The Offaly market town of Edenderry, belonging in the nineteenth-century to the Hill family, Marquees of Downshire, is examined in this comprehensive study by Edenderry native, Ciaran Reilly. Drawing on numerous primary sources the author reconstructs one hundred years of the town's history, from before the famine, through the Home Rule crisis and the emergence of nationalism, to the break-up of the Downshire estate after the Civil War. The role played by the Edenderry Home Rule Club, the best-organised in King's County, is recalled, as is the memorable occasion in 1881 of the bringing home of George Patterson's turf; Edenderry's involvement in WW1, the role of Michael Foley in the 1916 Rebellion and the War of Independence are also recorded for the first time in one volume. Emigrants from the area who traveled the world over are also remembered in a work that will both dispel many long-held myths and provide a comprehensive and long-overdue record of the people of Edenderry.