This book examines the phenomenon of infanticide in Ireland, described by the Western Star in 1865 as 'A most diabolical deed'. It is based on 4,645 individual cases of suspected infant murder, attempted infanticide and concealment of birth discovered between the years 1850 and 1900.
Through a variety of sources, many of which are rarely used by scholars, attitudes towards the crime of infanticide and women accused of the offence in late nineteenth-century Ireland are revealed. The voices of witnesses, policemen and defendants, recorded in inquest statements, court testimonies and petitions to prison authorities, describe how women's bodies were monitored, how neighbourhood gossip and rumours about hidden pregnancies and suspected infanticide cases were interpreted by locally resident policemen, and how local communities and family members could both protect and expose women suspects. Cases of infanticide also allude to the vulnerability of women during this period, revealing much about the sexual relationship that led to the pregnancy, the lack of available resources to deal with an unwanted pregnancy, and the manner in which women were deemed fully responsible for their 'illegitimate' babies.
This engaging and accessible book, incorporating the voices of nineteenth-century Irish inhabitants, will appeal both to scholars of Irish social history and non-academic readers alike.
This book examines the phenomenon of infanticide in Ireland, described by the Western Star in 1865 as 'A most diabolical deed'. It is based on 4,645 individual cases of suspected infant murder, attempted infanticide and concealment of birth discovered between the years 1850 and 1900.
Through a variety of sources, many of which are rarely used by scholars, attitudes towards the crime of infanticide and women accused of the offence in late nineteenth-century Ireland are revealed. The voices of witnesses, policemen and defendants, recorded in inquest statements, court testimonies and petitions to prison authorities, describe how women's bodies were monitored, how neighbourhood gossip and rumours about hidden pregnancies and suspected infanticide cases were interpreted by locally resident policemen, and how local communities and family members could both protect and expose women suspects. Cases of infanticide also allude to the vulnerability of women during this period, revealing much about the sexual relationship that led to the pregnancy, the lack of available resources to deal with an unwanted pregnancy, and the manner in which women were deemed fully responsible for their 'illegitimate' babies.
This engaging and accessible book, incorporating the voices of nineteenth-century Irish inhabitants, will appeal both to scholars of Irish social history and non-academic readers alike.
Introduction
1. ‘A melancholy thing’: an overview
2. ‘Dead children, like drowned sailors, tell no tales’: coroners’
courts
3. ‘That species of crime’: criminal courts
4. ‘Rumor, with its hundred tongues’: the community
5. ‘News of the ghastly spectacle’: the press
6. ‘A very great escape’: prisons
Conclusion
Index
Elaine Farrell is Lecturer in Modern Irish Economic and Social History at Queen's University Belfast
Elaine Farrell’s richly detailed and compelling analysis of these
cases provides readers with a vivid insight into Irish society and
culture in this period, paying particular attention to the nuances
of gender and class as factors in shaping individual lives.
Farrell has produced a meticulous and well-written study that
deserves a wide audience, and will undoubtedly be of immense
benefit to all those interested in the histories of gender, crime
and childhood. Accessible, nuanced and engaging, ‘A most diabolical
deed’ will prove an essential addition to reading lists for both
undergraduate and postgraduate modules dealing with gender and
criminal justice, as well as to broader surveys of nineteenth
century Britain and Ireland.
, Daniel J.R. Grey, Plymouth University, SOLON: 2013 (3),
2013|Elaine Farrell’s book is a very important addition to the
growing literature on Irish women’s history in the modern period.,
Brian Griffin, Bath Spa University, Irish Studies Review 22.4
November 2014, 1 November 2014
‘A meticulously researched and well written work on a grisly
subject.’
Oliver Rafferty, Boston College, Journal of Ecclesiastical
History
*.*
|
Ask a Question About this Product More... |
|
