Physical Degeneracy and Racial Fitness in Prewar Ireland

Abstract

Physical Degeneracy and Racial Fitness in Prewar Ireland Conor Heffernan (bio) With certain people the physical degeneracy of the present generation is a pet theme. Those who are always talking of it are also fond of detecting the blemishes in their own countrymen…. irish examiner, 29 october 19101 The deleterious effects of town life upon the people of these counties are, according to an eminent medical authority, principally responsible for our physical degeneracy. kerry weekly reporter, 7 april 19062 The general adoption by the Irish people of whole meal … would not only benefit the race physically but would also tend to revive the milling industry of the country. r. d. cole, 21 february 19113 Fears of physical degeneration or deterioration took many forms in Ireland before the Great War. Understanding physical degeneracy as the pervasive belief that a particular society's physical health or "racial stock" was weaker than in previous generations, this article studies degeneracy in Irish thought during this period. While degeneracy was often taken as a catchall term for physical, moral, and other behaviors "outside" cultural norms, to isolate physical degeneracy as a topic of study negates the nuances concerning physical health and appearance that for many commentators were of utmost concern.4 As will become clear, physical degeneracy was often treated as [End Page 225] a stand-alone topic in social, political, and cultural debates. Newspapers regularly spoke of declining Irish health, Irish nationalists railed against such claims, and many physicians used degeneration as an easy explanation for social ills. In short, the idea of physical degeneration or deterioration clearly existed in Ireland during this period. Actually, it thrived, and yet the power that such terms had in Irish society has been discussed only briefly by historians of this period.5 Oftentimes comments on physical degeneracy or deterioration are made in passing when examining much broader medical or public-health interventions.6 Likewise, popular debates and discussions about physical degeneracy were removed from the small and elite eugenics societies studied by Greta Jones.7 One exception to studies of degeneracy among the public at large is the excellent work conducted by Catherine Cox, Alice Mauger, and others when discussing lunacy in late nineteenth-century Ireland.8 As Cox made clear in 2012, theories of physical and mental degeneration were often used as an explanatory mechanism for the high rates of lunacy in Ireland as compared with those of Britain.9 Building on such work, this article examines the popular expression of physical degeneracy not in regard to lunacy but rather in relation to the physical bodies of Irish men, women, and children. Physical degeneracy, understood here as the idea that the present generation was physically inferior to previous ones, was both a popular and a professional concern in [End Page 226] Ireland during this period.10 It could be used to critique, praise, or simply begin conversations about Irish "racial fitness." The idea that the Irish race was physically weaker than previous generations elsewhere was not particularly novel in a global context in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This was a period when racial-fitness concerns began to rise in intensity in both Europe and the United States.11 Fears about modernity's ever-quickening pace, urbanization, new forms of commerce, and military warfare helped to legitimize ideas about degeneracy. This was certainly the case in Britain, from which imperial concerns about population health often trickled into Ireland. Much work has already been conducted into degeneracy in the British context. Michael Anton Budd has explored the role of degeneracy fears in shaping British physical education and military training.12 Vanessa Heggie has studied the moral panic that arose following the Second South African War (1899–1902), while Thomas Edward Jordan has examined the intersection between eugenics, degeneracy, and childhood.13 Put simply, the British use of physical degeneracy was situated within an imperial framework that included people who worried about the long-term viability of the empire. This practice partly explains why sporting contests between British and colonial teams assumed such importance during this period. Such events quite literally pitted British and colonial men against one another in a test...