Page:Confiscation in Irish history.djvu/11

 INTRODUCTORY NOTE

working at one phase of Irish history my aim has been above all to find out and set down what actually happened; a matter not at all as easy as one might suppose if one were merely to consider the number of works dealing with Ireland in which the various confiscations have been treated more or less fully. As to figures one soon learns that it is rare that any two sources agree; quotations from original documents are often inaccurate; the totals set out in the printed copies of our original records rarely agree with the figures of the various items which go to make them up.

In certain cases, notably as to the extent of the confiscations under Cromwell and William of Orange, and as to the exact state of landed property in Ireland after the Acts of Settlement and Explanation, there is still a field open to research.

My acknowledgments are due to the courtesy of the officials of the Dublin Record Office and to the Librarian of Lambeth Palace. vii.