This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book includes reflections on the emergence and evolution of print culture, the impact of English and European influences. It also includes the construction and negotiation of Dublin literary identities, the habits of reading in early modern Dublin and the impact of Anglo-Irish political relations. The book constructs an image of what an Irish Renaissance might have looked like through studies of literature, language, translation and theatre-going in the capital city. Through the study of Dublin's 'textual communities', either real or only imagined, the book illuminates the ways in which readers composed and consumed literature in Dublin. Focusing on Spenser's time in the city as secretary to Arthur, Lord Grey de Wilton, the Lord Deputy, the book explores Edmund Spenser's political and social connections.