This volume addresses a subject of vital importance to the study of Irish history--literature and politics. Although collective memory and commemoration has attracted much attention from British, French and American scholars, this is the first major study of the relationship between history and memory in Ireland--closing a remarkable gap in the literature, considering the frequency with which Unionists as well as nationalists have invoked the past, erected monuments and observed anniversaries. This book helps define the main concepts and issues in an emerging field of inquiry.