'The United Irishwomen and the advanced nationalist press

The publication of J.C. Beckett's The making of modern Ireland in 1966 was a milestone in the modern study of Irish history. A new generation of students have since built on Beckett's insights and have added new questions and problems to the historical agenda. These ten essays represent the fruits of more recent scholarship. They have all been produced in response to the establishment in 1999 by Four Courts of a prize to honour the work of J.C. Beckett. They concentrate on the emergence of modern Ireland from the late 18th century to the 20th, dealing not only with traditional themes of political change but also less explored subjects including emigration, preaching, the role of women and the workings of the law. These essays reflect some of the most important work being undertaken in Irish history today and taken together chart some of the areas being developed in the new understanding of how modern Ireland was made, Contents: The United Irishwomen and the advanced nationalist women's press: James Macpherson (U.

London) Images of Ireland as contained in Irish-New Zealand correspondence, 1840-1937: Angela McCarthy (TCD) The court of petty sessions and society in pre-famine Galway: Richard McMahon (NUIG) 1999 Beckett Prize Winner: Freemasonry, conservatism and loyalism in Ulster, 1792-1799: Petri Mirala (U. Helsinki) Catholic preaching in Ireland, 1760-1840; David Ryan (NUIG) The accidental emergence of terrorism: Fiona Rosemary West (La Trobe U., Melbourne) The regency crisis and the development of formal party politics in Ireland, 1788-91: Neil Herman (U. Wales, Swansea) The Dublin Ossianic Society, 1835-1863: Robert Sommerville-Woodward.