Carla King – författare

West of Ireland; New Perspectives on the Nineteenth Century examines the lives of ordinary people in the west of Ireland and the political organisations which represented them throughout the nineteenth century. Featuring contributions from some of Ireland’s leading historians, as well as the work of a younger generation of rising academics, this book shines a light on those people on the margins of a rural society undergoing an intense period of change. This book examines their struggle and the evolving nature of the West of Ireland during this dynamic time. Covering areas from the urban poor, the plight of tenant farmers, the role of charities the development of the Western seaboard, the result is an insightful work that will appeal to the general reader and historian alike.

Land has been a dominant theme in modern Irish history, extending to political and cultural issues as well as permeating social and economic ones.

Land has been a dominant theme in modern Irish history, extending to political and cultural issues as well as permeating social and economic ones. Recent scholarship has uncovered a picture richer in detail and more complex in its development than traditional images of the land question would suggest. This collection of eleven essays takes an interdisciplinary approach to the subject of land in Ireland, from the time of the Great Famine to present and even future issues. It will be of interest to those concerned with the land and rural society in Ireland, past and present, and with the influence of these in shaping Irish culture.

Son of evicted Mayo tenants, Fenian treason-felony prisoner Michael Davitt (1846-1906) was to become the driving force behind the Irish National Land League, an organisation that mobilised Irish farmers in the first mass challenge to landlordism in Ireland. As such he made a crucial contribution to the shaping of modern Ireland. In the aftermath of the Kilmainham Treaty he emerged as a major figure in Radicalism and in the British and Irish labour movements, served as a Home Rule MP at Westminster, and was an influential foreign correspondent, writer and activist. This short, revised biography will aim to outline the scope of Davitt's interests and achievements, setting them in the context of his time.