The largest amount of good : Quaker relief in Ireland, 1654-1921 / Helen E. Hatton.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Hatton, Helen Elizabeth.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Quakers--Ireland--Charities--History.

Quakers.

Famines--Ireland--History.

Famines.

Food relief--Ireland--History.

Food relief.

Ireland--History.

Ireland.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xi, 367 pages) : illustrations

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Kingston [Ont.] : McGill-Queen's University Press, 1993.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

The Largest Amount of Good is the first full account of Quaker relief operations in Ireland and of the evolution of the Quakers' thinking on the purposes and limitations of philanthropy and the responsibility of the state in disaster. Helen Hatton describes how the Quakers rejected orthodox economic and philanthropic theory and, without seeking profit for themselves, provided grants and unguaranteed loans to develop and revitalize Irish agriculture, fisheries, and industry. They also used publicity and political pressure to push for reform of the land-holding system. Although the power of the landowners was too entrenched to be overcome entirely, the Quakers' contribution to Ireland, Hatton demonstrates, is unquestionable. The growth of the Quaker relief service, from mutual help in the seventeenth century to an institution of international standing, has been accompanied by the gradual embodiment of their principles in the direction of the Society. Their work in the Great Irish Famine marked a turning point at which the procedures they had evolved inchoately over two centuries were formulated into a methodology that is accepted today as the basis for relief and Third World development.

Contents:

From Conviction to Action

Good to All and Harm to None: Early Years in Ireland

A Condition Low and Degraded

Rehearsals for Disaster

A National Misfortune, a National Sin

A Remarkable Manifestation of National Sympathy

Feeding the Hungry and Clothing the Naked

A Little Thing Helps a Poor Man

Help the Men to Help Themselves

Ever Widening Circles.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references: p. [329] -348 and index.

ISBN:

1-282-85617-0

9786612856174

0-7735-6369-5

OCLC:

929121095