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Mícheál Ó Siochrú, Conquest and Land in Ireland: The Transplantation to Connacht, 1649–1680, by John Cunningham, The English Historical Review, Volume 129, Issue 538, June 2014, Pages 721–722, https://doi.org/10.1093/ehr/ceu079
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Extract
This is an important study of a hitherto neglected area of Irish history. John Cunningham claims that the contemporary resonance of Oliver Cromwell and the state of the existing historiography necessitates a serious reassessment of the period. He is correct on both counts, and this is by far the most comprehensive analysis of the transplantation land settlement to date. Cunningham adopts an innovative approach throughout, demonstrating in the process the haphazard and confused nature of the settlement. Crucially, the spotlight is removed from Cromwell, no doubt much to the chagrin of those who would blame him for all of Ireland’s woes, and focused instead on Henry Ireton. Cunningham argues strongly that Ireton, rather than Cromwell, laid the foundations for the major redistribution of Catholic-owned land in the wake of the military conquest. Moreover, his detailed work on Catholic surrender terms and on the deliberations of the Committee for Articles will force historians to reconsider the very nature of the transplantation scheme, while the chapter on the Restoration clearly illustrates the benefits of a wider chronological time-frame. Cunningham deftly exploits much of the surviving primary material to compensate for the loss of substantial Cromwellian records in two major fires in Dublin (in 1711 and 1922), although he overstates the extent of the destruction and there are a few notable absences in his bibliography. For example, key archival material relating to Strafford’s survey of Connacht, which formed the basis of the 1650s survey of that province, was not consulted. In addition, the recently launched Down Survey website (http://downsurvey.tcd.ie) demonstrates how our understanding of the land transfers is constantly being refined and improved, particularly with the discovery of significant new material in the National Library and the National Archives in Dublin, including further examples of transplantation certificates.
