Beginning with the Nine Years War of the Earl of Tyrone in 1593 and ending with the War of the Three Kings and the surrender of Limerick 1691, this class explores the defining era of Irish history. Through illustrated lectures, drawing upon a rich collection of contemporary sources, explore the impact of the Plantations, the ambition of the Stuarts to integrate the Irish into their 'Empire of Great Britain', and the emergence of the first Irish state - the Confederation of Kilkenny. It is a story of Irish attempts to look for alternatives to 'British' colonisation through contacts with Catholic Europe, while entangled in near genocidal levels religious and ethnic violence. Lecture style with question and answer time.