In the twenty-first century there are two jurisdictions on the island of Ireland, and two very different heads of state represent the populations of Ireland and Northern Ireland respectively: the elected presidency of the republic, and the hereditary monarchy of the United Kingdom.
But the idea of monarchy, and the related notion of aristocracy, has a long heritage in Ireland. There was a native aristocracy long before the British conquest, and British monarchs were not the only monarchs to matter to Irish people.
In this book a range of experts examine how the role played by monarchs and their monarchies from the middle ages up to the present has had a role in shaping Ireland and its peoples, exploring some unexpected highways and byways along the way.
From the Vikings to the Jacobites, and from the high-kings of Irish mythology to Mrs Simpson, this volume looks at king's, queens, their followers and their opponents to cast light on Ireland's history from an unexpected angle
