In the late-16th century, Ulster and the Chesapeake Bay area became subject to British colonial experimentation. Traditionally, it has been accepted that the Ulster Plantation scheme had set a template for the American venture but Professor Audrey Horning, Head of the School of Geography, Archaeology and Palaeoecology at Queen’s University Belfast, challenges this historical understanding of the nature of plantation in her new book: Ireland in the Virginian Sea, Colonialism in the British Atlantic. By examining material culture and archival sources, including the Drapers' Company Papers (D3632) and Salters' Company Papers (T853) held by the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI), Professor Horning also considers the experiences of the native Gaelic Irish and Algonquian experiences in this book as well as the lack of a determining vision in such colonial projects.
Published by University of North Carolina Press, the 408-page book will be launched at PRONI on the evening of Thursday 26 June (6:30pm to 8:00pm) by Professor Sean Connolly, also of QUB.
If you'd like to attend this free event, please contact PRONI to reserve your place. Email proni@dcalni.gov.uk or telephone +44 (0)28 905 34800.
ISBN 978-1-4696-1072-6