The article concentrates on recent trends in the Early Modern Irish studies as they are presented in monograph by Steven G. Ellis and proceedings of the interdisciplinary conference published under the editorship of Coleman A. Dennehy. S. Ellis is one of the few contemporary historians whose versatile erudition and remarkable commitment are complemented by his ability to put forward unconventional ideas and to substantiate them convincingly. Conceptwise, Ellis is at variance with his predecessors, and his book aims at reconsidering the established stereotypes in the historiography. It equally concerns the questions pertaining to the emergence of the term “The English Pale”; the nature, structure, and the expanse of its territory; and the functions of its fortifications which formed the exterior boundaries. Of no less importance is the approach which Ellis adopts to the evaluation of this phenomenon as a parallel to the policy of the English monarchs to other frontier societies located in the western and northern regions of the kingdom. The perspective connecting the Irish case and certain tendencies in the state-formation process given the specificity of the Tudor multiple monarchy seems very promising. Since 1960s scholars have been specifically addressing legal issues in their studies related not only to the evaluation of causes, events, and consequences of the war of three kingdoms of the mid-17th century, but also — to the collective consciousness of the contemporaries. In this sense, the conference proceedings published under the editorship of Coleman A. Dennehy go beyond traditional studies and offer an Irish perspective on the legal institutions and processes.