This book outlines the lives of six female members of the Irish Ascendancy, and describes their involvement with educational provision for poor children in Ireland at the end of the long eighteenth century. It argues that these women were moved by empathy and by a sense of duty, and that they were motivated by political considerations, pragmatism and, especially, religious belief. The book highlights the women’s agency and locates their contribution in international and literary contexts; and by exploring sources and evidence not previously considered, it generates an enhanced understanding of Ascendancy women’s involvement with the provision of elementary education for poor Irish children. This book will appeal to scholars and researchers in the fields of Education and History of Education. It will also have broad appeal for those interested in Gender and Women’s Studies, in Georgian Ireland and in the history of Ascendancy families and estates.

This book offers an account of the experiences of an ordinary family in County Kerry, Ireland, from 1840 to 1850. It contains letters that include details of the lives of family members and neighbours, reports of weather, agriculture, and local events and economy, along with commentary on matters of national importance.

"William Steuart Trench, land agent and author, was appointed agent of the Lansdowne estate in Kerry after the Great Famine. He was vilified for shipping some 4,000 destitute persons from Kenmare to the United States and Canada. With a view to preventing further destitution he devised a set of iron 'rules of the estate, ' regulating marriage and other intimate aspects of tenant life. His autocratic rule made him hated, but he and his son also conferred lasting benefits on the locality through afforestation, road construction, improvement of tenant housing and a program of urban renewal. The book presents a comprehensive and vivid picture of Kerry society in his day. It combines description of a land agent's responsibilities with a uniquely detailed image of tenant life, as well as profiles of three influential absentee proprietors --the third, fourth and fifth marquesses of Lansdowne."--Jacket.

Changes in housing, furnishings, clothing and even cooking utensils can all reveal much about the economy and societies of Ireland. Between 1500 and 2000, markets, fairs, shops and exhibitions increased the availability and range of goods. This guide surveys some of the work being done on the subject. It also offers help in how to approach the topic, in identifying the types of sources likely to be most useful--wills, inventories, advertisements, surviving artifacts--and in locating them.--From publisher's description.

This dictionary will make an important contribution the knowledge of writing in Munster in both Irish and English over the past 200 years. The dictionary has entries on 560 writers, including 220 in Irish. Each entry contains a bibliographical note, a list of key references, and a bibliography where applicable. * advances literary and cultural - as distinct from primarily historical - research on the region of Munster over the last two centuries * enables a new view, as a whole, of the work of women writers * juxtaposes the work of Irish, English-language, and bilingual writers, and thereby helps to develop an understanding of the province of Munster as a diverse cultural milieu, and focus on the role of regionality in the process of cultural creation The Munster Women Writers Project, based in the English Department at University College Cork, was a recovery project aiming to make available the basic materials for biographical and literary research and analysis on the extensive number of women writers with Munster backgrounds or strong Munster connections in the period 1800-2000. The objective was to make more information on these writers available for future literary historians, feminist critics and social historians to develop knowledge and understanding of this material. By making available the basic materials for scholarly research in this field, the project aims to help generate critical analysis of the role of regional, class and gender factors in the formation of writers, and the intersection of these factors in the nature of the work produced.

The Guide to Irish Fiction has led to the identification of hundreds of unknown or forgotten Irish authors and their works, and provides thousands of summaries of novels and anthologies. Carefully documented, the book presents details of the publication of Irish fiction in Ireland, England, North America, Australia, as well as several other European countries. Written for literary scholars and students and for anyone interested in Ireland and its literature, this book also constitutes and essential tool for historians, librarians, collectors of Irish books, and antiquarian booksellers.