Following the acclaimed volume Ireland in the Renaissance, c 1540-1660 (2007) by the same editors, this multidisciplinary collection in history, art history, literature and archaeology aims for the first time to study with a wide focus the region of the English Pale in Ireland - and the concept of the Pale itself - during the early modern period. Subjects covered include the archaeological traces of Pale fortifications; hidden houses at Athy, Co. Kildare, and Carstown, Co. Louth; the Gaelic Irish of east Leinster and their countrymen at the London court; gardens; music; powerful Geraldine women; the classical and political pretentions of the ‘Old English’ literary community; church settlement; a new interpretation of the earl of Strafford’s daunting pile at Jigginstown near Naas, Co. Kildare, and more.