Using the concepts of colonialism and early modernity, William J. Smyth offers a geographical analysis of the most revolutionary period in Ireland's history. He analyzes the conquest and settlement of Ireland by the English and Scottish and the consequences of their often violent intrusion upon the cultures and landscapes of preexisting Irish societies. Smyth focuses on the ways in which the British state subjugated Irish territories, including a systematic use of surveillance techniques; implementation of mapping and inventories of strategic landscapes and resources; and development of bureaucracies and administrative techniques of law and the market economy so as to obliterate regional expression of Gaelic cultures and practices. What results is a fresh interpretation of Ireland's experiences in this crucial early modern period.