The first book to tackle the controversial history of prostitution in modern Ireland.

What were the laws on marriage in Ireland, and did church and state differ in their interpretation? How did men and women meet and arrange to marry? How important was patriarchy and a husband's control over his wife? And what were the options available to Irish men and women who wished to leave an unhappy marriage? This first comprehensive history of marriage in Ireland across three centuries looks below the level of elite society for a multi-faceted exploration of how marriage was perceived, negotiated and controlled by the church and state, as well as by individual men and women within Irish society. Making extensive use of new and under-utilised primary sources, Maria Luddy and Mary O'Dowd explain the laws and customs around marriage in Ireland. Revising current understandings of marital law and relations, Marriage in Ireland, 1660–1925 represents a major new contribution to Irish historical studies.

"Marriage is one of the oldest institutions in Ireland. The earliest legal codes in Irish history incorporated a detailed set of regulations on the rights and responsibilities of husbands and wives. In the medieval period marriage was at the core of the conflict between Gaelic and English customs and social practices. Marital alliances were also an essential element in sixteenth and seventeenth century political and economic networks. The continuing significance of family connections is also evident in eighteenth-century Irish political life. In the nineteenth century, the financial arrangements for marriage were an important factor in the economic structure of rural society. Marriage also set the parameters for the sexual moral code which prevailed in twentieth-century Irish society. In this book we set out to write an extended study of the history of heterosexual marriage on the island of Ireland from 1660 to 1925. The time frame begins with the Restoration of Charles II as king of Ireland and ends with the parliamentary debate on divorce in the Irish Free State. The starting date of 1660 was partly determined by the availability of source material but the Restoration also marks the beginning of the legislative structure and the political divisions that were to frame the history of Ireland over the following two hundred and sixty years. We chose 1925 as our concluding year because the Oireachtas1 debate on divorce marked a significant turning point in evolving 1 The Oireachtas refers to the two houses of the Irish egislature (the Dáil, lower house and Seanad upper house). 16 attitudes to marriage in the Irish Free State and Northern Ireland. The public controversy provoked by the debate silenced parliamentary discussion on the possible introduction of divorce in the Irish Free State. The 1937 constitutional ban on divorce continued the reluctance of the Irish state to countenance legislation on marital dissolution and remarriage until compelled to do so in the 1990s. 1925 was also an important year in the history of divorce in Northern Ireland. By contrast with the Irish Free State, the newly established parliament in Belfast agreed in 1921 to accept petitions for divorce and the first petition was read in the Northern Ireland House of Commons in 1925. Thereafter, marriage law in Northern Ireland was gradually brought into line with that in England. In 1939, divorce was transferred from the jurisdiction of the parliament to the High Court of Northern Ireland, a move which emphasised the increasing legal divergence of the two parts of the island"--

Irish vegan studies are poised for increasing relevance as climate change threatens the legitimacy and longevity of animal agriculture and widespread health problems related to animal product consumption disrupt long held nutritional ideologies. Already a top producer of greenhouse gas emissions in the European Union, Ireland has committed to expanding animal agriculture despite impending crisis. The nexus of climate change, public health, and animal welfare present a challenge to the hegemony of the Irish state and neoliberal European governance. Efforts to resist animal rights and environmentalism highlight the struggle to sustain economic structures of inequality in a society caught between a colonialist past and a globalized future. Animals in Irish Society explores the vegan Irish epistemology, one that can be traced along its history of animism, agrarianism, ascendency, adaptation, and activism. From its zoomorphic pagan roots to its legacy of vegetarianism, Ireland has been more receptive to the interests of other animals than is currently acknowledged. More than a land of "meat" and potatoes, Ireland is a relevant, if overlooked, contributor to Western vegan thought.

In Ireland, recent social, cultural and political changes combined with globalisation, commercialisation and new technologies have re-shaped how we understand and think about sexuality. There is now a multiplicity of ways in which individuals can experience their sexuality, negotiate their sexual identities and advocate for sexual rights. Meanwhile, sexualities continue to be denied, problematised and subjected to regulation. The ongoing exchanges between real-life sexualities and the social contexts in which they are forged, provides the core focus of this book. Sexualities and Irish Society explores the construction and management of sexualities across a number of different sites, including the family, the legal and education systems, medical and therapeutic settings, and cultural and commercial arenas. Engaging with both theoretical and empirical material, the authors analyse the power relations within which sexualities are constructed, resisted and reconstructed. Written by academics, researchers, advocates and practitioners, this is the first comprehensive academic text on sexualities in Irish society. It showcases the best of recent scholarship from a range of disciplinary perspectives. Sexualities and Irish Society is a valuable resource for undergraduate and postgraduate students in social policy, social care, social work, sociology, women's studies, cultural studies, history, politics and studies of the body. It should also appeal to activists, campaigners and professional practitioners.

'Poverty and the Poor Law in Ireland' provides a detailed and comprehensive assessment of the ideological basis and practical operation of the poor law system in the post-famine period in Ireland.

Law and Gender in Modern Ireland: Critique and Reform is the first generalist text to tackle the intersection of law and gender in this jurisdiction for over two decades. As such, it could hardly have come at a more opportune moment. The topic of law and gender, perhaps more so than at any other time in Irish history, has assumed a dominant place in political and academic debate. Among scholars and policy-makers alike, the regulation of gendered bodies, and the legal status of sexual and gendered identities, is now a highly visible fault line in public discourse. Debates over reproductive justice (exemplified by the recent referendum to remove the '8th Amendment'), increased rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons (including the public-sanctioned introduction of same-sex marriage) and the historic mistreatment of women and young girls have re-shaped Irish public and political life, and encouraged Irish society to re-examine long-unchallenged gender norms. While many traditional flashpoints remain such as abortion and prostitution/sex work, there are also new questions, including surrogacy and the gendered experience of asylum frameworks, which have emerged. As policy-makers seek to enact reforms, they face a population with increasingly polarised perceptions of gender and a legal structure ill-equipped for modern realities. This edited volume directly addresses modern Irish debates on law and gender. Providing an overview of the existing rules and standards, as well as exploring possible options for reform, the collection stands as an important statement on the law in this jurisdiction, and as an invaluable resource for pursuing gendered social change. While the edited collection applies a doctrinal methodology to explain current statutes, case law and administrative practices, the contributors also invoke critical gender, queer and race perspectives to identify and problematise existing (and potential) challenges. This edited collection is essential reading for all who are interested in law, gender and processes of social change in modern Ireland.