Author turns to new and often-overlooked source material for a fresh examination of the nation before independence
Author turns to new and often-overlooked source material for a fresh examination of the nation before independenceIn February 1844, not long before The Famine, British Tory MP Benjamin Disraeli offered this brief overview of Ireland: “A dense population, in extreme distress, inhabit an island where there is an Established Church, which is not their Church, and a territorial aristocracy the richest of whom live in foreign capitals.
Thus you have a starving population, an absentee aristocracy and an alien Church, and, in addition, the weakest executive in the world. That is the Irish question.” It was a damning summation of Ireland under the 1800 Act of Union and there have been no shortage of books dissecting those themes, but it was not the only Irish question. This stimulating and original book asks us to think about other Irish questions during that period and the nature and forms of the power exercised, beyond just the coercive kind. What constitutes the “state” during this period, is, Ciaran O’Neill contends, poorly understood and the question of its legitimacy “largely unanswered or elided”. There has been much focus on oppression, resistance and the “parliamentary tradition”, but what about those who peopled Union Ireland and were smothered or empowered by it at a time when the island was “trapped in a palliative state” in the sense of being sustained but not cured of its ills?Joseph O’Connor: ‘I don’t know what modern Ireland is yet. I’m suspicious about the new sacred cows’ Novelist Emma Healey: ‘There’s an idea that painting all the roofs in the world white would reduce the global temperature’ ‘A lot of things boys seem to instinctually love, we tend to be more dismissive of or even concerned about’ O’Neill is not denying colonial subjection or the perception of Ireland and its people by its overlords as inferior, but is especially interested in those who collaborated, enabled and operationalised government in Ireland, both outsiders and insiders. Was there an agency of the people lost in historical narratives excessively focused on parliamentary or high politics? The book revealingly dissects governing structures locally and nationally; the boroughs and the “almost comically inefficient system of town governance”, the petty court sessions, the poor law system and the internal dynamics of the administration in Dublin Castle , but also the Irish office in London about which precious little has been written hitherto. There is also a focus on securing the state – the harbours, barracks, Insurrection Acts and the web of military outposts – with fascinating detail on Martello towers, each of which cost about £175,000 to build; the 26 of them, a consequence of the Napoleonic wars, were “never tested and were obsolete within the decade”. An illustration of the 1882 assassination of chief secretary to Ireland Lord Frederick Cavendish and the permanent under-secretary Thomas Henry Burke in Phoenix Park, Dublin, by a group calling themselves the ‘Invincibles’. Photograph: Hulton Archive/Getty There were also ordnance surveys and mapping Ireland for tax and security reasons, ethnographic surveys, the railway and canal networks , the retention of postal traffic control in London and the inability of civil society to gain any traction in policymaking, including those engaged in the empirical and statistical movement, as it was ignored by the disinterested state. There is an admirable determination to place these themes in a wider context and the more recent preoccupations of Irish historiography find space in the material on containment and contagion which were “rife within prison theory in Ireland.” Ireland’s leading penologist Walter Crofton and the mid-century prison chaplain Charles Gibson were preoccupied with “the habits of industry”. The absentee landlords are also followed, including to their European spa resorts, as O’Neill makes much of the “transnational circulation of the Irish elite”. He explores the trope of the “ungovernable Irish”, reminding us that in being constantly told of their disloyalty, some embraced that accusation and “began to reproduce a story they were willing to hear”. There were also the “Irish ungovernables within the culture itself” including the Mincéirí and women activists, and O’Neill draws on some of the literature of the “new woman” writers of the 1890s. Emigrants in 1851 pay their passage money at the emigration agents’ office in Cork before setting off for America. Photograph: Hulton Archive/Illustrated London News As for the Irish abroad , he challenges us to think about the diaspora as a “settler colonial one”, more likely to move to the US, Canada or Australia. These migrants were not uniformly victimised; and he highlights the “Indigenous peoples whose lands and rights were destroyed or stolen, so that the Irish could survive”, the Irish benefiting from their white skin. For those who remained at home, emigrants’ remittances meant the west of Ireland, far from being remote or backward, was considerably globalised. The book is dense with the theories of power and multiple references to such scholarship can overwhelm. It is also difficult to make what is essentially a series of essays always cohere effectively to do justice to the aim of providing “a mixed method social and cultural history of ‘being’ in Union Ireland”, but O’Neill deserves considerable credit for broadening the framework of interpretation for the 19th century, and stylishly illuminating new and often overlooked source material.Diarmaid Ferriter, a contributor to The Irish Times, is professor of modern Irish history at University College Dublin. He writes a weekly opinion columnJoseph O’Connor: ‘I don’t know what modern Ireland is yet. I’m suspicious about the new sacred cows’ Novelist Emma Healey: ‘There’s an idea that painting all the roofs in the world white would reduce the global temperature’ ‘A lot of things boys seem to instinctually love, we tend to be more dismissive of or even concerned about’ Paul Howard and Gordon D’Arcy: ‘Football has rules, but rugby has laws because they were drawn up by solicitors charging by the hour’Malachy Clerkin: Goodbye to Eurosport, the sport-watcher’s faithful, conscientious, put-upon friendConor McGregor refused leave to demolish Kildare house for mansion with swimming pools and cinemaBeware of the snowdrop: this could be the start of a lifelong addictionThe Guide: Gemma Hayes, Dr Strangelove, Jess Gillam and other events to see, shows to book and ones to catch before they end Novelist Emma Healey: ‘There’s an idea that painting all the roofs in the world white would reduce the global temperature’
Please follow us on Google to support usEmigration United-States Canada Australia
Ireland Latest News, Ireland Headlines
Similar News: You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Thousands Without Power as Ireland Braces for Freezing TemperaturesIreland is facing a severe cold snap with widespread power outages and dangerous road conditions. Temperatures are expected to plummet to as low as -13 degrees Celsius, prompting councils and emergency services to prepare for the worst.
Read more »
Northern Ireland Hospitals 'Worse' Than Republic, Says Nursing UnionOvercrowding in emergency departments is a growing concern in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. The head of Northern Ireland’s largest nursing trade union says the situation is worse in Northern Ireland, citing longer trolley waits and a lack of available beds.
Read more »
Latest Enterprise Ireland and trade figures underscore Ireland’s vulnerability to US protectionismIncoming US president Donald Trump says he will use tariffs, or at least the threat of tariffs, to improve the US trade balance
Read more »
League of Ireland Players Can Earn €7,000 Bonuses Through PFA Ireland AwardsA growing number of League of Ireland clubs are offering substantial bonuses to players who receive recognition through the Professional Footballers Association of Ireland (PFA Ireland) awards. These bonuses, ranging from €1,000 to €7,000, are contingent upon players having the bonus clause in their contracts and being selected for the PFA Ireland Team of the Year or winning the Player of the Year award. This revelation has prompted the PFA Ireland to implement changes to its voting process to ensure greater accuracy and fairness.
Read more »
Storm Herminia Brings Multiple Weather Warnings to Ireland and Northern IrelandStorm Herminia is approaching Ireland and Northern Ireland, prompting multiple weather warnings. Met Éireann issued wind and rain warnings for various counties in the Republic of Ireland, while the UK Met Office issued a snow and ice warning for Northern Ireland. The warnings come after the devastation caused by Storm Eowyn and advise of potential strong winds, heavy rainfall, snow showers, and icy patches, leading to dangerous travel conditions.
Read more »
Ireland v England: Simon Easterby puts his stamp on side with Ryan Baird selectionThe former Ireland number six knows the threat Ireland face at the lineout from England
Read more »