The great voyages of discovery (Columbus, de Gama, etc.) shifted the centre of gravity of European maritime trade from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic. Over the same period the conquest of Ireland was completed. By the eighteenth century, Ireland, for centuries on the periphery of Europe, found itself at the centre of this newly formed ‘Atlantic world’ as part of the British Empire.

Listen to Tommy Graham, editor of History Ireland, discuss the maritime and colonial legacies with Aoife Bhreatnach (Irish Garrison Towns), Claire Connolly (UCC), Lar Joye (Dublin Port) and David Murphy (Maynooth).