Bristol's trade with Ireland and the Continent, 1503–1601

The evidence of the Exchequer customs accounts

Evan Jones & Susan Flavin, editors

The English exchequer customs accounts are the most thorough, comprehensive and long-running records of foreign trade to exist for any country in the pre-modern period. The eleven Bristol 'particular' accounts and port books reproduced in this volume were chosen to assist the re-evaluation of the economic development of southern Ireland before and during the Nine Years War (1594–1603). The Bristol accounts are without doubt the best quantitative economic record that exists for studying any aspect of Irish economic development during the 16th century, recording in minute detail what was the most important branch of Ireland's overseas trade. As such, these accounts can serve as the starting-point for future research into many aspects of the economic and social development of southern Ireland during this period.

Evan Jones is a senior lecturer in early modern economic history at the University of Bristol. Susan Flavin is studying for her doctorate at Bristol, examining changes in consumption patterns in 16th-century Ireland.