This book analyses Irish antiquarian writings and activities in the second half of the eighteenth century. It shows the extent to which views of the pre-colonial Irish past were shaped by contemporary political debates, particularly the Catholic Question, but also the long-established debate as to the relative civility or barbarism of the native Irish. It also demonstrates the significance of European cultural developments on Irish antiquarianism, such as orientalism, primitivism and the vogue for Ossian. Throughout the book, Scotland forms a particular point of comparison, since antiquaries there drew on the same Gaelic heritage in much of their work.