EMPIRE
Cromwellian Ireland and the Transformation of the English Atlantic World
Funded by a Research Ireland senior laureate award, The EMPIRE project will explore Ireland’s crucial role in England’s (and later Britain’s) global expansion.
Latest News
Follow the latest publications and discoveries from EMPIRE.
November 2026
New Sweden: from manuscript to dataset
Gerard Farrell explores handwritten text recognition and language models in processing early modern sources.
February 2026
IRELAND AND THE EMERGING ENGLISH ATLANTIC EMPIRE IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY
Article by Professor Micheál Ó Siochrú in History Ireland.
February 2026
Down Survey
The award-winning Down Survey website at https://www.downsurvey.ie/ has been relaunched with a completely revised and redesigned site.
The archive
Explore the sources
Discover archival collections, locate original records and work directly with datasets produced by the project.
Featured dataset
Barbados Assembly minutes, 1654–1658
Explore the minutes of the Barbados Assembly and Governor’s Council: a detailed record of colonial government, trade, justice and everyday administration during the Commonwealth and Protectorate.
PRIMARY SOURCES · DIGITISED RECORDS