The Catholics of Ulster: A History

There can be few European communities more soaked in their bloody history than the Province of Ulster, but the Catholic and Protestant communities' faulty understanding of their past has had ruinous effects on the lives of its inhabitants. In The Catholics of Ulster, Marianne Elliott slices through this dense thicket of obscuring myth, lies, and half-truths and emerges into the relative clarity of history.Some of Elliott's provocative claims include: There was no such thing as a Gaelic Catholic race. The Catholic gentry was decimated through conversion to Protestantism, not exile and dispossession. Catholic landowners often welcomed Scottish and English tenant farmers in Ulster. The English were not as culpable as previously claimed in exacerbating the Potato Famine.Arriving at a fragile juncture in the uncertain peace process, The Catholics of Ulster is sure to spark great controversy, inflame passions, and provoke spirited debate.

Marianne Elliott is Professor of Modern History and Director of the Institute of Irish Studies at Liverpool University.