Ulster Political Lives, 1886-1921 examines the lives of 50 of Ulster's most significant political figures in the turbulent period from the first Home Rule Bill of 1886 to the foundation of the state of Northern Ireland in 1921. It includes articles on leading figures such as Edward Carson, James Craig and Joseph Devlin, but also on lesser-known but interesting figures such as Margaret Byers, Winifred Carney and George Clark, whose lives are also significant and instructive. It details the lives of unionists and nationalists, loyalists and republicans, but also those who did not fit into such neat categories-socialists, trade unionists and feminists, who often avoided identification with the major political groupings but nonetheless made noteworthy contributions to the creation of Northern Ireland and the shape it took after 1921.

About the Dictionary of Irish Biography: The Dictionary of Irish Biography, a research project of the Royal Irish Academy, is the most comprehensive and authoritative biographical dictionary yet published for Ireland. It comprises over 10,000 lives, which describe and assess the careers of subjects in all fields of endeavour, including politics, law, religion, literature, journalism, architecture, music and the arts, the sciences, medicine, entertainment and sport.