Troubled Geographies ― A Spatial History of Religion and Society in Ireland

Ireland’s landscape is marked by fault lines of religious, ethnic, and political identity that have shaped its troubled history. Troubled Geographies maps this history by detailing the patterns of change in Ireland from 16th century attempts to "plant" areas of Ireland with loyal English Protestants to defend against threats posed by indigenous Catholics, through the violence of the latter part of the 20th century and the rise of the "Celtic Tiger." The book is concerned with how a geography laid down in the 16th and 17th centuries led to an amalgam based on religious belief, ethnic/national identity, and political conviction that continues to shape the geographies of modern Ireland. Troubled Geographies shows how changes in religious affiliation, identity, and territoriality have impacted Irish society during this period. It explores the response of society in general and religion in particular to major cultural shocks such as the Famine and to long term processes such as urbanization.

Ian N. Gregory is Professor of Digital Humanities in the Department of History at Lancaster University.

Niall A. Cunningham is Research Associate at the ESRC Centre for Research on Socio-Cultural Change (CRESC), University of Manchester.

C. D. Lloyd is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Geography and Planning, School of Environmental Sciences, at the University of Liverpool.

Ian G. Shuttleworth is Senior Lecturer in the School of Geography, Archaeology and Palaeoecology at the Queen’s University Belfast.

Paul S. Ell is Director of the Centre for Data Digitisation and Analysis (CDDA) in the School of Geography, Archaeology and Palaeoecology at the Queen’s University Belfast.