Religion, Law, and Power

Reviews / Votes

`Connolly's work is a fresh and stimulating examination of the century in which the structure and problems of modern Ireland took shape ... He is immensely well-informed, extracting the gold from the waste of earlier research and augmenting it with his own extensive accumulation. The diligence of his research is matched by the ingenuity of the questions he poses, his challenges to accepted orthodoxies and his convincing reassessments. All this is combined with an elegant style and a lightness of touch which makes the book exceedingly readable.'
J.L. McCracken, Durban, EHR, Apr '93 `groundbreaking study ... Connolly ... makes a thought-provoking contribution to the ongoing debate on "Ireland as colony" ... Religion, Law and Power is a scholarly and detailed examination of those political, religious, legal, social, and economic forces that operated to create "Ascendancy" Ireland.'
Albion Summer 1993, Vol 25 No 2 `it reflects exhaustive research ... Its arguments are skilfully presented and thought-provoking ... the overall quality of the analysis is impressive.' Gerard O'Brien, Fortnight 49 `Connolly writes well and in general persuasively ... The book is the outcome of a prodigious amount of research and - as vital - of thought and it is filled with new information, new insights and provocative conclusions. Undoubtedly, Connolly's book represents a major attack on the colonial model for Irish history: and those historians and literary critics who have used colonialism and its legacy to explain everything from begrudgery to banditry, from heavy drinking to theological conservatism, will have to come to terms with his arguments. ... after Sean Connolly's book, eighteenth-century Ireland will never be the same again.' Thomas Barlett, Linen Hall Review Winter 1992 'S.J. Connolly has written a very readable book on Protestant Ireland 1660-1760, which establishes its author as an accomplished master of the historian's craft ... not least of the book's value is its very wide range of sources, which add to the compelling strength of its argument.'
Times Higher Education Supplement 'Written with commendable lucidity, the book is laced with frequently memorable quotations, the product of extensive original research. It has zest and freshness which makes much of what has gone before ... seem stale and old-fashioned. It is also enlivened by Connolly's combative approach.'
Kevin Whelan, The Irish Times 'His book reflects the growing maturity and sophistication of 18th-century Irish studies. Religion, Law and Power is an admirable achievement, unleashing a very active cat amongst the historiographical pigeons.'
Kevin Whelan, The Irish Times, February 1993 'this is an important book for students of early 18th-century Ireland'
H.T. Blethen, Western Carolina University, Choice, Feb '93 'a book which is brimming with suggestive ideas that deserve further investigation ... There are fascinating glimpses ... of the shared entertainments of the gentry and their native Irish tenants in music and sport.'
Irish Review, Issue 13 'This is an extremely well-organised and comprehensive treatment of its subject matter ... crisp, precise style ... particularly useful as a reference for the hard-pressed undergraduate (or lecturer, for that matter) ... the great merit of this book is the transparency and rigour of its line of argument which, combined with the impressive organisation of material, will allow readers to draw their own conclusions and construct their own counter-arguments.'
Tommy Graham, History Ireland, Spring 1993 'splendid new book ... his research provides a timely reminder that the polarisation of the present is not necessarily that of the past ... courageous and imaginative ... Connolly's intention is clearly to stimulate new debate, or at the very least to show that there is never only one answer.'
Marianne Elliott, The Guardian 'By any standards this is a fine book. With great intellectual verve and literary brio, it picks up the idea ... that Ireland, in common with much of eighteenth-century Europe, endured an ancien regime ... A book of this scope, effortlessly commanding enormous evidence and controlling sophisticated and powerful arguments, will not win universal assent; though none, I hope, will question its intelligence and scholarship. On two counts Dr Connolly has earned our gratitude: he has posed many important questions for other historians to investigate; and he has also erected a bold and impressive structure in which a hundred years of Irish history will henceforward have to be treated. This is a remarkable achievement.'
T.C. Barnard, Hertford College, Oxford, Irish Historical Studies 'Connolly has produced an evenly paced, well-organized, and concise overview of the conditions in Ireland ... Connolly has presented an interesting, informative, and thought-provoking view of Ireland in the eighteenth century. His arguments are generally clear and to the point.'
F.W. Harris, The Historian, Vol. 55, No. 4, Summer '93