The Laggan Army in Ireland, 1640–80

The landed interests, political ideologies and military campaign of the north-west Ulster settlers

Kevin McKenny

'This is an extremely important book based on a computerised profile of landholding patterns in Counties Londonderry, Donegal and Tyrone from c.1641 to c.1666. Kevin McKenny’s tables and appendixes, with their meticulous and painstakingly assembled database, will ensure that this will remain a key reference work on seventeenth-century Ireland', Henry A Jefferies, Irish Historical Studies.

‘Dr. McKenny’s book has a good bibliography and index, and he has turned up nuggets of interest', Kenneth Ferguson, The Irish Sword (Winter 2007).

‘This study elucidates two distinct but often interlocking developments in seventeenth-century Ireland. One is the military history, particularly of the 1640s and 1650s; the second, the confiscation and resettlement of lands. The distinct armies of the Catholic Confederates, the loyalists commanded by Ormond, the Covenanters despatched from Scotland and the Protestants in Munster have been investigated closely in recent years. Given the increased awareness of the regional base to the operations of armies, studying the forces raised around the Laggan valley promises dividends … Dr McKenny brings conventional sources and approaches to bear in tracing the military record … The book breaks new ground when it examines the Lagganeers’ response to startling events in Britain’, T.C. Barnard, Studia Hibernica (October 2008).