Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

The People of Ireland challenges the popular conception of two traditions--of planter and Gael, or Protestant and Catholic--in Irish society.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Booklist Review

Based on a BBC series of the same name, this book attempts to come to grips with the always fascinating, frequently explosive issue of just who the Irish people really are. Eleven of Ireland's leading historians weigh in on the subject, with chapters devoted to the diverse ethnic groups that have over the centuries contributed their blood and wisdom to the formation of the heterogenous entity often referred to, however incorrectly, as the Irish race. Invaders and immigrants to the Hibernian shores have included Celts and Vikings, Normans and Scots, English, diasporadic Jews, even East Indians and Vietnamese. Clearly, this is no longer a land solely inhabited by Barry Fitzgerald look-alikes and red-haired Colleens with fiery tempers. Nor was it ever. Notes on further reading; index. --Steve Weingartner