Ireland in the 1850s/early 1860s

Most histories of Ireland I have ever read barely touch on this whole decade of the 1850s, not to mention the 1860s up until about 1866/67 and the Fenian uprising. Did nothing much happen here at the time?

Even old books on Irish history from the late 1800s/early 1900s which I have looked through on archive.org have very little to say on that time period. I have read a little bit about the exhibitions in cork in 1852 and Dublin in 1853 but not much else.

Or is it just that "Irish" news during that time most concerned it's people emigrating to the United States/England and fighting in the American Civl War/Crimean War. I suppose at the time railways were being gradually laid down, food prices gradually going down with cheaper imports, land was being converted from tillage to pasture. Anything else?

tromtipp

The synod of Thurles in 1850 was massively influential, making the Irish catholic church much more centralised and conformist, giving the Bishops great powers, bringing practice more closely into line with Rome, setting the framework in which urban middle and upper working class catholic respectability would develop over the next century.

Other post-famine social consolidation seen in the further development of the workhouse system.

jack923

OnionBelt wrote: »

Most histories of Ireland I have ever read barely touch on this whole decade of the 1850s, not to mention the 1860s up until about 1866/67 and the Fenian uprising. Did nothing much happen here at the time?

Even old books on Irish history from the late 1800s/early 1900s which I have looked through on archive.org have very little to say on that time period. I have read a little bit about the exhibitions in cork in 1852 and Dublin in 1853 but not much else.

Or is it just that "Irish" news during that time most concerned it's people emigrating to the United States/England and fighting in the American Civl War/Crimean War. I suppose at the time railways were being gradually laid down, food prices gradually going down with cheaper imports, land was being converted from tillage to pasture. Anything else?

Well apart from the famine all I know is that in the 1850s Barack Obamas great great whatever emigrated to New York

4ensic15

Griffiths Valuation took place in the 1850's.

pinkypinky

4ensic15 wrote: »

Griffiths Valuation took place in the 1850's.

Actually started in 1847 and continued right through to 1864!

The Landed Estate Courts began in the 1850s, a kind of NAMA to resolve bankrupt estates after the famine.

whisky_galore

1868 - a little over the timescale, but something which has repercussions to this day..the Industrial Schools Act.

Jesus.

....

BarcaDen

The post famine period was marked by widespread emigration and a little economic consolidation at home. Basically any person above the station of tenant farmer was doing a little better. Its been about 15 years since I read it, but FSL Lyons gives a pretty good picture of Ireland in this period ('Ireland Since the Famine')

LordSutch

The very impressive lighthouse on the end of East pier in Dun Laoghaire was built in 1847, while its twin was constructed on the end of the West pier in 1852. In all the harbour/piers cost over one million pounds to build and more than 600 men were employed to construct it over many years .

By 1860, coal was the biggest business in Dun Laoghaire and 1855 saw the Outer Coal Harbour constructed at a cost of £30,000, and in 1863 a railway siding was added in order to export pyrites from Avoca in Co. Wicklow to Wales and England. In 1859 the important Carlisle Pier was opened.

In 1827 the Harbour Commissioners had built a jetty to be used exclusively by the Admiralty’s Mail Packets. This Mail Service continued until 1850 when a new contract was made with the City of Dublin Steam Packet Company.

By 1844 the Atmospheric Train (designed by Robert Mallet) connected Kingstown to Dalkey, leading to further development. The Atmospheric Train ceased in 1854, but was replaced by the extension of the railway, which was subsequently extended to the ferry port of Rosslare. The opening of the railway from Dublin saw Kingstown become a Victorian era seaside resort. InThe Mariners Church in Dun Laoghaire got a massive make over which included a new spire & lofty lancet windows!

Queen Victoria visited Kingstown in 1849.

1861 saw the construction of a most attractive Lifeboat House on the Royal Slip at the foot of the Carlisle Pier.

"A boom year for Kingstown-Dun Laoghaire came in 1863 with the additions to the Harbour of a battery/fort, a coastguard station, a seaman’s home and a lighthouse and keepers cottages. An Anenometer to measure wind speed and direction was also part of the improvements. These buildings all show excellent workmanship".

---

The above is just a 'snippet' of what was going on in just one small town/area, so it seems like there was a bit of a boom going on in some places with railway extensions & large Victorian building projects, while at the very same time there was great hardship and famine in other parts!

Just looking at the timeline for Dun Laoghaire alone, and there really was massive investment before, during, and after the 1850s . . . .

That's my contribution.

pedroeibar1

By the early 1850’s much on the ‘underclass’ was still on its knees after the Famine and poverty was still widespread. As Lord Such said there was a building boom - many of our notable public buildings date to that time - theatres, the NLI, Nat. Museum, etc. Also the railway network was expanding, so lots of stations and bridges. After Catholic Emancipation many new parish churches were planned, some had started but ceased due to the Famine and only got going again in the 1850’s – Pugin’s cathedral in Killarney finished 1855 being a typical example. The railway was extended to Killarney in the same decade (’56?).

The railway from Westland Row / Pearse to Dunleary/Kingstown/Dun Laoghaire was much earlier as it opened in 1834 but it was extended (Wm. Dargan was the main contractor) to Bray in the 1850’s – that town grew as a result, most of its hotels were built following the railway. Due to the success of the Bray line it was extended same decade to Wicklow by Dargan. He used I. K. Brunel as the engineer for the tunnels & portion at Bray Head – built there because Lord Meath would not give permission to run it inland through Kilruddery, instead he gave them the land at Bray Head free. Much the same row happened in Dunleary as the ground landlord would not allow it along the seafront, hence it is buried DL to Sandycove. The economic impact of the railways in rural Ireland was huge – e.g. fish from Kerry to Dublin in less than a day.

As alluded to by Whisky G there also were huge leaps in and changes to education – Cardinal Cullen got control of the National Education Board in 1849, and his strict RC outlook set the seeds for segregated education. Then in the early 1860’s the Catholic Church banned (1862?) its members from attending the Model schools and its training school in Dublin. By the 1870’s the RCC /priests had launched St. Pats in Drumcondra and the nuns their place eventually to become Carysfort.

tabbey

LordSutch wrote: »

The very impressive East pier in Dun Laoghaire was built in 1847, while its even bigger twin 'the West pier' was built in 1852. In all the harbour/piers cost over one million pounds to build and more than 600 men were employed to construct it over many years .

By 1860, coal was the biggest business in Dun Laoghaire and 1855 saw the Outer Coal Harbour constructed at a cost of £30,000, and in 1863 a railway siding was added in order to export pyrites from Avoca in Co. Wicklow to Wales and England. In 1859 the important Carlisle Pier was opened.

In 1827 the Harbour Commissioners had built a jetty to be used exclusively by the Admiralty’s Mail Packets. This Mail Service continued until 1850 when a new contract was made with the City of Dublin Steam Packet Company.

By 1844 the Atmospheric Train (designed by Robert Mallet) connected Kingstown to Dalkey, leading to further development. The Atmospheric Train ceased in 1854, but was replaced by the extension of the railway, which was subsequently extended to the ferry port of Rosslare. The opening of the railway from Dublin saw Kingstown become a Victorian era seaside resort. InThe Mariners Church in Dun Laoghaire got a massive make over which included a new spire & lofty lancet windows!

Queen Victoria visited Kingstown in 1849.

1861 saw the construction of a most attractive Lifeboat House on the Royal Slip at the foot of the Carlisle Pier.

"A boom year for Kingstown-Dun Laoghaire came in 1863 with the additions to the Harbour of a battery/fort, a coastguard station, a seaman’s home and a lighthouse and keepers cottages. An Anenometer to measure wind speed and direction was also part of the improvements. These buildings all show excellent workmanship".

---

The above is just a 'snippet' of what was going on in just one small town/area, so it seems like there was a bit of a boom going on in some places with railway extensions & large Victorian building projects, while at the very same time there was great hardship and famine in other parts!

Just looking at the timeline for Dun Laoghaire alone, and there really was massive investment before, during, and after the 1850s . . . .

That's my contribution.

I am afraid you are decades out with your dates, the East Pier was built about 1817-1821, and the West Pier in the early 1820s.

The major project in Kingstown Harbour in the 1850s was Carlisle Pier opened 1859.

LordSutch

You're dead right...

It was the light houses in the end of the two piers that were constructed on those dates.

The two piers as you say were constructed much earlier. (Reference in post #9 now amended).

Thanks.