The Colonial World of Richard Boyle, First Earl of Cork

Richard Boyle, first earl of Cork (1566-1643), ranks among the most famous and infamous figures in the history of early modern Ireland and the wider English Atlantic world. The archetypal crooked land-grabber who made his initial fortune defrauding the crown of hidden revenues; the grasping colonial adventurer who became the biggest landowner in the Munster Plantation and the richest subject of the crown throughout the Three Kingdoms; and the vindictive leader of the powerful Protestant interest that seized control of the Irish government and persecuted native Catholics-these are just three elements of the reputation that attaches to him in histories of the period. This book re-examines his place in early seventeenth-century English colonialism, and reassesses his reputation, presenting an interdisciplinary interrogation of his life and activities by a panel of prominent and upcoming historians and archaeologists. Boyle emerges as a markedly more flexible figure than once was thought. The book pays close attention to his estates and clientele-a long neglected area-to reveal new evidence of connections with Virginia and the New World, and the methods deployed to manage large-scale industrial operations in southern Ireland, as well as identifying the military personnel he recruited to defend it all. It offers a new view of what colonialism was like in the early seventeenth century, and of how it was practiced. [Subject: History, 17th C. History, Colonialism, Irish Studies, Military History]