19th-century Ireland Research Articles

The Dispossessed State: Narratives of Ownership in 19th-Century Britain and Ireland by Sara L. Maurer (review)

MAURER, SARA L. The Dispossessed State: Narratives of Ownership in 19th-Century Britain and Ireland. Baltimore, Maryland: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2012. 243 pp. $60.00. In The Dispossessed State, Sara Maurer argues attitudes about property changed in Ireland and Britain during the nineteenth century, creating revolution in thinking about the (1). Writers and thinkers moved from a belief property exists prior to the state to a belief the state comes first, creates the right to property, and then can limit those rights for the common good. In five exhaustively researched chapters, Maurer describes a Manichean struggle between these opposing views in the writings of such figures as Maria Edgeworth, John Stuart Mill, George Campbell, Anthony Trollope, George Moore, George Meredith, John Locke, Jeremy Bentham, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, George Eliot, Charles Dickens, the members of the Young Ireland movement, and many others. Although she does not proclaim her study to be postcolonial or new historicist, it is, in fact, both. For its methodology, it draws heavily upon the techniques of discourse analysis and rhetorical criticism, and lurking behind many of the book's investigations is the Foucaultian belief in discourse we can observe and understand the exercise of power. Her purpose in the book is to redirect the scholarly conversation away from thinking about property purely in terms of capitalism. The discourse surrounding property, she argues, had a role to play in helping to form national identity for both countries during this period. Her assertions about this point are carefully nuanced because she respects its complexity, but as a result the reader must somewhat piece together the consequences of this change in thinking. One clear consequence, however, is the dialogue cast new light on the relationship between Ireland and Britain. Maurer writes the vision of Irish property crafted by Irish nationalists who advocated for an independent Irish nation-state ... strongly attracted the British politicians most responsible for crafting a means to keeping Ireland and Britain united (91). In the Irish conception of property, British writers and thinkers saw an opportunity for uniting the two nations. But unrest in Ireland also exposed tensions between competing English narratives. On one hand England followed the discourse articulated by William Blackstone property is that sole and despotic dominion which one man claims and exercises over the external things of the world, in total exclusion of the right of any other individual in the universe (qtd. …

Mortality in Ireland 1901 to 2006

AbstractOver the course of the 20th century Ireland moved from being a largely young population with a high death rate from infectious diseases to an increasingly older population with a consequent rise in chronic diseases. Understanding the changes that occurred in Irish mortality over the 20th century and how these changes compare with those experienced by similar countries can help us plan for the challenges of our aging population. This paper analyses trends in mortality in Ireland over the period 1901 to 2006 by age group, gender and five broad categories of cause of death – infectious diseases, circulatory diseases, respiratory diseases, cancer and external causes. To place the changes in an international context the trends are compared with those experienced by Northern Ireland and England and Wales. Ireland experienced the fastest improvements in mortality of the three regions in the early years of the 21st century. By 2006 the mortality of Irish males ranked between that of Northern Ireland and England and Wales while Irish females experienced the lowest mortality of the three regions. The improvement in Irish mortality in the 21st century can be attributed mainly to the drop in deaths from circulatory diseases for both males and females.

Abuse of children in institutional care in 20th-century Ireland: an analysis using fromm's psychology

The Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse found that members of Catholic congregations in Ireland abused children in institutions which they ran on behalf of the State for much of the 20th century. Drawing from Erich Fromm's moral psychology, it is argued that members took out the suppression of their individual freedom in hostility towards the children and themselves through forms of submissive and authoritarian behaviour. This is seen as one probable explanation which affected some members. The reason members suppressed their freedom was to find psychological security through embracing a Catholic theology which emphasised self-abnegation. Poor economic and social conditions are also seen as factors which contributed to members not developing a healthy relation to their own freedom. The article concludes that those who work in caring professions need to have security in their own freedom.

The Dispossessed State: Narratives of Ownership in 19th-Century Britain and Ireland (review)

The Dispossessed State: Narratives of Ownership in 19th-Century Britain and Ireland (review)

‘British for the British—Irish Events for the Irish’: Indigenous Newsreel Production in Ireland

In early 20th-century Ireland, the formative years of the newsreels coincided with a period of political and cultural turbulence. The nationalist Home Rule movement gathered momentum while unionist...

Dr Ada English: patriot and psychiatrist in early 20th century Ireland.

Dr Adeline (Ada) English (1875-1944) was a pioneering Irish psychiatrist. She qualified in medicine in 1903 and spent four decades working at Ballinasloe District Lunatic Asylum, during which time there were significant therapeutic innovations (eg. occupational therapy, convulsive treatment). Dr English was deeply involved in Irish politics. She participated in the Easter Rising (1916); spent six months in Galway jail for possessing nationalistic literature (1921); was elected as a Teachta Dála (member of Parliament; 1921); and participated in the Civil War (1922). She made significant contributions to Irish political life and development of psychiatric services during an exceptionally challenging period of history. Additional research would help contextualise her contributions further.

Social Change in 19th-Century Rural Ireland and the Archaeology of the Narrow-Gauge Railway: The Case of Munster

Railways are unusual archaeological entities. They lasted, in many cases, only for a short length of time, and in their locomotive-hauled form are of quite recent origin. There is a signifi cant amount of documentary information available, making it well-nigh impossible, as well as inadvisable, to rely solely on the extant material remains. The fact that later incarnations of some of these lines remain in existence today and are to a degree part of our lives means that we possess preconceived notions about rail travel. Railways have featured heavily in literature and art, as well as having infl uenced the development of communication networks, politics and social issues. All of these combined, aside from drawing our awareness to the magnitude of the importance of railways, make it difficult to look at them from an archaeological perspective, or to see what an archaeological perspective can bring to the study of railways. This paper examines what an archaeological study of the narrow-gauge railways of Munster (the south-west of Ireland) can contribute to an understanding of broader patterns of social change in 19th-century rural Ireland.

‘You Might All Be Speaking Swedish Today’: language change in 19th-century Finland and Ireland

In 1800, almost four times as many people spoke Irish as Finnish. That year the Act of Union joined Ireland to Great Britain; half of the population, over three million, were monoglot Irish speakers. Finland was then a part of the Kingdom of Sweden. An increasing number, perhaps 15%, spoke Swedish; the remainder, less than one million, spoke Finnish. A century later in 1900, however, as national agitation for independence grew in both countries, Ireland and Finland had become almost reverse mirror images linguistically. A tiny fraction of Irish people habitually spoke Irish, but Finnish had become the overwhelmingly dominant language in Finland. The present exploratory comparative study in language change points to three major conclusions: the importance of contingency, or chance, in such historical developments; the importance of individual agency; and the complexity and dynamic nature of the relationship between national identity and language.

Criminal insanity in 19th-century Ireland, Europe and the United States: Cases, contexts and controversies

The insanity defence has a lengthy, complex history. This article provides a concise, comparative background to the evolution of criminal insanity legislation and institutions for the mentally ill in the nineteenth century, with particular reference to Ireland and the United States. Three key themes are identified and explored: (a) the emergence of the insanity defence in the nineteenth century (e.g. the McNaughtan Rules); (b) conditions in nineteenth-century asylums and institutions for the ‘criminally insane’ (with particular reference to overcrowding, physical illness and asylum deaths); and (c) nineteenth-century considerations of criminal responsibility in women with mental illness (with particular reference to medical and judicial views of the relevance of menstruation, pregnancy and child-birth). These themes are explored through review of historical literature (with particular reference to the work of Dr. Isaac Ray, founding father of forensic psychiatry in the United States) and examination of previously unpublished archival material from the Central Criminal Lunatic Asylum, Dublin.

Learning disability and forensic mental healthcare in 19th century Ireland.

The Irish College of Psychiatrists recently reported that "the needs of people with learning disability and offending behaviour pose a huge challenge to service providers. The vulnerability of people with a learning disability who come into contact with the criminal justice system is well described and noted." The College noted that "the population with learning disability who offend does not easily fit into existing services" and reported that "the majority of service providers strongly supported the urgent development of a forensic learning disability service." The challenges presented by individuals with learning disability and offending behaviour are not specific to Ireland or to this period in history. The purpose of the present paper is to explore issues related to learning disability and offending behaviour in 19th- and early 20th-century Ireland. More specifically, this paper presents original, previously unpublished case material from the archival medical records of the Central Mental Hospital, Dublin in order to illustrate specific aspects of the institutional experience of individuals with learning disability who were charged with offending behaviour in nineteenth-century Ireland. The Central Mental Hospital, Dublin was established as the Central Criminal Lunatic Asylum in 1845 under the provisions of the Lunatics Asylums (Ireland) Act (1845). Individuals were to be committed to the Central Criminal Lunatic Asylum if they were declared 'guilty but insane' at time of trial or offence, or if they developed mental illness and became difficult to manage while in detention elsewhere. The Central Criminal Lunatic Asylum opened its doors to admissions in 1850 and by 1853 there were 69 male and 40 female inpatients.

The Rolt Memorial Lecture 2007 Technological Change as a 'Colonial' Discourse: The Society of Friends in 19th-Century Ireland

This lecture re-examines the considerable contributions made by Irish Quakers to technological development in the UK, during the 19th century, and argues that these were the result of a collaboration of social equals, and not the product of a 'colonial discourse'. In the latter, it is assumed that as the essential relationship between Ireland and Britain was that of 'colony' and 'metropolitan state', in other words one of inequality. However, the discipline of industrial archaeology, as will be demonstrated here, allows us to present a very contrary view to the notion that Ireland's net contribution to the technological pool of British industry could ever be considered to have been to have been the product of a 'colonial' and therefore subordinate relationship.

“Native” Nationalism and Unionism: Towards the Emergence of Two Antithetical Nationalisms in Late 19th Century Ireland

Cet article repose sur le postulat selon lequel les principales idéologies politiques propres à l’Irlande que sont le nationalisme et l’unionisme, constituent deux formes antinomiques de nationalisme : le premier se caractérisant par sa nature « autochtone », le second par sa dimension supranationale, sur le modèle britannique du nationalisme impérial. Si leurs origines profondes remontent indubitablement aux années 1790, leur rivalité n’apparut sur le devant de la scène politique irlandaise que vers la fin du XIXe siècle. Dès lors, le nationalisme « autochtone » et l’unionisme devaient façonner l’histoire de l’Irlande, au moins jusqu’au milieu des années 2000, en fonction d’un antagonisme politique et idéologique, unique en Europe occidentale.

One hundred years ago: The Richmond Asylum, Dublin in 1907.

The Richmond Asylum (St Brendan's Hospital) in Grangegorman, Dublin was established in 1815 to help address the unmet needs of the mentally ill in 19th century Ireland. This paper examines the Richmond Asylum Joint Committee Minutes from 1907 in order to explore specific aspects of management and clinical activity at the Richmond Asylum, including: (a) patient populations in the asylums; (b) staffing and management issues; (c) challenges presented by workhouse populations in the early 20th century; and (d) the clinical 'segregation' of patients performed by the Medical Superintendent, Dr Conolly Norman, in 1907.

The Transformation of Ireland

A ground-breaking history of the twentieth century in Ireland, written on the most ambitious scale by a brilliant young historian. It is significant that it begins in 1900 and ends in 2000 - most accounts have begun in 1912 or 1922 and largely ignored the end of the century. Politics and political parties are examined in detail but high politics does not dominate the book, which rather sets out to answer the question: 'What was it like to grow up and live in 20th-century Ireland'? It deals with the North in a comprehensive way, focusing on the social and cultural aspects, not just the obvious political and religious divisions.

Mental illness in 19th-century Ireland: A qualitative study of workhouse records

Mental illness in 19th-century Ireland: A qualitative study of workhouse records

Capitalists and co-operators: agricultural transformation, contested space, and identity politics in South Tipperary, Ireland, 1890–1914

Technological change in the dairy industries of western Europe in the 1880s and 1890s significantly affected the human geography of dairying regions, as new butter factories or ‘creameries’ shifted the location of butter production off the farm. By way of an Irish regional case study, the paper examines the activities of two distinct groups involved in the establishment of creameries: private capitalists and agricultural reformers. The former group was represented mainly by former butter trade personnel and England-based butter retailers, the latter by organisers and supporters of the Irish Agricultural Organisation Society who promoted dairy co-operatives. Other groups in Irish rural society, such as farmers, traders and the Catholic clergy, also affected the spatial outcome. Capitalists and co-operators used rural space in different ways, with dairy co-operatives becoming place-confined and susceptible to particularistic concerns, a contrast to the ‘free hand’ commerce of their rivals. Although operating within the economic realm of the dairying industry, the spaces occupied by these creameries and their competitive activities became bound into cultural and political discourses and representations of identity in late 19th and early 20th-century Ireland. Location and price wars between private and co-operative creameries presented a lens through which wider colonial relationships of economy and cultural identity were viewed and played out, and how understandings of ‘Irish’, and ‘foreign’ became naturalised locally. In these respects, the analysis offers an attempt to link the broad economic context of agrarian change with its political and cultural spheres.

The Catholic Church and Married Women's Sexuality: Habitus Change in Late 20th Century Ireland

This article is based on data taken from a larger study of family change in Ireland in which mothers of intact families were interviewed in 1975 and revisited in 2000. It charts a process of change in the relationship between these women and the Roman Catholic Church, particularly in relation to the areas of sexuality and the transmission of church teaching. Through the analysis of depth interviews a process of transformation is discerned which is illustrative of Beck's (1992) conceptualisation of individualisation and reflexive modernity.

Review: County and Town: One Hundred Years of Local Government in Ireland, ‘Lovers of Liberty’? Local Government in 20th Century Ireland, a History of Local Government in the County of Louth from Earliest Times to the Present Time

Review: County and Town: One Hundred Years of Local Government in Ireland, ‘Lovers of Liberty’? Local Government in 20th Century Ireland, a History of Local Government in the County of Louth from Earliest Times to the Present Time

Passing It on: The Transmission of Music in Irish Culture

Passing It On represents a pioneering effort to document and interpret the role of education in shaping the quality of musical and cultural life in 19th and 20th ce ntury Ireland. '

The Flexible Developmental State: Globalization, Information Technology, and the “Celtic Tiger”

In the late 20th century Ireland underwent a dramatic economic transformation based on the growing strength of its information technology indutries. This article discusses Ireland's development strategies, in particular focussing on the Irish software industry.