The vibrant Irish public house of the nineteenth century hosted broad networks of social power, enabling publicans and patrons to disseminate tremendous influence across Ireland and beyond. During the period, affluent publicans coalesced into one of the most powerful and sophisticated forces in Irish parliamentary politics. Among the leading figures of public life, they commanded an unmatched economic route to middle-class prosperity, inserted themselves into the centre of crucial legislative debates, and took part in fomenting the issues of class, gender, and national identity which continue to be contested today. From the other side of the bar, regular patrons relied on this social institution to construct, manage and spread their various social and political causes. From Daniel O'Connell to the Guinness dynasty, from the Acts of Union to the Great Famine, and from Christmas boxes to Fenianism; Bradley Kadel offers a first and much-needed scholarly examination of the 'incendiary politics of the pub' in nineteenth-century Ireland.

For a country that can boast a distinguished tradition of political economy from Sir William Petty through Swift, Berkeley, Hutcheson, Burke and Cantillon through to that of Longfield, Cairnes, Bastable, Edgeworth, Geary and Gorman, it is surprising that no systematic study of Irish political economy has been undertaken. In this book the contributors redress this glaring omission in the history of political economy, for the first time providing an overview of developments in Irish political economy from the seventeenth to the twentieth century. Logistically this is achieved through the provision of individual contributions from a group of recognized experts, both Irish and international, who address the contribution of major historical figures in Irish political economy along the analysis of major thematic issues, schools of thought and major policy debates within the Irish context over this extended period.

This book expertly presents the first systematic research and comparative analysis ever attempted on the rise and early developments of the Economic Associations founded in Europe, the US and Japan during the nineteenth century. Contributors analyze the activities and debates promoted by these associations, evaluating their role in: the disseminati