Homicide in pre-Famine and Famine Ireland by Richard McMahon (English) Paperback

Description: Homicide in pre-Famine and Famine Ireland by Richard McMahon The book provides a quantitative and contextual analysis of homicide in pre-Famine and Famine Ireland, placing the Irish experience within a comparative framework and drawing wider inferences about the history of interpersonal violence in Europe and beyond. FORMAT Paperback LANGUAGE English CONDITION Brand New Publisher Description Was pre-Famine and Famine Ireland a violent society? The dominant view among a range of commentators at the time, and in the work of many historians since, is that violence was both prevalent and pervasive in the social and cultural life of the country. This book explores the validity of this perspective through the study of homicide and what it reveals about wider experiences of violence in the country at that time. The book provides a quantitative and contextual analysis of homicide in pre-Famine and Famine Ireland. It explores the relationship between particular and prominent causes of conflict – personal, familial, economic and sectarian – and the use of lethal violence to deal with such conflicts. Throughout the book, the Irish experience is placed within a comparative framework and there is also an exploration of what the history of violence in Ireland might reveal about the wider history of interpersonal violence in Europe and beyond. The aim throughout is to challenge the view of nineteenth-century Ireland as a violent society and to offer a more complex and nuanced assessment of the part played by violence in Irish life. Author Biography Dr Richard Mc Mahon is Research Fellow in the School of History, Classics and Archaeology at the University of Edinburgh. Table of Contents List of tables and figuresPrefaceIntroduction: a violent society?1. Homicide rates in Ireland, 1801–502. Do you want to pick a fight out of me?: homicide and personal relations3. Sending them to heaven…: homicide and the family4. The tranquillity of a barrel of gun powder: homicide and land5. The madness of party: homicide and sectarianismConclusionAppendix oneAppendix twoBibliographyIndex Review ReviewsBased on extensive and thorough research, well organised and lucidly written, this book makes a major contribution to our understanding.Professor S. J. Connolly, Queens University BelfastHis book serves as an invaluable resource for historians interested in violence in historical societies, as well as a useful corrective to a flawed characterization of pre-Famine Ireland.Journal of Interdisciplinary History, Volume 45, Number 3In straddling the family, the personal, the agrarian and the sectarian, he has successfully activated a much-needed and more inclusive discussion in a clear and confident manner. As I have indicated earlier, more than once, the author suggests further possible avenues of investigation. This book provides those who may wish to explore those avenues with an excellent starting point.Reviews in History…This isan important and compelling addition to the historiography of Europeanviolence. The book effectively combines quantitative and qualitative methods,carefully disaggregates violence into the main contexts in which it arose, andoffers a strong comparative angle that enhances the values of this specificcase study. In the clarity and thoughtfulness of his argumentation and writing,McMahon has set a very high standard for the history of violence.John Carter Wood, Crime, History &Societies Promotional Provides a quantitative and contextual analysis of homicide in pre-Famine and Famine IrelandExplores what the history of violence in Ireland reveals about the wider history of interpersonal violence in Europe and beyondChallenges the view of 19th-century Ireland as a violent society Review Text Among the features of life that we expect to encounter in historical analyses of the first five or six decades of the 19th century in Ireland is a violent society. This was something that we assume arose from the collective and individual encounters between a discontented rural peasantry, landed elite drawn from the ruling classes and a London-based government that was not always well-disposed towards the majority Catholic population. In summary, when we think generally, though perhaps not specifically, about violence in the first half of 19th-century Ireland it is upon these intersections that we first fix our gaze. Richard McMahons Homicide in pre-Famine and Famine Ireland leaves no room for doubt that when examining patterns of lethal violence during these decades we must look far beyond the usual suspect (my term) causes and effects.The central arguments and analysis of this book are laid out across five core chapters. In an introductory chapter entitled A violent society, McMahon makes clear that his study of homicide does not claim to provide an exhaustive account of violent activity. With the parameters of his book laid out he addresses the issue of statistics in chapter one. After correctly identifying the many difficulties in making international comparisons of crime statistics the author concludes that the most reliable in terms of Ireland is with England and Wales, while acknowledging that this is still problematic. Following a complex analysis of different ways of combining statistics he lays out an early conclusion that 1840s Ireland was probably not exceptionally violent by the standards of the day. One factor that likely distorted the homicide statistics was the lower standard of medical care that almost certainly led to higher mortality rates. Despite the difficulties, McMahon supports comparisons across different societies because they allow historians to better understand how they may produce different or indeed similar patterns of violence. In thoroughly addressing the complexity and sometimes impenetrability of statistical methods, including those he himself employs in this book, he successfully disarms those who may challenge his arguments in later chapters and distract from his analysis. While critics may not necessarily agree with his statistical analysis they will be forced to concede that he has given the methodology a thorough airing.Chapter two of the book takes on the broad theme of homicide and personal relations. If the reader is not already convinced of the complexity of the issues around lethal violence their depth quickly becomes apparent. It is refreshing that the author strongly makes the point that it is problematic that disputes arising from rural issues, coupled with religious divisions and Roman Catholic disaffection with the political and legal order, have often been at the centre of discussions involving violence in Ireland. His analysis points out that by focussing too heavily on these traditional themes historians to some extent overlook the more personal in favour of economic, political and religious disputes. It is at this juncture that a quantitative analysis comes into play as McMahon argues that this is the most effective methodology by which a more complete understanding of personal disputes can be achieved. It is because human relations are so complex that a historical analysis is difficult. In three of the four counties used as the research sample for this book, 70 per cent of the incidences of lethal violence took place in a public sphere. Among the potential causes were alcohol, insult or acting in an insulting or threatening manner, questioning reputation, extra-marital affairs and the paternity of children. The majority of homicides that arose from personal disputes did not even have a minimum level of pre-meditation while some cases saw an extraordinary degree of pre-meditation (pp. 44-5). The chapter further argues that the high proportion of homicides that arose from beatings indicates that these acts were the result of specific situations rather than being pre-planned. A backdrop to all of this was the greater level of government intervention in a range of areas of social life including public health, education, welfare, the courts and the police.One of the most engaging aspects of McMahons book is the use of the case study and nowhere is this more important than in chapter three, dealing with homicide and the family. As he indicates early in the chapter, the private nature of family life makes it difficult to quantify acts of violence with certainty. This is of course, quite true. Even if a well-resourced team of academic historians was to trawl through a century of court cases, both petty sessions and assizes, to identify family-related violence we would still only have an insight into those instances that were detected and prosecuted by the authorities. Difficulties in spousal relations gave rise to the highest number of homicides under the sample used in this study and alcohol did of course play a role as both a cause and effect of marital violence. Not all acts of homicide between a husband and his wife were pre-meditated because some were the result of prolonged tension and abuse. In the case of Patrick and Judith Costello in Kilkenny in 1850 the reader is presented with a scenario that adheres to this trend. Patrick was sometimes kind to his wife but tended to have little or no tolerance for her drinking habits. This intolerance manifested itself in instances of violence from the husband and ultimately led to him beating Judith to death. In recent years studies by Farrell (1) and Rattigan (2) have focussed in great depth on the phenomenon of infanticide in 19th- and 20th-century Ireland respectively. McMahon addresses the less well-documented practice of filicide which is the practice of the killing of a (typically older than infant) child by one or both of their parents. Many of the victims of this crime were young children and the author provides examples of cases where parents only intended to discipline their offspring but ended up killing them.Chapter four explores what one might have expected to be a dominant th Review Quote ...This isan important and compelling addition to the historiography of Europeanviolence. The book effectively combines quantitative and qualitative methods,carefully disaggregates violence into the main contexts in which it arose, andoffers a strong comparative angle that enhances the values of this specificcase study. In the clarity and thoughtfulness of his argumentation and writing,McMahon has set a very high standard for the history of violence. John Carter Wood, Crime, History &Societies Promotional "Headline" Provides a quantitative and contextual analysis of homicide in pre-Famine and Famine IrelandExplores what the history of violence in Ireland reveals about the wider history of interpersonal violence in Europe and beyondChallenges the view of 19th-century Ireland as a violent society Details ISBN1786940922 Short Title HOMICIDE IN PRE-FAMINE & FAMIN Publisher Liverpool University Press Language English ISBN-10 1786940922 ISBN-13 9781786940926 Format Paperback Imprint Liverpool University Press Place of Publication Liverpool Country of Publication United Kingdom AU Release Date 2017-10-10 NZ Release Date 2017-10-10 UK Release Date 2017-10-10 Author Richard McMahon Pages 232 Year 2017 Publication Date 2017-10-10 Alternative 9781781385616 DEWEY 364.152 Audience Professional & Vocational We've got this At The Nile, if you're looking for it, we've got it. 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