John Mitchel, Ulster and the Great Irish Famine

This collection of essays offers diverse perspectives on the impact of the Great Famine in Ireland, with particular focus on the experience in the province of Ulster – much neglected in histories, but which prompted the political geography and sectarian divisions that persisted into the twentieth century.

Edited by Patrick Fitzgerald and Anthony Russell, John Mitchel, Ulster and the Great Irish Famine delves into the immeasurable impact of starvation, illness, and emigration on Irish society and the diaspora. The use of relatively neglected sources shines a vital new light on the experience of Famine migrants entering British North America; John Mitchel, the controversial, international, renowned thinker, is similarly examined in both Old and New World environments. It was Mitchel, more than any other writer or politician, who created the nationalist perception of the Great Famine; a perception which suited the political objectives of both communities in Ulster.

Through history, geography, literary studies, demography, folklore, biography, and local and family studies, the contributors address new questions and prompt fresh debates. John Mitchel, Ulster and the Great Irish Famine expands upon this epochal moment in Irish history – a legacy previously unwritten.