Essays in Irish Labour History

Essays in Irish Labour History is a tribute to the late Professor John W. Boyle, University of Guelph, Canada and a leading practitioner of Irish labour history, and his late wife Elizabeth. Boyle’s specialism was in nineteenth-century Irish history, with a particular emphasis on Dublin and Belfast, cities to which he had academic and personal attachments, and these interests are well reflected in this book. The history of labour in Ulster is especially well covered, as is that of Protestant workers throughout the island. The collection includes substantial scholarly articles that reflect ongoing research and explore areas that have thus far been neglected, such as the emergence of time-discipline in nineteenth century Ireland and the impact of religion on the Irish Labour Party, 1922-73. The range of topics is broad and includes an obituary essay on the Boyles by Francis Devine and an interrogation of Irish historiography and the working class by Fintan Lane.

‘Niamh Puirséil’s analysis of the relationship between the Irish Labour Party and the Catholic Church subject that party’s supposedly liberal credentials to a rather testing scrutiny… Although it is easy to criticise, Puirséil emphasises the extraordinarily reactionary climate of an era when both Church and State routinely identifed the Labour Party with communist subversion…The debate on sectarianism in Ireland usually focuses on the treatment of the Protestant minority but the experiences of those who advocated ideas which conflicted with the prevailing Catholic orthodoxy providean equally striking demonstration of the sectarian nature of Irish society after independence.’

Ferghal McGarry, Saothar 35 (2010)