Archived: 13 October 2026
Abstract
In 1739, Ireland’s unequal political and social order faced mounting pressures from justice, taxation, war, religious discrimination, infrastructure and weather. Lord Santry’s conviction for murdering Laughlin Murphy demonstrated aristocratic accountability but also privilege, as petitions later secured his pardon. Parliament raised duties to support imperial needs, while Britain’s war with Spain affected trade and prompted renewed Catholic disarmament; Catholic petitioners sought secure leases. The Dublin Society promoted flax, linen and road improvements, though storms revealed vulnerable bridges, mills and transport. After a wet summer disrupted harvests and turf cutting, severe frost soon arrived in late December, foreshadowing 1740–41’s catastrophic famine.
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Archived: 13 October 2026
Abstract
In 1740, severe frost followed by drought disrupted Ireland’s potatoes, grain, livestock and food distribution, initiating the famine 1741. Rising prices made provisions inaccessible to labourers and cottiers, while Dublin crowds rioted from 31 May to 2 June, seizing and redistributing bread, meal and beef at lower prices. Authorities banned food exports, pursued alleged market manipulators, imposed port restrictions and offered rewards, but parliament did not organise comprehensive relief. Archbishop Boulter and charities provided fragmented assistance. The crisis exposed inequalities in landholding, markets and welfare, while autumn brought no recovery before renewed winter, fever and dysentery worsened famine in 1741.
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Archived: 13 October 2026
Abstract
In 1741, Ireland endured the deadliest phase of the 1740–41 Great Frost famine, or Bliain an Áir. Freeze, drought, crop and livestock failures, lost employment and soaring prices caused widespread hunger, while fever and dysentery devastated weakened populations. Estimated deaths across the crisis reached 310,000–480,000, though records remain incomplete. Relief was fragmented, relying on local charity, imports, employment schemes and municipal action. An improved harvest and falling prices eased scarcity late in the year, but disease and hardship persisted. Amid extreme inequality, Dublin opened Fishamble Street’s Music Hall and welcomed Handel, while Killiney Hill relief works commemorated suffering and employment.
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Archived: 13 October 2026
Abstract
In 1742, Ireland remained weakened by the Great Frost famine, with hunger, disease and poverty continuing despite improving conditions. Recovery efforts included the Cope’s voyage carrying Tyrone coal to Dublin via the new Newry navigation, demonstrating improved transport and trade potential. Dublin’s cultural life produced Handel’s Messiah, first performed in Fishamble Street on 13 April for hospitals and imprisoned debtors. Government operated without a parliamentary session through Dublin Castle proclamations, while religious inequalities persisted. Jonathan Swift’s incapacity and Archbishop Hugh Boulter’s death marked losses within the established order. The year combined charitable action, infrastructure, cultural achievement and lingering social crisis.
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Archived: 13 October 2026
Abstract
In 1743, Charles Lucas challenged Dublin aldermen's control over elections, accounts and patronage, arguing that the Corporation's wider body should choose aldermen. His April Remonstrance and demands to print accounts widened the dispute through print and legal argument, although recorder Eaton Stannard ruled for the aldermen in October. The conflict promoted civic accountability but remained confined to Protestant corporate citizens, excluding Catholics and Dissenters. Arthur Jones Nevill became Surveyor General, linking public works to Castle patronage. Proclamations addressed crime, ports and quarantine, while a linen bounty integrated Irish production into British Atlantic trade. Recovery from the Great Frost remained precarious.
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Archived: 13 October 2026
Abstract
Ireland in 1744 combined political control, social vulnerability and tentative institutional improvement. With the Anglican parliament prorogued, Dublin Castle governed through proclamations addressing foreign military recruitment, disorder, crime, war with France and maritime quarantine. In February, a house collapsed during Catholic Mass in Dublin’s Pill Lane, killing priest and nine worshippers, exposing hazards intensified by penal restrictions. Dublin also founded the Physico-Historical Society and Hospital for Incurables, while cultural life included Spranger Barry’s theatre debut and developing drawing instruction. Arthur Price became archbishop of Cashel. A wet, cold autumn damaged northern oats and potatoes, reviving fears after the 1740–41 famine.
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Archived: 13 October 2026
Abstract
In 1745, Ireland remained peaceful during the Jacobite rising, yet was deeply implicated in the wider Stuart crisis. Lord Lieutenant Chesterfield combined surveillance and preparedness with relative restraint towards Catholics, while restricting provisions exports and proclaiming rewards, fasts and grain controls. Irish expatriates advised Charles Edward Stuart, and the French Irish Brigade distinguished itself at Fontenoy, though no Irish rebellion materialised. Food regulation, markets and linen petitions reflected wartime economic anxieties after scarcity. Dublin retained vitality: Thomas Sheridan managed Smock Alley Theatre, while Jonathan Swift died, leaving funds for St Patrick’s Hospital. Ireland’s calm concealed penal inequality and international entanglements.
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Archived: 13 October 2026
Abstract
In 1746, Ireland experienced the repercussions of Culloden rather than battle, as Irish exiles in French service fought for the Jacobites while Dublin Castle guarded against recruitment and disorder. Chesterfield’s administration ended amid continuing Catholic exclusion and official caution. Poor harvests, wartime demand and trade disruption prompted embargoes on provisions and salted meat, alongside grain imports and quarantine changes. Government proclamations targeted outlaws, organised fasts, and extended authority through local institutions. Westminster restricted Irish glass exports, while linen remained encouraged. John Cennick began Moravian work in Dublin, and Jonathan Swift’s bequest secured St Patrick’s Hospital’s legal foundation, illustrating charitable change.
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Archived: 13 October 2026
Abstract
In 1747, Ireland saw no single decisive event, but political, religious, cultural and social tensions were visible. George Stone became Church of Ireland archbishop of Armagh and a lord justice, strengthening Protestant administrative power under a restricted constitution. Catholic leadership changed through episcopal deaths and appointments, sustained by clerical and continental networks despite penal laws. John and Charles Wesley made their first Irish visits, while Edmund Burke helped found a Trinity debating club. Dublin’s Kelly riots exposed disputes over privilege and theatre authority. Proclamations addressed quarantine, rural crime, weavers’ unrest and rioting, reflecting hardship, trade and fragile order after famine.
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Archived: 13 October 2026
Abstract
In 1748, Ireland’s restricted Protestant political order was highlighted by the Newtown Act, which regularised non-resident burgesses and potentially strengthened borough patronage, while excluding Catholics and dissenters from power. Completion of James FitzGerald’s Palladian Kildare House demonstrated aristocratic wealth, influence and Dublin’s southward expansion. Wartime fasts and embargoes gave way to ceasefires and the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, though rural households remained economically insecure within imperial trading constraints. Proclamations against robbery, intimidation and arson reflected official anxieties over order. Catholic organisation persisted despite Penal Laws, marked by Archbishop Ross Roe MacMahon’s death, while early Methodist preaching added to Ireland’s religious landscape.
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