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Poor Relief in Ireland, 1851-1914
Author(s): Mel Cousins (Author)
- Publisher: Peter Lang AG, Internationaler Verlag der Wissenschaften
- Publication Date: 25 Aug. 2011
- Edition: New
- Language: English
- Print length: 321 pages
- ISBN-10: 3034307373
- ISBN-13: 9783034307376
Book Description
This book examines the provision of poor relief in Ireland from the immediate aftermath of the Famine in the mid-nineteenth century to the onset of the Great War in 1914, by which time the Poor Law had been replaced by a range of other policy measures such as the old-age pension and national insurance. The study establishes an empirical basis for studying poor relief in this period, analysing over time the provision of indoor and outdoor relief and expenditure levels, and charts regional variations in the provision of poor relief. The author goes on to examine a number of issues that highlight political and social class struggles in relation to the provision of poor relief and also considers in fascinating detail the broader role of the Poor Law and the Boards of Guardians within local communities.
Editorial Reviews
Review
This work represents an important addition to Irish social history, makes a significant contribution to current understandings and debates surrounding the Irish Poor Law, and will be the first port of call for many working in the general field of Irish welfare history. (Donnacha Seán Lucey, Reviews in History 07/2012)
About the Author
Mel Cousins is the author of The Birth of Social Welfare in Ireland, a study of the development of the welfare system in twentieth-century Ireland, and of a number of articles on the Poor Law and related issues. He lectures in the history of social policy at the National University of Ireland, Maynooth and has previously lectured at Trinity College Dublin.
