Abstract

The study of honor has greatly enriched historians’ understanding of early modern societies. By providing a means to explore the interplay between individual and collective notions of worth, it has allowed scholars to more closely investigate the relationship between culture and politics. In this historiography there has been important, but limited, work on Ireland. This article suggests the importance of honor not only for understanding early modern Ireland in its own right, but also for understanding a crucial cultural factor in the emergence of the British state. It proposes a three-part framework through which the negotiation of honor claims in Anglo-Irish relations may be explored and their political implications assessed: from Gaelic eineach, through Anglo-Irish onóir, to British honor.

DOI: 10.1111/j.1478-0542.2008.00584.x