What did Ireland sound like before conquest? In this two-part conversation, Professor of Maynooth University Pat Palmer guides us into the vibrant world of early modern Ireland, where bardic poets, Gaelic lords, Spanish captains and Elizabethan officials all left their mark. From flourishing schools of poetry to the sudden rupture at Kinsale, these episodes invite us to reimagine the past through many voices and rediscover what was lost in the making of modern Ireland.

Pat Palmer took part in the workshop “Sources from the margins: reflections on the empire in Ireland, Scotland and Wales (1530s-1790s)" organized by Marie Curie researcher Feliks Levin (Postdoctoral Fellowship under contract number 101105224)

Reimagining Ireland is presented by Katrine Nyland Sørensen and produced for the Classical Influences and Irish Culture project, funded by the European Research Council 818366 and hosted at the Centre for Irish Studies at Aarhus University in Denmark.
 

Episode 3 introduces Pat Palmer's project, Macmorris, which uncovers the lost voices of early modern Ireland. Through poetry, chronicles, and accounts in nine different languages, the MacMorris Project reveals a plural world too often overshadowed by English sources. These episodes explore how deep mapping can restore Irish perspectives, challenge colonial narratives, and offer fresh ways of thinking about history, culture, and our place in the world. Pat Palmer is Professor at Maynooth University. 

Pat Palmer took part in the workshop “Sources from the margins: reflections on the empire in Ireland, Scotland and Wales (1530s-1790s)" organized by Marie Curie researcher Feliks Levin (Postdoctoral Fellowship under contract number 101105224)

Reimagining Ireland is presented by Katrine Nyland Sørensen and produced for the Classical Influences and Irish Culture project, funded by the European Research Council 818366 and hosted at the Centre for Irish Studies at Aarhus University in Denmark.

Episode 2 introduces recent Jane Ohlmeyer's ERC project, Voices of Women in Early Modern Ireland, a groundbreaking digital project that uncovers the everyday lives of women between 1550 and 1700. Closely connected to her book Making Empire, the project sheds light on how ordinary non-elite women navigated both war and peace, despite being largely hidden in the historical record. Jane Ohlmeyer is Professor at Trinity College Dublin. 

Jane took part in the workshop “Sources from the margins: reflections on the empire in Ireland, Scotland and Wales (1530s-1790s)" organized by Marie Curie researcher Feliks Levin (Postdoctoral Fellowship under contract number 101105224)

Reimagining Ireland is presented by Katrine Nyland Sørensen and produced for the Classical Influences and Irish Culture project, funded by the European Research Council 818366 and hosted at the Centre for Irish Studies at Aarhus University in Denmark.

Episode 1 introduces the acclaimed book by Jane Ohlmeyer, Making Empire: Ireland, imperialism, and the early modern world. She shows how Ireland was not just shaped by empire but also shaped it — serving both as a site of colonisation and a platform for colonisers. Jane Ohlmeyer is Professor at the Trinity College Dublin

Covering two centuries, from the mid-1500s to the mid-1700s, Ohlmeyer explores Ireland’s integral place in the English imperial system, the Irish as agents of empire, and the impact of empire on everyday lives. A conversation that challenges familiar nationalist narratives and places Ireland in a wider global context.

Jane took part in the workshop “Sources from the margins: reflections on the empire in Ireland, Scotland and Wales (1530s-1790s)" organized by Marie Curie researcher Feliks Levin (Postdoctoral Fellowship under contract number 101105224)

Reimagining Ireland is presented by Katrine Nyland Sørensen and produced for the Classical Influences and Irish Culture project, funded by the European Research Council 818366 and hosted at the Centre for Irish Studies at Aarhus University in Denmark.