A readable, scholarly and thoughtful book., 2 Dec 2000

The historical account is masterly, and although I'm not entirely sure that Elliott completely succeeds in explaining to this Ulster Protestant why the real history so inexorably lead to the present day mythology, she provides much food for thought.

The author has gone to great efforts to establish facts where facts can be established, and to draw reasonable conclusions when they cannot. This is a scholarly book, and it is no surprise that it was a decade in gestation. That should not however, put off more casual readers. Elliott carries her learning lightly, and the book is as readable as it is informative.

Elliot speaks eloquently of how difficult the book was to write on a personal level, and she clearly still identifies closely with the community she came from. (See interview with Kathy Sheridan, Irish Times Saturday, September 30, 2000.) In this she is unlike Susan McKay, author of 'Northern Protestants' a book with which 'The Catholics of Ulster' will almost inevitably be compared because of their titles and close publication dates. That is however not the best reason for avoiding comparison which can only be detrimental to Elliott's book. Elliott is an academic, McKay a journalist, and it shows.

Throughout the book, Elliott's foot is firmly in the historical revisionist camp and current political consensus one. I have little doubt that the historical revisionism will mean that the book is received with automatic coldness in some Northern Irish Catholic circles. For the same reason a proportion of Ulster Protestants will thoughtlessly applaud it, while others will dismiss it because of the enthusiasm and optimism of the conclusion.

Such a robotic reception would be a shame in all cases. This is a book that demands to be read, though about, and then re-read.

Highly recommended.

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