in the USA before the 14th amendmentSo were Ashkenazi jews.
Only Norwegians are 100% white. Whiteness decreases with genetic closeness to them, and by proxy geographic distance.Once you get to Spain, Ireland, Turkey, Sicily, the further reaches of Russia, you're practically just dealing with non-whites despite looking pale and Caucasian.
>>18546445Never happened.
>>18546477Irish are more closely related in basal autosomal admixture to a Norweigan than even say Germans
>>18546401As with "God's Executioner" these titles are often melodramatic. Obviously yes, the Normans did colonise Ireland, but when I think of colonial Ireland I think more of the Tudors onwards.>>18546379Both of the books in OP were written by Americans. Cahill is a pop history writer; whatever his ancestry, he's not really reflective of Irish academia.
>>18546445>Irish are the most oppressed people everThey had a rough time of it from the 16th-19th century yeah, but not the most oppressed ever. They did pretty good basically everywhere outside of Ireland.>Did you know they were forced to labor in plantations like Africans in the New World Some were transported there in the 17th Century, but this wasn't something unique to them. Others who wound up there weren't slaves but rather indentured servants-not a huge material difference in the moment but an extremely significant one as time passes. Over time many of those who worked on said plantations became slave owners themselves.Have you never wondered by so many black people in the region have Irish surnames?>segregated into in a pale like Jews in the Russian Empire?The Pale referred to the area directly administered by England, mostly consisting of Dublin and the surrounding area. Yes, Irish people were indeed treated very poorly at this time, but funnily enough many of the Norman vassals that made up the rest of the Lordship of Ireland would ultimately become gaelicised themselves-the Pale was meant to be a bastion against this.
>>18545693Don't know, but ask this guy.
>>18545828What are the best books about ireland fighting for independence specifically? battles, military leaders, etc
>>18546717The vast majority of action in the War of Independence was either>guy gets assassinated>guys get ambushedThere were only a handful of "battles" (ie, two groups facing each other directly) but they were quite small in scale, such as the Battle of Ballinalee. I haven't read any book that reads as a historical overview of the war itself, rather of the period-tying the politics and conflict together. With that said, there are some great options:>The Republic (Charles Townshend)Most of Townshend's books are top-tier in my view. This book is probably your best bet and is very easy to find.>Guerrilla Days in Ireland (Tom Barry)From the horse's mouth; the autobiography of the leader of the 3rd West Cork Brigade of the IRA. I don't think there's a better book in existence for portraying what it was actually like for the IRA from the perspective of a guy who did more fighting than most.>Between Two Hells: The Irish Civil War (Diarmaid Ferriter)Great (but bleak) book on the Irish Civil War.The obvious choice for something very in-depth is the Atlas of the Irish Revolution, but it is very big and expensive. If you ever want to just lose yourself in primary sources, go to this site:>https://www.militaryarchives.ie/en/online-collections/bureau-of-military-history-1913-1921The "Witnesses" section is a collection of over 1,700 witness statements from people involved in the military/politics from 1913 to 1921. You can search by keyword or name, and just read through everything they did. Fantastic for getting alternative perspectives on major events etc
