Gender and Power in Irish History

Description

This timely and important book poses the question: What can gender history add to the traditional narrative of Irish history? How can it help us to understand the ways in which power operated in and flowed through Irish society? It is premised on the assumption that men and women are actors in the creation of their society, influenced by the ideology of the period, but also challenging and resisting the assumptions and beliefs of their era.

The writings included in this collection are far-ranging and thematically diverse, united by the common theme of gender. While women play a dominant role in its pages, it makes visible the power and presence of men. Sometimes implicit, sometimes explicit, the history written on these pages is a history of the ways in which women and men constructed, negotiated and made visible the roles, ideas and representations that governed their particular society. In so doing, it provides an alternative reading to the traditional narrative of Irish history.

This book focuses mainly on the modern period and includes two articles from outside of Ireland which provides a comparative focus. It also includes a theoretical introductory section on the nature of gender history from three leading Irish historians.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 – Introduction: Gender, Power and Patriarchy by Maryann Gialanella Valiulis
Chapter 2 – Thoughts on Gender History by Mary O’Dowd and Phil Kilroy
Chapter 3 – The Potential of Gender History by Mary Cullen
Chapter 4 – Gender, History and Witchcraft in Early Modern Ireland: A Re-reading of the Florence Newton Trial by Mary McAuliffe
Chapter 5 – The Bureau of Military History and Female Republican Activism, 1913-23 by Eve Morrison
Chapter 6 – Sexual Crime and Irish Women’s Campaign for a Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1912-35 by Sandra McAvoy
Chapter 7 – Virtuous Mothers and Dutiful Wives: The Politics of Sexuality in the Irish Free State by Maryann Gialanella Valiulis
Chapter 8 – ‘Crimes of passion of the worst character’: Abortion Cases and Gender in Ireland, 1925-50 by Clíona Rattigan
Chapter 9 – Gender, Emigration and Diverging Discourses: Irish Female Emigration, 1922-48 by Jennifer Redmond
Chapter 10 – Doing Gender History Visually by Úna Ní Bhroiméil and Dónal O Donoghue
Chapter 11 – Affect and the History of Women, Gender and Masculinity by Katherine O’Donnell
Chapter 12 – Nimrods and Amazons: The Gendering of British Big Game Hunting in Africa, 1880-1914 by Angela Dowdell
Chapter 13 – What a City Ought to Be and Do: Gender and Urbanism in Chicago, Dublin and Toronto by Maureen Flanagan

About the Editor

Dr. Maryann Gialanella Valiulis is Director of the Centre for Gender and Women’s Studies, Trinity College, University of Dublin. She is currently President of the Women’s History Association of Ireland.