Ireland: The Union and Its Aftermath

Published in 1977 and now reissued with a new introduction, this book serves well as a general, accessible interpretation of modern Ireland in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Described by its historian author Oliver MacDonagh (1924-2002) as a ""very small book with very large themes,"" it rapidly reached the status of a classic and remains a thought-provoking survey of Ireland from the Act of Union of 1800, which MacDonagh describes as ""the matrix of modern Irish history,"" until modern times. He describes with broad and perceptive strokes the traumatic experience of Ireland's being assimilated by, and resisting assimilation into, a powerful and alien empire.

Ireland: The Union and its aftermath

History

MacDonagh, Oliver

Europe

G. Allen & Unwin

green paperback with plain cover, very good

Allen& Unwin

Joint winner of the Christopher Ewart-Biggs Memorial Prize, "States of Mind combines imagination, wit, erudition and literary and analytical skills of the highest order. On the MacDonagh level--admittedly reached by few--history is an art as well as a science" (Dervia Murphy). With stunning originality Oliver MacDonagh explores the causes of the Anglo-Irish conflict over the last two centuries. He considers crucial differences between British and Irish attitudes to time, place and property. He demonstrates the towing influence of Daniel O'Connell as well as the reactionary effect of violence in Irish history, and he reveals the elements of ambiguity and self-deception in both Irish cultural politics and Britain's Irish policies over many years. States of Mind is essential reading for anyone with an interest int eh problems which beset Anglo-Irish relations--and in their solution.

States of Mind: A Study of Anglo-Irish Conflict 1780-1980

Unwin Hyman

This book is an exploration of Jane Austen's novels through the eyes of an historian. It demonstrates how the novels illuminate English history between 1792 and 1817, and how an appreciation of history can enrich our reading of the novels themselves. Building a picture of Jane Austen's life and of the world she inhabited in the period during and immediately after the Napoleonic Wars, Oliver MacDonagh analyzes her experience and her reactions, showing how she worked them into her fiction. Each chapter combines an examination of Jane Austen's ideas and conduct in a particular field with a consideration of her treatment of the same subject in one or more of her works. Topics such as her Anglicanism, her family relations, and her opinions on money are investigated in this way. Similarly, other chapters takle themes such as girlhood, education, marriage and local society. In every case her real and imagined worlds richly illuminate each other.

Jane Austen: Real and Imagined Worlds

Literature & Fiction

History & Criticism

Yale University Press

In this book a distinguished historian explores the novels of Jane Austen, showing how they illuminate English history in the quarter century before 1792 and 1817 and how, in turn, an appreciation of this period in history enriches our reading of the novels. Oliver MacDonagh paints a picture of Jane Austen’s life and personality and of the social and political worlds she inhabited during and immediately after the Napoleonic Wars. Analyzing her letters as well as her novels, he shows how Austen’s experiences and her reactions to events were woven into her fiction. 
Each chapter combines an examination of Jane Austen’s ideas and conduct in a particular field with a consideration of her treatment of the same subject in one or more of her works. MacDonagh compares the place of the Anglican Church in her life to the role of the Church of England in Mansfield Park, juxtaposes her own family relations to those of the Elliots, Musgroves, and Crofts in Persuasion, and shows how her economic vicissitudes are reflected in the use of money as the moving force in Sense and Sensibility. In the same way, other chapters tackle the themes of girlhood and education, marriage and the contemporary female economy, and local society. In every case Austen’s real and imagined worlds richly illuminate on another, providing new insights for all readers of her work.

Reference

The first volume of this biography of Daniel O'Connell, "The Hereditary Bondsman", was published to great acclaim in 1988. Now, in "The Emancipist", Oliver MacDonagh tells the story of O'Connell's life from the achievement of Catholic Emancipation in 1829 to his death in 1847. In this book we see a fully professional popular politician, a leading British as well as Irish radical, a first-rank member of the House of Commons, and perhaps the greatest innovator in modern democratic politics.This volume's central theme is O'Connell's demand for, and campaigns in support of, the repeal of the Act of Union between Great Britain and Ireland. O'Connell's use of Repeal was manifold. He employed it to build up a separate party and bargaining power in Westminster, to stave off revolution at home, and to establish in 1835-41 a form of power-sharing in Ireland which, in his eyes, gave some practical effect to Catholic Emancipation and national dignity. It was an epic struggle against immense odds, and a masterpiece of the political art.Professor MacDonagh skilfully interweaves the ceaseless twists and turns of O'Connell's public fortunes and his interior and family life. In its power of depiction and analysis, this is a fitting biography for the giant of nineteenth-century Irish history.

The Emancipist: Daniel O'Connell 1830-47

Biographies & Memoirs

Historical

PALGRAVE~MACMILLAN

STATES OF MIND

RANDOM HOUSE UK

Sir Jeremiah Fitzpatrick (c.1740-1810) was the first inspector general of prisons and lunacy inspector in Ireland and the first and only inspector of health to HM land forces in Great Britain. He also inspected convict vessels bound for New South Wales and the East India Company's troop ships, inquired into the Irish Charter Schools and attempted to alleviate the miseries of soldiers' dependents. His further ambitions ranged from a poor law for Ireland to a reorganisation of Dublin's police, to the regulation of noxious trades, from slave trade inspectorates to hospital management. He was therefore in many ways a precursor of the titans of early and mid-Victorian government. Originally published in 1981, much of the interest of the book lies in its revelation of late eighteenth century anticipations of mid-nineteenth century government. It also explores the differences between the two forms of administration and the reasons for the divergences and discontinuities.

The Inspector General: Sir Jeremiah Fitzpatrick and Social Reform, 1783-1802 (Routledge Revivals)

Routledge

States of Mind (Routledge Revivals)

This book is a selection[pi] of historian Oliver MacDonagh's writings edited and introduced by his former student, Tom Dunne, who contributes an account of MacDonagh's career and a bibliography. It brings together a series of childhood memories of a bank manager's son in 1930s Roscommon, with reflections on a lifetime spent writing several different kinds of history, in Ireland, England and Australia.Oliver MacDonagh was a significant writer as well as a distinguished historian, his work marked by a sophistication of style as well as of intellect. As Roy Foster remarks in his preface, 'Oliver MacDonagh was a great scholar, and a good deal more.' He is best known in Ireland for "States of Mind: A Study of Anglo-Irish Conflict, 1780-1980", which won the Ewart-Biggs Memorial Prize in 1985, and for his two-volume biography of Daniel O'Connell. He earned a major international reputation for his studies of early nineteenth-century government, as well as for an important book on the novels of Jane Austen.Few historians have paid as much attention as MacDonagh to the importance of style, and this is reflected in all the elements of this book.  It ends with his tribute to the style of John Henry Newman's, "Apologia pro Vita Sua", 'a book that had been with me as a schoolboy, that had helped to shape me, then and since'.

Looking Back: Living and Writing History: Oliver MacDonagh, 1924-2002

The Lilliput Press

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by MacDonagh, Oliver. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by MacDonagh, Oliver

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by MacDonagh, Oliver. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Ireland: The Union and its aftermath

Ireland: The Union and Its Aftermath

States of Mind: A Study of Anglo-Irish Conflict 1780-1980

Jane Austen: Real and Imagined Worlds

Jane Austen: Real and Imagined Worlds

The Emancipist: Daniel O'Connell 1830-47

STATES OF MIND

The Inspector General: Sir Jeremiah Fitzpatrick and Social Reform, 1783-1802 (Routledge Revivals)

States of Mind (Routledge Revivals)

Looking Back: Living and Writing History: Oliver MacDonagh, 1924-2002