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In the 1830s, as Britain navigated political reform to stave off instability and social unrest, Ireland became increasingly influential in determining British politics. This book is the first to chart the importance that Irish agrarian violence - known as 'outrages' - played in shaping how the 'decade of reform' unfolded. It argues that while Whig politicians attempted to incorporate Ireland fully into the political union to address longstanding grievances, Conservative politicians and media outlets focused on Irish outrages to stymie political change. Jay R. Roszman brings to light the ways that a wing of the Conservative party, including many Anglo-Irish, put Irish violence into a wider imperial framework, stressing how outrages threatened the Union and with it the wider empire. Using underutilised sources, the book also reassesses how Irish people interpreted 'everyday' agrarian violence in pre-Famine society, suggesting that many people perpetuated outrages to assert popularly conceived notions of justice against the imposition of British sovereignty.
List of contents
Introduction; 1. Governing Ireland in the age of reform; 2. 'Outrage' in Ireland: Agrarian violence and Irish claims to counter-sovereignty; 3. 'Justice to Ireland': Whigs and Ireland, 1835-1840; 4. Protestant mobilisation and the spectre of colonial violence; 5. Ireland and the Tory imagination; Conclusion.
About the author
Jay R. Roszman completed his PhD in History at Carnegie Mellon University, which was awarded the Adele Dalsimer Prize for Distinguished Dissertations from the American Conference of Irish Studies. He has published articles in Historical Journal and Historical Research. He was appointed lecturer in Nineteenth-Century Irish and British History at University College Cork in 2018. A native Vermonter, Jay earned his MA in Irish Studies at Queen's University Belfast and BA in History and Political Science from Gettysburg College. He lives in Cork with his wife and daughter.
