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Harriet Martineau and the Irish Question

Condition of Post-Famine Ireland

Deborah Anna Logan

Aside from Letters from Ireland and Endowed Schools of Ireland, Harriet Martineau wrote an additional thirty-eight articles about Ireland for London's Daily News between 1852 and 1866, plus another thirteen articles for Household Words, Atlantic Monthly, Once a Week, Westminster Review, and New York Evening Post. It is those uncollected articles that are the focus of this study and that compliment her earlier work by providing subsequent commentary on Ireland's post-famine, reconstruction period. Whereas Letters from Ireland (1852) is a structured, sociological travel memoir meant for both periodical and volume publication, and Endowed Schools (1858)addresses a specific aspect of Irish education reform, these articles chart the course of economic and social progress in post-famine Ireland in terms of industry, public works, economy, and agriculture. They also record the growth of Irish nationalism in America and Ireland, while exploring the question of Ireland's political representation during this crucial pre-independence period.

Points highlighted in this study include Martineau's unshakeable optimism about the economic and social recovery of post-famine Ireland, her steady refusal to consider repeal of the Union as a viable option for remedying Ireland's troubles, and her insistence that Ireland's problems were social, not political. Treating social issues as the primary ailment and politics as merely a symptom, Martineau's writing on these topics provides important insights into the challenges facing Ireland during its transition from a feudal society to a modern, independent nation during the period of the British Empire's greatest expansion and swift demise. There are five components comprising her writing on Ireland: Ireland (Illustrations of Political Economy, 1832); History of the Peace, 1849-51; Letters from Ireland (1852); Endowed Schools of Ireland (1858); and the "Condition of Post-famine Ireland" (1852-66). It is the latter that is the focus of this volume.

University Press Copublishing Division / Lehigh University Press

Pages: 320 •

978-1-61146-097-1 • eBook • December 2011 • $126.00 • (£97.00)

Subjects: History / Europe / Great Britain / General, History / Europe / General, History / Europe / Ireland, History / Europe / Western, History / Social History, Literary Criticism / European / English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh, Literary Criticism / Women Authors

Harriet Martineau and the Irish Question

Condition of Post-Famine Ireland

eBook

Summary

Aside from Letters from Ireland and Endowed Schools of Ireland, Harriet Martineau wrote an additional thirty-eight articles about Ireland for London's Daily News between 1852 and 1866, plus another thirteen articles for Household Words, Atlantic Monthly, Once a Week, Westminster Review, and New York Evening Post. It is those uncollected articles that are the focus of this study and that compliment her earlier work by providing subsequent commentary on Ireland's post-famine, reconstruction period. Whereas Letters from Ireland (1852) is a structured, sociological travel memoir meant for both periodical and volume publication, and Endowed Schools (1858)addresses a specific aspect of Irish education reform, these articles chart the course of economic and social progress in post-famine Ireland in terms of industry, public works, economy, and agriculture. They also record the growth of Irish nationalism in America and Ireland, while exploring the question of Ireland's political representation during this crucial pre-independence period.

Points highlighted in this study include Martineau's unshakeable optimism about the economic and social recovery of post-famine Ireland, her steady refusal to consider repeal of the Union as a viable option for remedying Ireland's troubles, and her insistence that Ireland's problems were social, not political. Treating social issues as the primary ailment and politics as merely a symptom, Martineau's writing on these topics provides important insights into the challenges facing Ireland during its transition from a feudal society to a modern, independent nation during the period of the British Empire's greatest expansion and swift demise. There are five components comprising her writing on Ireland: Ireland (Illustrations of Political Economy, 1832); History of the Peace, 1849-51; Letters from Ireland (1852); Endowed Schools of Ireland (1858); and the "Condition of Post-famine Ireland" (1852-66). It is the latter that is the focus of this volume.

Details

University Press Copublishing Division / Lehigh University Press

Pages: 320 •

978-1-61146-097-1 • eBook • December 2011 • $126.00 • (£97.00)

Subjects: History / Europe / Great Britain / General, History / Europe / General, History / Europe / Ireland, History / Europe / Western, History / Social History, Literary Criticism / European / English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh, Literary Criticism / Women Authors

Author

Deborah A. Logan is professor of English at Western Kentucky University.

Table of Contents

Preface
Introduction
Harriet Martineau's Irish Writings
A Note on the Texts
I. London's Daily News
1) Napier's Land Bills (26 November 1852)
2) Tenant Right Question (16 December 1852)
3) Agricultural returns of the Irish Census (7 March 1853)
4) Irish Beet-sugar (17 March 1853)
5) Irish Income Tax (3 May 1853)
6) Secular Education [Book Review] (30 June 1853)
7) Ireland's National Schools (5 July 1853)
8) National Schools and Secularization (2 August 1853)
9) Queen's Visit: 1853 Dublin Exhibition (7 September 1853)
10) More signs of Progress: Agriculture and prosperity (24 January 1854)
11) Young Ireland and the Crimean War (14 April 1854)
12) Irish Mails; Charles Gavan Duffy (24 August 1855)
13) Irish-Americans: the New Social Residuum (4 October 1855)
14) Know-Nothings and Irish Immigrants (12 December 1855)
15) London and West Ireland Fishing Company (19 January 1856)
16) Irish Emigration: North and South America (28 October 1856)
17) Irish Game-laws (31 May 1858)
18) Potato crop and the Irish social system (21 August 1858)
19) Galway's socio-economic regeneration (23 October 1858)
20) Peasant Violence and Catholic Priests (18 November 1858)
21) Irish Republican Brotherhood and Fenians (20 December 1858)
22) Middle-class Education (17 January 1859)
23) Middle-class Education (28 July 1859)
24) Emigrants and Labourers (12 May 1860)
25) Political Economy and Condition of Ireland (4 May 1863)
26) Irish Agriculture (21 September 1863)
27) Irish Agriculture and Continued Emigration (1 December 1863)
28) National System of Education (29 January 1864)
29) Irish Flax (9 September 1864)
30) Agricultural Gazette and Irish Landlords (15 December 1864)
31)Ireland for the Irish (25 February 1865)
32) Dublin Cattle Show (26 April 1865)
33) Dublin Exhibition: Palace of Industry and Art (10 May 1865)
34) Parliamentary Candidate for Dublin: Jonathan Pim (12 July 1865)
35) Agricultural Societies and Agrarian Activism (22 August 1865)
36) Galway: Royal Navy Base (29 August 1865)
37) Irish Presbyterian Church and Regium Donum (2 April 1866)
38) Irish Women and Female Industry (11 April 1866)
II. Household Words
1) A New Plea for a New Food (3 May 1851)
2) The Life of a Salmon (11 September 1852)
3) Peatal Aggression (18 September 1852)
4) Triumphant Carriages (23 October 1852)
5) Hope with a Slate Anchor (30 October 1852)
6) The Irish Union (6 November 1852)
7) The Famine Time (13 November 1852)
8) Butter (25 December 1852)
III. Westminster Review
Condition and Prospects of Ireland (January 1853)
IV. New York Evening Post
Young Irelanders and American Fenians (3 March 1854)
V. The Atlantic Monthly
The Young Repealer (September 1861)
VI. Once a Week
1) Ireland and her Queen (21 September 1861)
2) Representative Men: Political Agitators.
Jack Cade and Daniel O'Connor (14 December 1861)
VII. Edinburgh Review
Convict System in England and Ireland (January 1863)
Works Cited
Further Reading

Reviews

Interdisciplinary scholarship has revived interest in Martineau (1802-76), whose work spans fiction, political economy, sociology, journalism, and autobiography. Logan (Western Kentucky Univ.) previously produced scholarly editions of Martineau's work, a biography (The Hour and the Woman, CH, Mar'03, 40-3872), and a monograph (Harriet Martineau, Victorian Imperialism, and the Civilizing Mission, CH, Jul'10, 47-6112). Here, she collects Martineau's writings on Irish topics from economics to social life. As Logan explains, the pro-Union Martineau did not mince words about English policies. Half the book is Martineau's journalism for the London Daily News, a scarce resource in North American research libraries. Demonstrating Martineau's stylistic flexibility, the volume includes work ranging from the charming 'The Life of a Salmon' to technical essays on agriculture. Read as a narrative, the essays as a whole veer from optimistic to dismayed (e.g., Martineau's account of assassinations). Logan surveys Martineau's interest in Ireland and its connections to her other commitments (e.g., abolitionism) and supplies headnotes for each periodical (suggesting Martineau's combativeness)....Overall, the volume is ideal for collections strong in Irish studies, women writers, and the history of journalism. Summing Up: Recommended.
— Choice Reviews

Harriet Martineau and the Irish Question: Condition of Post-Famine Ireland, demonstrates the impact of Irelandin Victorian intellectual circles. Logan's informative anthology supplements our knowledge of Martineau's interest in Ireland's postfamine recovery and social future.
— Recent Studies In The Nineteenth Century

Harriet Martineau and the Irish Question

Condition of Post-Famine Ireland

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