What was a mark? Livery of seisin? Letters patent? This remarkable Dictionary of Irish Local History will be able to tell you. Entries are fully cross-referenced and come replete with full biographical paraphernalia to enable readers to engage in further reading. Primarily intended for local historians, but the interconnectedness of the local and wider worlds is recognised by the inclusion of a range of entries relating to national institutions, religion, archaeology, education, land issues, lay associations and political movements. It is an indispensable work, which will enable local historians to make better sense of the evidence for the past.

Joseph Byrne is course tutor on the outreach NUI Certificate in Local History in Maynooth. His published work includes War and Peace: the Survival of the Talbots of Malahide, 1641-71. He lives in Dublin.