The series Ireland Observed focuses on Irish history in the period between 1782 when Ireland gained partial legislative independence from Great Britain (with the repeal of the Declaratory Act and the amendment of Poynings’ Law), and the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty in 1921. During this period Ireland was in a continual state of flux, politically, economically and socially, and while there have been numerous reductionist and popular historical accounts of Ireland and the nature of the Irish people, to get a true understanding of this volatile history it is necessary to read some of the more neglected and inaccessible texts written by contemporaries in the forms of memoirs, travelogues and ‘objective’ histories. This series concentrates primarily on texts as written by British and foreign outsiders who managed to write and provide major insights or snapshots of Ireland under change. Taken together the sets in this series will provide a basis for a proper and balanced understanding of Ireland and a basis for understanding the nature of history itself.

Following on from Michael Hurst’s first set in the series Ireland Observed: Colony to Dominion, 1782--1921, this collection again focuses on some lesser-known and uncommon texts that are worthy of highlighting with a view to correcting the distortions of popular historians of Ireland in this dramatic period. German, English and Irish commentators of various ranks are represented, and taken together these valuable contemporary texts help broaden understanding of how Ireland came to be as it is today. These texts are carefully selected for the profound insights they give into the social, political and economic conditions of the developing Ireland. The works, never previously reprinted and many of which are now scarce, are reproduced here in their entirety and provided with a biographical and historical introduction by Michael Hurst.

--valuable collection of contemporary historical and descriptive texts on the nature of Ireland
--never before reprinted and many very scarce in the original editions
--second set in the series Ireland Observed: Colony to Dominion, 1782--1921
--cross-cultural interest for all Irish historians
--selected and introduced by Dr Michael Hurst