ABSTRACT
Historic settlement research in Ireland is not only a successful field of study in its own right but it is also a way of life. This is why, almost thirty years after its foundation, the Group for the Study of Irish Historic Settlement is still going strong. I have been asked to set the scene for future research into the settlement history of Ireland, as it was my good fortune to be President of the Group on the occasion of its twentieth birthday. My reflections will be biased towards the contribution of historical geographers, as I am most familiar with their work.1
