Illegitimacy in Ireland : A Social History from the Late Eighteenth to the Early Twentieth Century

ISBN-13: 9783639139631 / Angielski / Miękka / 2009 / 344 str.

Paul Gray

Opis

This study examines illegitimacy in Ireland from thelate eighteenth to the early twentieth century. Ithas been undertaken against a backdrop of shifts insocial policy in the United Kingdom where singlemothers and their children have assumed a majorsignificance. Concerns over the family, children, anddeviations from sexual and social norms, arerecurring themes in social history and it may not betoo great an expectation that the past mayilluminate, however dimly, areas of current debate.This study presents a general overview of theliterature on illegitimacy including the availableIrish literature. It also presents data obtained fromPresbyterian church courts in the eighteenth centuryand a quantitative analysis of parish registermaterial on illegitimacy and pre-nuptial pregnancy inthe nineteenth century. In addition, evidence isexamined in relation to other important topicsconcerning illegitimacy such as regional persistenceand also the workhouse. The study will be of greatinterest to social historians, researchers, socialpolicy makers, and those who study the history of thefamily, sexuality, welfare, poverty, and the socialhistory of Ireland generally.

O autorze

Paul Gray is an independent researcher and Executive Director of
a Northern Ireland charity. He is a graduate of the School of
History, Queen's University, Belfast. His research interests
include Irish Illegitimacy, Welfare Provision, and Unmarried
Mothers in Nineteenth and Twentieth-Century Ireland.