'A most diabolical deed' : infanticide and Irish society, 1850-1900 / Elaine Farrell.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Farrell, Elaine (Elaine Frances), author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Infanticide--Ireland--History--19th century.

Infanticide.

Infanticide--Ireland--Case studies.

Infanticide--Law and legislation--Ireland--History--19th century.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (x, 292 pages) : illustrations; digital file(s).

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Manchester, UK : Manchester University Press, 2013.

Manchester, UK : Manchester University Press, [2015]

Language Note:

English

System Details:

data file

Summary:

This book examines the phenomenon of infanticide in Ireland from 1850 to 1900, examining a sample of 4,645 individual cases of infant murder, attempted infanticide and concealment of birth. Evidence for this study has been gleaned from a variety of sources, including court documents, coroners'records, prison files, parliamentary papers, and newspapers. Through these sources, many of which are rarely used by scholars, attitudes towards the crime, the women accused of the offence, and the victim, are revealed. Although infant murder was a capital offence during this period, none of thewomen found guilty of the crime were executed, suggesting a degree of sympathy and understanding towards the accused. Infanticide cases also allude to complex dynamics and tensions between employers and servants, parents and pregnant daughters, judges and defendants, and prison authorities andinmates. This book highlights much about the lived realities of nineteenth-century Ireland.

Contents:

'A most diabolical deed': Infanticide and Irish society, 1850-1900

Half Title Page

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Contents

Figures

Acknowledgements

Abbreviations

Introduction

1. 'A melancholy thing':¹ an overview

2. 'Dead children, like drowned sailors, tell no tales': coroners' courts

3. 'That species of crime':¹ criminal courts

4. 'Rumor, with its hundred tongues': the community

5. 'News of the ghastly spectacle':¹ the press

6. 'A very great escape':¹ prisons

Conclusion

Bibliography

Index.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9781526102249

1526102242

9781526102232

1526102234

OCLC:

982026469