From That Small Island

An ambitious and richly illustrated global history of Ireland that accompanies the internationally broadcast From that Small Island TV series.

Who are the Irish? Where did they come from? Where did, and do they, go? Some seven million people live on the island of Ireland, but over eighty million people worldwide say they are Irish. What does that mean? What does the story of a small island people in their comings and their goings tell us about identities and belonging in a constantly changing world?

From That Small Island: The Story of the Irish is a global and ambitious retelling of Irish history that explores these questions to ask how Ireland has been shaped by the world and the world has been shaped by the Irish. From the island's earliest settlers more than 12,000 years ago to today and from Europe and North America to Asia, Africa, and South America, Bríona Nic Dhiarmada and Jane Ohlmeyer offer a new narrative of Irish history: open and integrated, situated within its broader global and environmental contexts, and peopled by the voices of those who have often been excluded from it.

To do so they draw on cutting-edge research from a uniquely broad range of disciplines - from geology and bio-archaeology to environmental history and literary studies - and a very wide range of sources - from chronicles, letters, and speeches to literature and interviews with contemporary cultural figures. By considering Ireland and the Irish in this fresh and global way, Nic Dhiarmada and Ohlmeyer avoid traditional Anglo- or American-centric approaches to Irish history and shed light onto a range of contemporary issues, including debates on race, identity, migration, empire, and globalisation. This richly illustrated book brings original scholarship to a broad audience in a compelling way, offering a diverse and human-centred narrative of the peoples of Ireland, both those who lived on the island and those who left.