The merchant community of Dublin in the early seventeenth century : a social, economic and political study

Abstract

This thesis investigates Dublin merchants in the early seventeenth century within the framework of economic, social and political changes that characterised the period. Although sources were hard to come by in some areas of research, by adopting a thematic approach it was possible to utilise the findings from a wide range of extant material and reconstruct the various strands that made Dublin and its merchant community stand out in early seventeenth-century Ireland. Chapter one provides an economic backdrop to the thesis and shows that in the first four decades of the seventeenth century Dublin emerged as the most affluent port in Ireland in a period that experienced unprecedented economic growth. Although the merchant community of Dublin was previously dismissed as insignificant, chapter two illustrates that Dublin merchants, the majority of whom were Catholic, permeated every area of public life in the city.