Nine Years War to be investigated in Canada

EU funding will help fund an investigation into a key piece of Irish history at a university in Canada.

Ruth Canning received EU funding worth $CAN 300,000 (~€218,000) from the Marie Curie Actions Fellowships programme. The postdoctoral grant will fund a three-year investigation, which will take place at Concordia University in Montréal, Canada, into the Nine Years War, a controversial yet mainly unresearched area of Irish history.

Speaking to Concordia University News, Canning said: “Progressive institutions like Concordia’s School of Canadian Irish Studies are helping researchers like me take a fresh look at what can often seem like ancient history, and shed new light on present day situations.”

She added that the EU funding has given her an ‘amazing opportunity’ to help her undertake her research: “This scholarship has given me the amazing opportunity of coming to Concordia’s School of Irish Studies, where I can be part of an internationally renowned group of scholars that are working together to increase the understanding of Irish history and culture worldwide.”

The Nine Years War was fought between Ireland and England between 1594-1603 during the reign of Elizabeth I. The conflict cost the monarch more lives and money than any other and saw Irish citizens fight against English rule in Ireland.