A New History of Ireland (Oxford) vs. New Gill History of Ireland?

[diy01]

I'm seeking feedback for the following books:

A New History of Ireland, Volume I: Prehistoric and Early Ireland
Edited by Dáibhí Ó Cróinín

A New History of Ireland, Volume II: Medieval Ireland 1169-1534
Edited by Art Cosgrove

A New History of Ireland, Volume III: Early Modern Ireland 1534-1691
Edited by T.W. Moody, F.X. Martin and F.J. Byrne

I was under the impression that this was a long-standing, authoritative series of many volumes, but according to the Oxford University Press Vol. IV was only released four days ago. I assume this is a newer edition? How does the series compare to the New Gill History of Ireland?

My main areas of interest would be Gaelic Ireland, kinship and national identities in the Medieval period, and the politics of language in Ireland in the Middle Ages.

Also interested in 'From Kings to Warlords: The Changing Political Structure of Gaelic Ireland in the Later Middle Ages' by Katherine Simms (The Boydell Press, 2000).

and

'Ireland in the Age of the Tudors, 1447-1603: English Expansion and the End of Gaelic Rule' (Steven G. Ellis, 2nd Ed., 1998)

Feedback on any of these titles (or recommendations of other relevant books) will be appreciated.

[Nem]

A the nine volume 'New History' of Ireland series conceived by Moody and Dudley-Edwards. A grand plan which it still on-going I think, although many of the volumes have now been published. Not in sequence though. Vol. IV was published sometime in the 1980s I think. Note that Vol. III was published in the revised edition with much needed amendments and corrections back in the late 1990s. What Amazon has listed there looks like a paperback reprint.

The Gill editions is a bit more concise and readable but suffered the same problem.

If you read Ellis then his counterpart Brendan Bradshaw must be read as well. The two had a mighty tiff back in the 90s on the pages of History Ireland.

[Catalpa]

I have the first two and intend to buy Vol III but went today for an edition of Bury's 'The Life of St Patrick and his place in History' given the calender date.

Yes they are worth getting ssimply for the sheer volume of information they contain. They are though a set of articles by some of the leading lights of recent Irish Historiography and by no means the last word.

Indeed much scholarship has been devoted to these subjects since these volumes were first written and some of the authors are now dead - eg Hayes McCoy who IIRC died in 1975!

'From Kings to Warlords...' is a very detailed work and not for the faint hearted - its also thematic and not a narrative so more a book for consultation rather than a straight read IMO.

'Ireland in the Age of the Tudors, 1447-1603' I have read parts of and couldn't really take to his rather Anglo centric view of it all I'm afraid.

[diy01]

Thanks Catalpa.

I believe it was Bradshaw who heavily criticised Ellis over 'Ireland in the Age of the Tudors'...

From Kings to Warlords sounds like what I'm looking for. The more footnotes, the better.

I'm attracted to the New History of Ireland series because of the sheer size of each volume. Most are 1000+ pages.