ABSTRACT
An obvious danger in writing the history of Restoration Ireland is to treat it simply as an interlude between the Cromwellian and Williamite eras. Politics, therefore, remains central to treatments of Restoration Ireland. Since parliament, the council, the court and the king decided Irish questions, the 'high' politics in which they participated have attracted exhaustive analysis. To understand Restoration Ireland, it is necessary to know what was happening in England and in continental Europe. However, the Irish terminology may describe manifestations of brigandage, rootlessness and alienation common across the Europe of the time. There were hopes that a series of natural and civil histories of the Irish counties might follow, modelled on those appearing already in England. Efforts by a Gallican element among Irish Catholics to devise a formula whereby loyalists could demonstrate their good affection to the Stuart regime have left elaborate documentation. Opportunities for profitable employment as soldiers, traders and priests continued to draw Irish Catholics overseas.
