Letters of the Catholic Poor

Erscheinungsjahr 2019
ISBN: 978-1-316-63180-5
Verlag: Cambridge University Press

Buch, Englisch, 296 Seiten, Format (B × H): 152 mm x 229 mm, Gewicht: 399 g

This innovative study of poverty in Independent Ireland between 1920 and 1940 is the first to place the poor at its core by exploring their own words and letters. Written to the Catholic Archbishop of Dublin, their correspondence represents one of the few traces in history of Irish experiences of poverty, and collectively they illuminate the lives of so many during the foundation decades of the Irish state. This book keeps the human element central, so often lost when the framework of history is policy, institutions and legislation. It explores how ideas of charity, faith, gender, character and social status were deployed in these poverty narratives and examines the impact of poverty on the lives of these writers and the survival strategies they employed. Finally, it considers the role of priests in vetting and vouching for the poor and, in so doing, perpetuating the discriminating culture of charity.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Earner-Byrne, Lindsey

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtswissenschaft Allgemein
• Geisteswissenschaften Christentum, Christliche Theologie Christliche Kirchen, Konfessionen, Denominationen Katholizismus, Römisch-Katholische Kirche
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Kultur- und Ideengeschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Geschichte einzelner Länder Europäische Länder
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Mentalitäts- und Sozialgeschichte

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Acknowledgements; Introduction; 1. The social setting: 'is this a civilized country?'; 2. Artefacts of poverty: 'I crave your holy pardon for writing'; 3. The 'poor' make their case: 'surely they are worth helping'; 4. Hidden poverty: 'I bear my poverty in silence'; 5. The cost of poverty: 'to live or rather exist'; 6. Vetting and vouching: 'it would be a charity to help him'; Conclusion: 'peopling the past'; Bibliography; Index.

Über Autor(innen)

Earner-Byrne, Lindsey
Dr Lindsey Earner-Byrne is a lecturer in modern Irish history in the School of History at University College Dublin and a member of the Centre for the History of Medicine in Ireland. She has researched and published on gender, health and welfare in modern Ireland with a focus on mothers, widows and children.