Between 1641 and 1649, for the first time before 1922, Ireland was recognized by the international community as an independent nation. Even though the Cromwellian conquest of 1649 made short work of Catholic Ireland's revolution, it nevertheless ranks as one of the most successful revolts of early modern history. This interdisciplinary collection of essays examines how the tumultuous events of the 1640s and 1650s transformed the course of Ireland's intellectual, social, economic, military, tenurial and, of course, political history. The essays also seek to set Ireland in its wider European and British contexts.