Sir Walter Ralegh in Ireland

Raleigh's activities in Ireland, like the rest of his life, continue to fascinate. How incredible and unethical were his initial military exploits? What role did he play in planning and executing the Munster Plantation? How does his colonial activity in the New World compare with that in Ireland? How influential was he in shaping Queen Elizabeth I's Irish policy?This fascinating but little-known work, written by a controversial Irish-born British colonial governor and first published in 1883, is especially valuable today for its extensive reproduction of original sources connected with Raleigh's stay in Ireland, including many of his Irish letters. It is a useful place to begin exploring this multi-faceted character whom Pope Hennessy describes as 'one of the most daring and active of those eminent Englishmen who have done much to render British government permanently difficult - if not more than difficult - in Ireland'.