Dublin and the Great Irish Famine

Dublin did not escape Ireland’s mid-nineteenth-century Great Famine: many of its inhabitants experienced acute poverty and illness, and the city witnessed an influx of rural poor seeking refuge and relief. However, popular and scholarly narratives of the Famine have largely overlooked Dublin.

This collection of essays breaks new ground in reconsidering the Famine and its historiography by focusing solely on Dublin and its inhabitants. The thirteen contributors provide an interdisciplinary range of perspectives on such diverse topics as business life and industry in Dublin, the impact of the Famine on the city’s charity and welfare landscapes, suicide and trauma during this time of acute crisis, the experiences of marginalised populations in prisons and hospitals, and cultural representations of Famine-era Dublin.

The book examines both direct and indirect impacts of the Famine on the city, noting promising future areas of research, and arguing for the reinvigoration of urban histories with Famine studies. Dublin and the Great Irish Famine illuminates an overlooked but essential dimension of Irish history.