The Politics Of Consumption In Eighteenth-century Ireland

This first major book on consumption in eighteenth-century Ireland takes its lead from Brewer, McKendrick and Plumb's The Birth of a Consumer Society in its investigation of food and drink, new urban housing, newspapers and linen. But as with many other areas of Irish culture and society, consumption cannot be separated from the problems of Anglo-Irish relations, and therefore an appreciation of these political overtones is vitally important. The book will address three very broad questions. First it will explore how the study of consumption can be applied to Irish society and culture, and more particularly its political scene. Second it will examine the significance of British attitudes towards Irish patterns of consumption in the context of eighteenth-century Anglo-Irish relations. Finally it will look at the way Ireland's position in the British empire determined the relationship between politics and consumption.

Martyn J. Powell is Lecturer in Modern British History at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth.