Animal welfare in Post-Union Ireland

O'Connell, Helen

Abstract

The place of animals in English culture of the Romantic and Victorian periods has been widely explored, but the topic remains generally unexamined in the literary, social, and cultural history of Romantic-period and nineteenth-century Ireland.1 This is an unfortunate gap, as Irish animal welfare exemplifies a continual strain of reformist response to the political climate that came into existence in the aftermath of the rebellion of 1798 and Act of Union. The horrific conditions endured by many animals in post-Union Ireland attracted the attention of some well-known and other more obscure social reformers. Maria Edgeworth, Mary Leadbeater, Lady Morgan, William Hickey (Martin Doyle), Caesar Otway, and William Hamilton Drummond all noted disturbing tendencies to animal cruelty in Ireland. In a range of genres from pamphlets and lectures to novels, these writers attempted to inculcate animal welfare as a component of progressive attitudes that were increasingly commonplace in Britain.

Citation

O'Connell, H. (2015). Animal welfare in Post-Union Ireland. New hibernia review, 19(1), 34-52. https://doi.org/10.1353/nhr.2015.0004

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: May 12, 2014
• Online Publication Date: Mar 22, 2015
• Publication Date: Mar 22, 2015
• Deposit Date: Jul 7, 2014
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 24, 2015
• Journal: New Hibernia review : a quarterly record of Irish studies.
• Print ISSN: 1092-3977
• Electronic ISSN: 1534-5815
• Publisher: Center for Irish Studies at the University of St. Thomas
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 19
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 34-52
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/nhr.2015.0004
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1423928