This is a study of Welsh military and civilian involvement in Ireland between the accession of Elizabeth I and the Irish rebellion of 1641. One might think that the Welsh relationship with its western neighbour during a period in which the latter was experiencing some of the most dramatic and violent social and political changes in its history would be a well-trodden historical path. In fact, despite more than thirty years of attempts by historians to write a more holistic ‘British’ history, there has been no significant attempt to assess the nature of Welsh involvement in Ireland in the early modern period. Similarly, despite recent calls to reassess the colonial presence in Ireland, which is too often conceptualised as a coherent and united community, few studies have recognised the existence of a Welsh minority within that group and none have considered its importance. By assessing the nature and extent of Welsh involvement in Ireland, then, this study fills a significant gap in both Irish and Welsh historiography.

This book will demonstrate that Welsh men and women played a pervasive role in the English government's attempts to conquer, govern and settle early modern Ireland. This overlooked, and sometimes significant, Welsh minority appeared throughout colonial Ireland and at all social and political levels.