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Illegitimacy in Ireland: A Social History from the Late Eighteenth to the Early Twentieth Century
Illegitimacy in Ireland A Social History from the Late Eighteenth to the Early Twentieth Century Author:PAUL GRAY This study examines illegitimacy in Ireland from the late eighteenth to the early twentieth century. It has been undertaken against a backdrop of shifts in social policy in the United Kingdom where single mothers and their children have assumed a major significance. Concerns over the family, children, and deviations from sexual and social ... more »norms, are recurring themes in social history and it may not be too great an expectation that the past may illuminate, however dimly, areas of current debate. This study presents a general overview of the literature on illegitimacy including the available Irish literature. It also presents data obtained from Presbyterian church courts in the eighteenth century and a quantitative analysis of parish register material on illegitimacy and pre-nuptial pregnancy in the nineteenth century. In addition, evidence is examined in relation to other important topics concerning illegitimacy such as regional persistence and also the workhouse. The study will be of great interest to social historians, researchers, social policy makers, and those who study the history of the family, sexuality, welfare, poverty, and the social history of Ireland generally.« less