ImaginingIreland’sPastsdescribeshowvariousauthorsaddressedthehistoryofearlymodernIrelandoverfourcenturiesandexplainswhytheycouldnotsettleonanagreednarrative.Itshowshowconflictinginterpretationsbrokefrequentlyalongdenominationallines,butthatauthorswerealsoinfluencedbyethnic,cultural,andpoliticalconsiderations,andbywhethertheywereresidentinIrelandorlivinginexile.ImaginingIreland’sPast:EarlyModernIrelandthroughtheCenturiesdetailshowauthorsextolledthemeritsoftheirprogenitors,offeredhopeandguidancetotheparticularaudiencetheyaddressed,anddisputedopposingnarratives.Theauthorshowshowcompetingscholars,whethercontributingtovernacularhistoriesorempiricalstudies,becametransfixedbythetraumaticeventsofthesixteenthandseventeenthcenturiesastheysoughttoexplaineitherhowstabilityhadfinallybeenachieved,orhowthedescendantsofthosewhohadbeenwrongedmightsecureredress.
