Eliza Lynn Linton and the Irish Question

Abstract

This essay extends current scholarship on Eliza Lynn Linton by focusing on an under-examined aspect of her work—her Irish writings, in particular About Ireland (1890) and About Ulster (1892). These writings reflect the shift from her early support of radical Irish nationalism to her late advocacy of Liberal Unionism. Linton's contributions to literary and social history have been primarily discussed in terms of her position as an independent, professional woman writer who was a vociferous anti-feminist. Her Irish writings are similarly contentious, written during the historical juncture defined by the Home Rule movement (independence) and Ulster Unionism (strengthening the Union). Less an objective journalist than a provocative opinion writer, Linton in her writing reflects the period's debates about Ireland's impending break from the British Empire.