ABSTRACT
The scholarly study of contemporary Ireland has remained largely an arcane pursuit of the very few. Despite extensive policy-oriented research on contemporary Irish affairs, particularly economic policy, public administration, and governmental planning, serious primary research into recent history has barely been initiated. The policy of the British government, followed generally by the government of Northern Ireland, concerning archives is long-standing and well known. In theory some of the most useful archives in Ireland must be those held by the Churches, but in practice it is most unlikely any will be available to historians in the foreseeable future. By 1972 it appeared as if everyone literate had been tempted into Irish matters, not just reluctant scholars. A new generation of historians were at work on the Irish past, not unmindful of the present; they deployed the tools of the analysts, noted the new Marxists, and focused on many odd but significant corners.
