Colonialism, Religion and Nationalism in Ireland - Softcover

Kennedy, Liam

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0853896216 ISBN 13: 9780853896210

Publisher: The Institute of Irish Studies, 1997

About this title

From the Publisher:

Explores three of the life forces of modern Irish history.
This challenging book of essays discusses the claims and counter-claims on the Union, examines the links between religion and the rural economy and asks if Ireland is really a post-colonial society.

‘With the sophisticated skills of the economic historian, Kennedy ranges confidently over much contested ground ... Methodically, he uses levels of industrialisation, GDP per head of population, infant mortality, life expectancy and female literacy to demonstrate that Ireland in 1921 belonged to Western Europe and not to the Third World. ...he contends that, by many reliable gauges, the Irish have been lucky with their land and history.’ Toby Barnard, Times Literary Supplement

‘In an intriguing series of wide-ranging essays, he ... goes beneath the nationalist political questions which have so skewed Irish historiography to focus on economic issues.’ Marianne Elliott, Times Higher Educational Supplement

Colonialism, religion and nationalism are three of the life forces of modern Irish history. This collection of essays explores different dimensions of these informative influences from the seventeenth century onwards but with particular reference to the nineteenth century. A unifying theme is the relevance of the economic, be it at the level of people’s beliefs and expectations or at the level of the workings of the Irish economy.

The opening essay traces the fortunes of Protestant communities in the Irish Midlands from their colonial origins in the 1610s through to 1926. The Union of Great Britain and Ireland has been celebrated and execrated: the second essay evaluates the various claims and counter-claims. This is followed by an exploration of the economic ideas of the great national leader, Charles Stewart Parnell, whose critique of the Union was unwavering. Two further essays assess the role of the Roman Catholic church in the functioning of the economy, particularly the rural economy. This discussion is complemented by a review of agrarian politics, and its changing character in the late nineteenth century. The penultimate essay takes up the question, raised mainly by literary critics: is Ireland a post-colonial society?

It is important to look beyond Ireland: to escape from claustrophobic comparisons with England; to place Ireland within the context of continental European history. This is attempted explicitly in the final chapter. This comparative perspective helps challenge ethnocentric ideas that the Irish historical experience was uniquely troubled, painful and oppressive.

Contents 1 The long retreat: protestants, economy and society 1600–1926 2 The Union of Ireland and Britain 1801–1921 3 The economic thought of the nation’s lost leader: Charles Stewart Parnell 4 The Roman Catholic Church and economic growth in nineteenth-century Ireland 5 The early response of the catholic clergy 6 Farmers, traders and agricultural politics in pre-independence Ireland 7 Modern Ireland: post colonial society or post-colonial pretensions 8 Out of history: Ireland, that ‘most distressful country’.

Liam Kennedy is Professor of Economic and Social History at the Queen’s University of Belfast, co-editor of An Economic History of Ulster, 1820-1939 (Manchester, 1985) and author of the Modern Industrialisation of Ireland, 1940-88 (Dublin, 1989).

About this edition

• Publisher: The Institute of Irish Studies
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 0853896216
• ISBN 13: 9780853896210
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 232