* List of Acronyms * Preface * Introduction * Three Irelands Many Interpretations * Ireland: The Place * The Chapters to Come * 1. The Question of Irish History: From the Celts to O'Connell * The Early Peoples * The Norman Conquest * The Shipwreck of the Old Order * The Penal Laws * The Protestant Nation * 1798 * Union * Daniel O'Connell * Notes * 2. From the Famine to the Rising * The Famine * The Famine's Legacy * The Struggle for Home Rule * The Rise of Irish Nationalism * The Easter Rising of 1916 * Notes * 3. From Guerrilla War to Independence * The Rise of Sinn Fein * The Anglo-Irish War and the Treaty * The Free State * De Valera's Dream * The Emergency and After * Notes * 4. Doors Opening and Closing: Economy, Education, and the Irish Language * Introduction * The Insulated Economy * The Whitaker Plan and the Planning Period, 1959-1972 * Entry into the European Union, 1973-1987 * The Emergence of the Celtic Tiger, 1987-1997 * Explaining Ireland's Economic Development * Education: The Traditional System * Reform and Renewal * The Irish Language * Notes * 5. Mixed Messages: The Catholic Church and the Media * The Catholic Church * The Media * Censorship * Notes * 6. Veneration Versus Rights: The Role of Irish Women * The Suffrage Movement * Venerated But Excluded * The Search for Equality * Controversial Issues in the 1980s * Women's Status in the 1990s * Notes * 7. Catholic State or Catholic Nation: Political Culture, Constitution, and Political Structure * Political Culture * Constitutional Foundations * The Structure of Government * Not Corporatism But Neo-Corporatist Policy Making * The Impact of Europe * Irish Democracy * Notes * 8. The Chosen Few: Parties, Pressure Groups, and Policy * The Irish Voter * Political Parties * Bases of the Irish Party System * Pressure Groups * Policy Issues: The Environment * Social Problems and Issues * Notes * 9. Northern Ireland: The Gordian Knot Tied * Introduction * The Creation of Northern Ireland * Character of the Conflict * Discrimination and Separation * British Policy in Ulster, 1922-1968 * The United States and Northern Ireland, 1922-1968 * Years of Violence, 1968-1972 * British Policy in Ulster, 1968-1972 * The United States and Northern Ireland, 1968-1972 * Northern Ireland, 1972-1981 * British Policy in Ulster, 1972-1981 * The United States and Northern Ireland, 1972-1981 * Notes * 10. Northern Ireland: The Gordian Knot Untied? * Developments in Northern Ireland, 1981-1992 * British Policy, 1981-1992 * The United States and Northern Ireland, 1981-1992 * External influences on Northern Ireland * The Peace Process, the Good Friday Agreement of April 1998, and the Prizes of Peace * Explaining the Conflict Explaining the Peace * Notes * 11. Ireland in the World : Policy, People, and the Arts * Irish Foreign Policy * The European Union * People * Irish America * The Arts * Conclusion * Notes * Selected Bibliography * Index