ABSTRACT
For former slave-holding and slave-trading nations, remembering the facts and redressing the legacy of African slavery across the Atlantic remains a controversial and fraught exercise. For postcolonial countries, unpicking the extent and meaning of historical implication in the Atlantic trade presents a more oblique challenge. In Ireland, under English or British dominion since before contact with the Americas, and part of the United Kingdom from 1800 until 1922 when the Free State was established, slavery has received little address nationally as a theme in either history or literature. 1
