Poor Relief in Ireland, 1851-1914

Mel Cousins is the author of The Birth of Social Welfare in Ireland, a study of the development of the welfare system in twentieth-century Ireland, and of a number of articles on the Poor Law and related issues. He lectures in the history of social policy at the National University of Ireland, Maynooth and has previously lectured at Trinity College Dublin.

• Contents: Poor Relief in Ireland, 1851-1914 – Regional Trends in the Poor Law – Poor Relief and Family Structures – The Poor Law in the Post-Famine Decades, 1851-1878 – The Land War and Local Politics, 1879-1891 – Outdoor Relief and Labourers’ Cottages: Nationalism and/or Economics? – The Poor Law and the ‘Plan of Campaign’, 1886-1891 – The Democratisation of Local Government and the Poor Law, 1892-1906 – The Broader Role of the Boards of Guardians in Local Politics and Community – The End of the Poor Law, 1907-1914.

«This work represents an important addition to Irish social history, makes a significant contribution to current understandings and debates surrounding the Irish Poor Law, and will be the first port of call for many working in the general field of Irish welfare history.» (Donnacha Seán Lucey, Reviews in History 07/2012)