IRISH LANDED ESTATES & THE GREAT IRISH FAMINE
Summary
During the ‘Great Irish Famine’ of the 1840s more than a million people died. A million more emigrated. Owning 95% of the land of Ireland, landlords were often blamed for the devastation brought by the ‘Great Famine’. But how were Irish country houses themselves impacted by the Famine? Using several case studies, this talk examines how the country house and its owners functioned in a time of famine. While some were remembered for their benevolence, others were castigated for their in-action, which ultimately fed into the stereotypical depiction of the Irish country house that emerged towards the end of the nineteenth century and later.
Speaker Biography
Dr Ciarán Reilly is a historian of 19th & 20th century Irish History at the Department of History, Maynooth University, and Assistant Director of the Centre for the Study of Historic Irish Houses & Estates. He is the author of a number of books on the Great Irish Famine, including The Irish Land Agent, 1830-1860; Strokestown and the Great Famine, and John Plunket Joly and the Great Famine in King’s County. He is also co-editor of Dublin and the Great Famine.