The pitiful story of Ireland in Elizabeth's reign has been
told dispassionately by Bagwell. It is now rewritten in fuller detail, but with a strong Irish Roman Catholic bias, by Father Myles V. Ronan in The Reformation in Ireland under Elizabeth, 1558-1580 (Longinans, 21s.). - Shane O'Neill, the Ulster firebrapd, was described by the Pope's agent as " a cruel, impious, heretical tyrant," and was feared by his Irish rivals as well as by the English authorities. Yet the author, while honestly recording Shane's atrocities and treacheries, seems anxious to say a good word for him. On the other hand, the harassed English Deputies or Governors, lacking the money and the forces needed to restore order and introduce Pro- testantism, did not hesitate to resort to treacherous methods of removing their adversaries. We can understand Father Ronan's vehemence, though it is unhistorical.
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