In 18th century Dublin, Freemen were almost as numerous as the entire landed class. In this book, the author draws on various sources in order to examine the freemen's contribution to Irish Patriotism. The transformation of 18th century Patriots into 19th century Unionists is also studied.

`From Patriots to Unionists is a challenging and rewarding book, providing a convincing ideological architecture in which future studies of Dublin politics and Protestant patriotism can be set.' The Irish Times The book's most shing quality is an excellent bibliography of satirical writings of the period. Some books are worth waiting for, and this is one of them. - D George Boyce. British Journal for 18th C Studies. Vol 21 1998 `a welcome and important contribution. The story Dr Hill tells is coherent and compelling ... Dr Hill's study is solidly based on the municipal records, combined with a wide range of supplementary sources. Her diligence, and the ingenuity with which she has squeezed the maximum returns from voters' lists, rolls of freemen and similar sources, are consistently impressive ... we may thank Dr Hill for adding so much to our understanding of the issues, and for introducing to the literature concepts and issues that will be central to discussion for the foreseeable future.' S.J. Connolly, Queen's University Belfast, Eighteenth-Century Ireland, Vol 13, 1998 `This book makes a valuable contribution to eighteenth and nineteeth-century Irish historiography. This is a richly detailed, meticulously researched, immaculately produced monograph. The narrative and social and economic contextualizations are surefooted. The emphasis on corporatist values and confessional ethos is both fresh and suggestive.' Jim Smyth, Albion