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How diaspora activism in the Irish land movement intersected with wider radical and reform causes
The Irish Land War represented a turning point in modern Irish history, a social revolution that was part of a broader ideological moment when established ideas of property and land ownership were fundamentally challenged. The Land War was striking in its internationalism, and was spurred by links between different emigrant locations and an awareness of how the Land League’s demands to lower rents, end evictions, and abolish “landlordism” in Ireland connected with wider radical and reform causes.
Changing Land offers a new and original study of Irish emigrants’ activism in the United States, Argentina, Scotland, and England and their multifaceted relationships with Ireland. Niall Whelehan brings unfamiliar figures to the surface and recovers the voices of women and men who have been on the margins of, or entirely missing from, existing accounts. Retracing their transnational lives reveals new layers of radical circuitry between Ireland and disparate international locations, and demonstrates how the land movement overlapped with different types of oppositional politics from moderate reform to feminism to revolutionary anarchism. By including Argentina, which was home to the largest Irish community outside the English-speaking world, this book addresses the neglect of developments in non-Anglophone places in studies of the “Irish world.” Changing Land presents a powerful addition to our understanding of the history of modern Ireland and the Irish diaspora, migration, and the history of transnational radicalism.
— Jo Guldi
Niall Whelehan’s groundbreaking study…will surely provide an essential cornerstone for future studies of emigrant activism.
— Patrick Mahoney
This provocative and important book…casts important light on the international and radical dimensions of the Irish Land League agitation and suggests promising new pathways for working-class historians to explore.
— Elizabeth McKillen
Changing Land is a fascinating study of class, gender, social and political reform, and the diaspora during the Land War in nineteenth-century Ireland. It argues convincingly that the land war was part of a wider ideological moment in world history and that social activism should be accorded attention equal to the political perspective, in the nationalist narrative. It is a fine exemplar of how to take an integrated approach to the history of Ireland and that of its geographically widespread diaspora. Based on hitherto unseen primary sources, this book offers an innovative and significant contribution to the received historical narrative of the land war in Ireland and within the diaspora, as well as inserting Ireland into the history of international radicalism.
— Bernadette Whelan, Professor Emeritus, University of Limerick, Ollscoil Luimnigh, Ireland
An outstanding work, meticulously researched, lucidly written, and conceptually sophisticated. Changing Land promises to be one of the most exciting books published on Irish history this year. Whelehan is an outstanding scholar and this volume will consolidate his reputation as among the leading historians of Ireland.
— Thomas Bartlett, Professor Emeritus, University of Aberdeen
An invaluable resource for future scholars of Irish agrarian radicalism.
— Patrick Maume, Studia Hibernica
“A fascinating study of transnational radicalism…a complex and impressive book."
— Fintan Lane, Irish Literary Supplement
By shifting the lens from one of Irish nationalism, to a more global approach, Whelehan’s strongest contributions come with his careful contextualisation of people, place and local dynamics that offer a fuller picture of Irish diasporic experiences. This approach complicates the narrative and leads to a more nuanced understanding of human motivations and circumstances.
— Review of Irish Studies
The enduring value of the study lies in the author’s ability to convey the different meanings that these agitators took from the land question, and how their activism was inherently shaped by the experiences and views they encountered across the various societies in which they found themselves. Whelehan’s contribution will surely provide an essential cornerstone for future studies of emigrant activism.
— Irish Historical Studies
Whelehan has done an important service to the field by knocking down the boundary between the northern and southern hemispheres and proving how powerful newspaper research can be in the pursuit of truly global movements.
— The English Historical Review
This book casts important light on the international and radical dimensions of Irish Land League agitation and suggests promising new pathways for working-class historians to explore.
— Labor: Studies in Working-Class History
This book’s small scale conceals the broader significance of the perspectives it opens up, and it is an invaluable resource for future scholars of Irish radical agrarianism.
— Studia Hibernica