Reddit reviews Ireland Since the Famine

So you need a book on nineteenth century England that focuses on the Irish who were living in the country at the time. I'm assuming you also want things a bit broad and not too academically minded.

If you want to go into it with some background of what the hell was happening in Ireland:

Okey dokey - first you probably want a bit of political context so I recommend you read up on Daniel O'Connell. The nineteenth century was a period of serious political and religious strife, and perceptions of the Irish were defined by the Catholic Emancipation movement. I liked MacDonagh's biographies but most O'Connell books aren't too bad in terms of bias. He wasn't the only politician circling about, but most of the important names pop up in his life.

You'll also want to read up on the Famine, just so you know why so many Irish people were running off. Just be careful as the famine attracts a lot of animosity and anger. Try reading one that's a bit more neutral, like the first bit of F.S.L. Lyon's Ireland Since the Famine. Cecil Woodham-Smith's book The Great Famine is also pretty good, but has received its share of criticism as well.

If you just want to jump into the subject you originally came here to ask about:

As for the actual subject, there was a cute little book that came out of Oxford that looked at prominent Irish figures in London called Conquering England. It's very short and very 'big personality' focused but it gives you some broad idea of who was in London during the Victorian era.

I never read it, but I had a colleague who used Irish Migrants in Britain as secondary material for some essay or another. It's worth a look through anyway - it's case study stuff, so you get re-printed primary source material. The context isn't always there, but people like documentary histories.

Roger Swift, who edited the last one, is going to be your literary buddy. His main interest and specialty seems to be the Irish in Victorian England, so I also recommend you look at two other books he edited - The Irish in the Victorian City and The Irish in Britain. Both of these will be the closest to what you originally asked for. The Irish in Britain collection has an essay by David Fitzpatrick, who is usually a pretty good historian to read if you're looking for immigrant experience. No idea where that man finds his sources, but he unearths some great stuff.

It's a good idea to start with what you like .

So pick a few area's.


If I was looking for a post famine book I would go for Ireland Since the Famine by FSL Lyons or anything by Diarmuid Ferriter -good balanced historians.


Try UCC CELT for old stuff and this tread .

This time of year its quite on the web - but hopefully a few others will pick up on this and make suggestions.