Encouraged by the reception given to the first two volumes of this work, I lost no time before commencing to fulfil the promise held out at the close of Volume II, and endeavouring to complete my study of what may be regarded as the Anglo-Norman period of Irish history. Some explanation then seems to be required to account for the lapse of time before my self-imposed task was done.<br><br>In the first place, these new volumes are to an increasing extent pioneer work. Most of the ground now covered has never been properly surveyed before. It was necessary to examine more systematically many fields of inquiry which had been at best hastily run over, and to explore for the first time others which had been entirely ignored or left unnoticed. The recent publication of various calendars of public records has rendered available many authentic sources of our history which were practically beyond the reach of previous writers. These had to be examined and compared with the bald and isolated entries in Irish and Anglo-Norman annals. In result, the records and annalistic entries were often found to explain each other and bring both into relation with preceding and subsequent facts.