The Tudor century witnessed the composition of many treatises that aimed to shape crown policy for the “reform” of sixteenth-century Ireland and thus bring the whole island under English rule. These Tudor reform treatises date mainly from 1515 onward, although the concept of reform is medieval in origin. David Heffernan considers the concept's development and the content of these treatises until 1594 and the start of the Nine Years’ War. For this purpose, the author has identified for the whole Tudor period over 600 extant treatises, a heroic effort which has yielded “a far more substantial number than previously appreciated” (217). Under the early Tudors, most were written by Old English officials, but from mid-century onward New English writers predominated, although some were also written by Welshmen and native Irish. The writers were a wide array, from senior officials to merchants, army captains, and would-be colonists. An edited volume of some seventy of these treatises, mainly the more obscure examples, was also recently published by Heffernan. In this latest book, the treatises are used to support some large claims concerning the importance of reform treatises for the debate on Tudor policy in sixteenth-century Ireland. According to Heffernan, “the writings of lowly officials” like Walter Cowley and Edward Waterhouse were “at least as significant as” those of chief governors such as Sidney and Perrot (xvii); and “a great many policy initiatives undertaken by the Tudors in Ireland were highly influenced by the treatises” (217). In four chapters Heffernan provides a chronological narrative about the contents of these treatises, but both the structure and the claims present some difficulties.

Heffernan extends the traditional meaning of a reform treatise from a formal written exposition about Tudor reform to include documents that he calls “informal treatises,” correspondence or “letter-tracts,” reports or journals, accounts of service, and internal government memoranda (7–8); but on this basis, almost any document written about the problems of Tudor Ireland may be classed as a reform treatise. For instance, Heffernan highlights Under Treasurer Sir John Stile's 1521 letter in the State Papers to Cardinal Wolsey about “reform” of the judiciary: allegedly, this was “not common in the early Tudor treatises” and “set the tone for later criticism of the bench” that was “universally a New English discourse,” with “appointment of English-born judges” the popular remedy (147). In fact, criticism of Irish-born judges and a preference for English-born judges was a persistent theme of fifteenth-century parliamentary petitions. By adopting such a broad definition, Heffernan has assumed responsibility for discussing almost every political idea suggested over an eighty-year period for reforming Tudor Ireland. Heffernan also tends to list and discuss the documents as if they were all equally available to monarchs and ministers; but he does not always demonstrate that the treatises were actually read, and if so, by whom. The Tudors, as we know, were often ignorant of the reform treatises; Henry VIII, whose dislike of paperwork is well known, was very unlikely to read these lengthy papers on Ireland. At best, he might hear his ministers gloss their contents. Even those treatises that monarchs or ministers did read were often then simply ignored; and the weight of treatises on a particular topic is no guarantee of an actual policy debate.

Heffernan has identified some quite obscure documents, in unexpected locations, but reform treatises as traditionally understood are actually a quite familiar form of document. Most of the more significant examples have already been published or calendared. They have also been used quite extensively by historians to illustrate different aspects of what is now known as the Tudor conquest of Ireland. Thus, in The Irish Constitutional Revolution of the Sixteenth Century (1979), Brendan Bradshaw used them to argue for Ireland's “constitutional revolution” in 1541. Nicholas Canny highlighted their importance for colonization and conquest in The Elizabethan Conquest of Ireland: A Pattern Established, 1565–1576 (1976). And Ciaran Brady focused on a “reform” style of government in The Chief Governors: The Rise and Fall of Reform Government in Tudor Ireland, 1536–1588 (1994). Most recently, Christopher Maginn and Steven Ellis have used the early Tudor treatises in The Tudor Discovery of Ireland (2015).

In this relatively short book, Heffernan looks afresh at what is by his definition an overwhelming and heterogeneous body of evidence, never before examined systematically or in its entirety. The study thus becomes at times little more than an impressionistic summary, or catalogue, of treatises that have been well described and discussed elsewhere. This approach certainly allows him to suggest detailed revisions of our understanding of these different phases of the Tudor conquest. More significantly perhaps, the discussion in chronological order also enables him to chart the evolution of the concept of reform over the Tudor century. As Heffernan shows, early Tudor treatises broadly advocated coercion to “reform” Gaelic parts adjoining the English Pale, although some sought Gaelic Ireland's assimilation into Henry VIII's new Tudor kingdom by more conciliatory, less costly means. Mid-Tudor treatises urged colonization and militarization to extend English rule, with a focus under Lord Deputy Sidney on provincial councils, financial reform, and composition replacing “cess.” The later Tudor literature of complaint—urging a more conciliatory, assimilative approach to reform, attacking rampant militarization and corruption was immediately followed by the destructive and bloody Nine Years’ War; Heffernan finds this “extremely curious” (206), but perhaps it was because the treatises were less influential than he claims. The overall result, however, is a very detailed political narrative that, in the end, hardly proceeds much beyond a broadly familiar retelling of the events of the Tudor conquest and does little to advance our understanding of Tudor policy and policy making in Ireland.