Reddit mentions of King of Beggars, A Life of Daniel O' Connell

A few books I've enjoyed about Irish history:

The Isles: A History - a contextualised history of the nations of these isles. Hard to understand one without the others.

The Oxford History of Ireland - Wide ranging. Really enjoyed the last chapter on literature.

Ireland in the Age of the Tudors, 1447-1603: English Expansion and the End of Gaelic Rule - I've only read the earlier edition which some people had problems (pdf) with but I found very informative.

A History of Ulster - Localised but comprehensive and authoritative. Sorry about that. I'm a bit parochial as you'll notice as the list goes on.

The Siege of Derry - Great narrative to it. Easy to read, without sacrificing depth.

The Catholics of Ulster - A dense tomb full of fascinating history. With a title like that you'd be forgiven for thinking it is a one sided piece of propaganda for one side up above but it totally isn't.

The Great O'Neill - Fantastic read. Ó Faolain isn't an academic historian but he is a deeply gifted writer and very knowledgeable.

King of Beggars, A Life of Daniel O' Connell - Same as above.