Peasants into patriots: instruments of radical politicisation in Clare 1800-1907

Abstract

This thesis charts the evolution and identifies the role of radical nationalism in County Clare in the period 1860 to 1907. Building on the work of Weber on French popular politicisation, this work traces the growth of political awareness among the population of both rural and urban Clare. It examines the agencies which contributed to this politicisation, looking in particular at economic factors, modernising trends, the impact of individuals and of political organisations, and the role of sociability and associationalism. Based on research in contemporary newspaper, police reports, diaries and private papers, the study concludes that by the late nineteenth century the rural and small town populations of the area were more closely integrated in their political thinking, and that the community showed a growing collective consciousness of national political identity.