The French Revolution unleashed new forces, particularly nationalism, on western civilization; nowhere was their impact felt more strongly than in Ireland. From 1798 on there were constant demands for changes in relations between Ireland and Britain, ranging from calls for limited autonomy within the UK to outright independence. In A Short History of Modern Ireland Richard Killeen traces the different strands within Irish nationalism and the growing resistance to nationalism in Ulster.

Following Irish history through the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, he explores the social, economic, and political development of Ireland, covering topics ranging from industrialization, especially in Ulster; railways, cars, and the transport revolution; urban growth; the decline of the Irish language and the rise of English; the trauma of the Great Famine; the Irish diaspora; and the chronic instability of Northern Ireland. Combining strong narrative drive with explanation and interpretation, Killeen locates Ireland in a comparative European context and stresses the country's growing cultural engagement with the larger Anglo-American world.