Thirty years ago, at the time of the founding of Irish Historical Studies, there were available many books on the very much ‘ written ’ nineteenth century, but much of the work was biased and unscholarly, or lacked the freshness of question and approach which each genera¬tion must bring to the history it studies and writes. Good work there was, of course, and it is important that it be not forgotten. If there are errors in older books, equally grave ones can result from not reading earlier authors who often wrote from a closeness to the event, and with an awareness of factors easily forgotten in the ongoing sweep of interpretation.