Nick Maxwell In 1938 and 1939, with European conflict on the horizon, Ireland was exporting around 800,000 barrels of beer annually. By 1940 and 1941, with war under way, this figure leapt closer to the million mark. These healthy export figures were thanks to the thirst for Guinness among the rapidly expanding number of men enlisted in … Read more
In 1843 Irish artist Joseph Patrick Haverty painted a scene from a ‘monster meeting’ at Clifden, Co. Galway. The meeting had been organised by the Loyal National Repeal Association and the painting consisted of a collection of mini-portraits of the leading members of the Association as they listened to Daniel O’Connell delivering a speech. Although … Read more
If it is possible to detect a new politicisation of women in Ireland during the O’Connellite era, to what extent is this manifest in the views expressed by women? It is clear from the statements of the women supporters that they were politically aware and knowledgeable about the specific demands of the Catholic Emancipation and … Read more
Haverty’s painting and the engraving convey an ambiguous message concerning women’s involvement in the Repeal movement. The shawled woman in the painting seems as interested in the political message as the men standing beside her, while other women are given more traditional or symbolic roles as female relatives or as mothers caring for infants and … Read more
When the Franco-Prussian War (August 1870–February 1871) broke out, the UK (then including Ireland) was officially neutral. Count Otto von Bismarck, chancellor of Prussia, had goaded France into declaring war on 15 July 1870; two months later the French army, led by Marshall MacMahon (whose family came from County Limerick), and Emperor Napoleon surrendered after … Read more