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core of information contained in this book comes from about 6,000 excerpts
extracted from Irish newspapers and periodicals of the period 1800 to 1850.
Much of this material had never been published before. Especially illuminating
were speeches made in Parliament when changes in
legislation were being proposed. The proposer, often the Irish Secretary, had
to explain the existing law, and the situation that made changes necessary. On
all subjects at least two newspapers were consulted, and on more important
points a spread of newspapers reflecting different points of view were
consulted. The aim was to make the study as objective and comprehensive as
possible. Especially, for this is rare in Irish history-writing, the viewpoint
of the Protestants is stated fully and fairly. For
simple factual information Saunders'
Newsletter proved unrivalled. The Dublin
Evening Post, edited for most of the period by the perspicacious and
informed Frederick Conway, was the Whig newspaper chosen. It is possible to
give only a selection of references in the text, for if all references were included
the book would be unreadable. Therefore references are given when the reader's
curiosity about the source of a particular piece of information might be
aroused. The most frequently cited newspapers are abbreviated as follows: DEM DEP DMA EP FJ The
Freeman's Journal IFG Irish Farmers' Gazette IFJ Irish Farmers' Journal IRG Irish Railway Gazette SNL Saunders'
Newsletter. All other newspapers and periodicals
are cited in full. Over
six hundred entries in the Dictionary of
National Biography, cited as (DNB)
were consulted. The precise meaning of words such as 'police' in the early
nineteenth century were carefully checked in the full edition of the Oxford English Dictionary and
Supplements, cited as OED. In
addition to these about two hundred other books and articles on various aspects
of Irish society in the period were consulted, but many of these proved much
less useful. Rarely did a book contain the precise information I was seeking,
and almost without exception they were partisan in tone, giving only one side
of a question. Some books both of the last and of the present century could be
described as little more than nationalist propaganda. Other books, especially
monographs on particular subjects like agriculture, canals, or railways were
much more helpful. F.S.L. Lyons, though writing chiefly about the period after
1850 provides excellent bibliographies of published materials but without
critical discrimination. I have included all books referred to in the text in
the select bibliography. The comments refer only to their value as sources of
factual materials.[Top]
Arensberg, C. and Kimball, S., Family
and Community in
Aspinall, A., Politics and the Press 1780-1850, Bamfield, V., On the Strength, Beckett, J.C., The Making of Modern
Bellamy, D., The Wild Boglands
Bellamy’s Ireland, Carleton, W., Traits
and Stories of the Irish Peasantry, Chart, D.A., Connell, K.H., Irish Peasant Society,
Duffy, C, G., Young Ireland, Edgeworth, Maria, Castle Rackrent and The
Absentee, reprint Evans, E.E., Irish Folkways, Edwards, R. D. and Williams, T.D., The Great Famine, Fitzpatrick, W.J., The Life, Times, and Correspondence of the Rt. Rev. James Doyle,
---- Memoirs of Richard Whateley,
Freeman, T.W., Gash, N., Mr. Secretary Peel,
---- Peel, Hague, D.B. and Christie, R., Lighthouses,
Llandysul, Dyfed, 1975. Very good on Irish lighthouses. Hadfield, C., Atmospheric Railways, Newton Abbot, 1967. Good account of the Irish
experience. Halevy, M., A History of the English People in the Nineteenth Century vol. I, Harbison, P., Potterton, H. and Sheehy,
J. Irish Art and Architecture,
Herries Davies, G. L., 'Irish thought in Science' in The Irish Mind, R. Houlding, J. A., Fit For Service, James, P., Population Malthus, Keenan, D., The Catholic Church in Nineteenth Century -------------- -------------- The Grail of Catholic Emancipation 1793 to 1829, Xlibris, Latimer, W.T., A History of Irish
Presbyterians, Le Fanu, W., Seventy Years of Irish Life, London, n.d. Readable and sympathetic
account of life in Ireland in the first half of the nineteenth century. The
author was the son of a Lover, S., Handy Andy,
MacAnally, H., The Irish Militia 1793-1816,
McCutcheon, W. A., 'The
Newry Navigation: the Earliest Marmion, A., The Maritime Ports of Mant, W.B., Memoirs of Rt. Rev. Richard Mant, O'Donoghue, D. J., Life of William Carleton including his
autobiography, Parliamentary Inquiry 1825, Evidence on the
State of Philips, W. A., Roberts, M., The Whig Party 1807-1812, Silber, K., Pestalozzi, Strain. R.W., Sullivan, A.M., Trench, W.S., Realities of Irish Life, Westmancoat, J., Newspapers, British Library Publications, |
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Copyright Desmond J. Keenan, B.S.Sc.; Ph.D. ;.London, U.K.
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