A History Of Sex And Morals In Ireland

In this entertaining and illuminating book, Aongus Collins surveys changing attitudes to sexual and moral issues in Ireland from the earliest times, including the Brehon Laws, to the present day and the sex scandals that have rocked the Church.

The history of sexual morality in Ireland has been traditionally associated with repression. In the last two decades, however, repression seems to have given way to its exact opposite. But where did this “repression” originate? And how can we account for this sudden and sweeping transformation in sexual mores? Based on solid ethnographic and historical analysis of sexual morality in rural Ireland, augmented by comparative data from Papua New Guinea, and being informed by from Freud’s emblematic concept of repression, the author draws new conclusions that not only apply to the specific case of his Irish material but shed new light on the specific nature of an anthropological approach to the study of human societies.

Ferriter covers such subjects as abortion, pregnancy, celibacy, contraception, censorship, infanticide, homosexuality, prostitution, marriage, popular culture, social life and the various hidden Irelands associated with sexual abuse - all in the context of a conservative official morality backed by the Catholic Church and by legislation. The book energetically and originally engages with subjects omitted from the mainstream historical narrative. The breadth of this book and the richness of the source material uncovered make it definitive in its field and a most remarkable work of social history.

The history of sexuality in Ireland remains relatively understudied when compared with the more well-worn paths of political and military history, but that is not to say that it has never been considered. Now, in the fourth installment of the 'Irish perspectives' collaboration between Pen and Sword and History Ireland, a range of experts explore Irish history from the perspective of the broad concept of sexuality, in both theory and practice. From the legalities that defined gender roles in the middle ages and early modern periods, to women's role in political life and civil society, Gender and Sexuality in Ireland provides a comprehensive overview of the nation's understanding and relationship with sexuality and patriarchy. Population change, prostitution, incarceration, infanticide, abortion and homophobia are all considered alongside attempts to impose - and ignore - Catholic morality in independent Ireland. Struggles for women's rights and reproductive rights, the culture wars of the 1980s, and Irish people simply trying to have good sex lives, the essays gathered here cast light on aspects of Ireland's past that are often overlooked in more mainstream narratives of Irish history.

This collection of essays focuses on issues of gender and sexuality in Irish history, biography, language, literature and drama. While the contributors employ a variety of methodological and critical perspectives, they share the conviction that the gendering of Ireland - not only of the nation, but of actual Irish men and women - is a construction of culture and ideology and not simply one of nature.

Includes biographical notes on the contributors.

In ancient Ireland -- from the dawn of history until the coming of the Normans -- marriage customs and sexual mores were very different from those that held sway in other European countries -- and especially from the "Christian" customs that the Norman conquerors sought to impose on the Irish. Liberal and humane, they allowed for divorce and remarriage and acknowledged the status of women as independent individuals. This riveting account, based on heroic, historical, and legal sources, makes surprising and entertaining reading.

The sexual exploitation of children by adults has a long, fraught history. Yet how cultures have reacted to it is shaped by a range of forces, beliefs, and norms, like any other social phenomenon. Changes in how Anglo-American culture has understood intergenerational sex can be seen with startling clarity in the life of British writer Norman Douglas (1868–1952), who was a beloved and popular author, a friend of luminaries like Graham Greene, Aldous Huxley, and D.H. Lawrence, and an unrepentant and uncloseted pederast. Rachel Hope Cleves’s careful study opens a window onto the social history of intergenerational sex in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, revealing how charisma, celebrity, and contemporary standards protected Douglas from punishment—until they didn’t. Unspeakable approaches Douglas as neither monster nor literary hero, but as a man who participated in an exploitative sexual subculture that was tolerated in ways we may find hard to understand. Using letters, diaries, memoirs, police records, novels, and photographs—including sources by the children Douglas encountered—Cleves identifies the cultural practices that structured pedophilic behaviors in England, Italy, and other places Douglas favored. Her book delineates how approaches to adult-child sex have changed over time and offers insight into how society can confront similar scandals today, celebrity and otherwise.

Bringing together studies of the sexual cultures in the major European countries, this text shows the commonalities and differences between them which are a result of great religious divides and different legal and economic systems.

This innovative and compelling collection tells the powerful story of gender history in Ireland and how the State treated its citizens on the basis on gender. It includes insightful questions that challenge the concept of masculinity, femininity and 'otherness' within Irish society, and a fascinating study of activists from various campaigns that surround the progression of Pro-Choice and Pro-Life since 1983.--