Overview
- Redresses an imbalance in the historiography of the Irish class system, offering a much-needed account of the Irish rural proletariat
- Examines a wide range of sources to uncover the experiences and social dynamics of the lower rural classes
- Covers a period of great social and political change, showing how rural communities adapted to and challenged modernisation
Access this book
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Other ways to access
About this book
This book explores the experience of small farmers, labourers and graziers in provincial Ireland from the immediacy of the Famine until the eve of World War One. During this period of immense social and political change, they came to grips with the processes of modernisation. By focusing upon east Galway, it argues that they were not an inarticulate mass, but rather, they were sophisticated and politically aware in their own right. This study relies upon a wide array of sources which have been utilised to give as authentic a voice to the lower classes as possible. Their experiences have been largely unrecorded and this book redresses this imbalance in historiography while adding a new nuanced understanding of the complexities of class relations in provincial Ireland. This book argues that the actions of the rural working class and nationalists has not been fully understood, supporting E.P. Thompson’s argument that ‘their aspirations were valid in terms of their own experiences’.
Similar content being viewed by others
Keywords
Table of contents (9 chapters)
Reviews
“The book is excellent in .developing new definitions of and perspectives on deference and patemalism, but although . ‘cömmunity’ is in the title of the book, a fuller discussion of what is meant by this comes relatively late on in the book,, and perhaps this might have come a little earlier. … This book. overall is a valuable addition to a distinguished field, and will be of great interest to rural, social and political historians in Ireland and across the British Isles.” (Irish Literary Supplement, Vol. 38 (2), 2019)
Authors and Affiliations
About the author
Brian Casey is a historian of modern Ireland and Scotland. His research interests focus upon the dynamics of agrarian radicalism and the land question.
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Class and Community in Provincial Ireland, 1851–1914
Authors: Brian Casey
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71120-1
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham
eBook Packages: History, History (R0)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2018
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-319-71119-5Published: 17 May 2018
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-030-10016-2Published: 30 January 2019
eBook ISBN: 978-3-319-71120-1Published: 26 April 2018
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XIII, 296
Topics: History of Britain and Ireland, Social History, Labor History, Cultural History, Political History