Jacobites, Whiteboys and Republicans: Varieties of Disaffection in Eighteenth-Century Ireland

Abstract

In 1998, Eighteenth-Century Ireland published a nine-page critique, by Dr Vincent Morley, of two short passages from my work.' The issue in both cases was the same: the use, in a discussion of the character of late eighteenth-century Irish Jacobitism, of a poem by Eoghan Ruadh 0 Sdilleabhain. At the time there seemed little point in offering a reply: Dr Morley had caught me, out in an undeniable factual error. Now, however, both Dr Morley and Dr Eamonn 0 Ciardha have published their own book-length studies of the Irish Jacobite tradition.' At this stage it may be worth looking again at the wider issues raised by our unconsummated debate.