'Ascendency's ... last big jamboree':Big house society in Northern Ireland 1921-69

Thie examines the continuing role that the landed class enjoyed in Northern Ireland in contrast to the experience of their fellow landlords in the rest of Ireland following Partition. It argues that the senses of tradition and continuity which the unionist population in particular attributed to the old landed elite gave them an important role in bolstering the newly created state of Northern Ireland. In turn this allowed them to continue acting as a social elite long after the economic and political foundations of their ascendancy had been removed.

Poor relief in the north of Ireland 1850-1921

This examines the way in which poor relief, and in particular the Poor Law, operated in the north of Ireland from the end of the Great Famine through to Partition. Drawing on a range of primary sources it develops a picture of relief patterns, exploring the ways in which the poor law was administered and the ways in which the poor utilised the limited relief options available to them. The chapter provides an analysis of how releif patterns in the north reacted to broader social and political change, developed over time and compared to other regions within Ireland.

Poverty and power: the Irish Poor Law in a north Antrim town 1861-1921

This examines the workings of the Irish Poor Law in the town of Ballymoney, Co. Antrim, during the period between the end of the Great Famine and Partition. It focuses both on those who administered and those who used the poor law and argues that for the former it provided an important route into local politics and for the latter it represented a crucial strand in the limited strategies for survival open to them. It also demonstrates the impact that local political outlook had on both the administration and the experience of poor relief.

Persistent and consistent poverty in the 1994 and 1995 waves of the European Community Household Panel Survey

This paper focuses on the mismatch between income and deprivation measures of poverty. Using the first two waves of the European Community Household Panel Survey, a measure of relative deprivation is constructed and the overlap between the relative income poor and relatively deprived is examined, There is very limited overlap with the lowest relative income threshold. The overlap increases as the income threshold is raised, but it remains true that less than half those below the 60 percent relative income line are among the most deprived. Relative deprivation is shown to be related to the persistence of income poverty, but also to a range of other resource and need factors. Income and deprivation measures each contain information that can profitably be employed to enhance our understanding of poverty and a range of other social phenomena. This is illustrated by the manner in which both income poverty and relative deprivation are associated with self-reported difficulty making ends meet.

Indications for penetrating keratoplasty and associated procedures, 1989-1995

Purpose. To identify changing trends in indications for penetrating keratoplasty and associated surgical procedures. Methods. Review of charts from all patients who underwent penetrating keratoplasty at Wills Eye Hospital from January 1, 1989 through December 31, 1995. Results. A total of 2,442 corneal transplants were performed in 2,186 patients. The leading indication for penetrating keratoplasty was pseudophakic corneal edema, accounting for 634 cases (26.0%); 54.7% of them were associated with anterior chamber intraocular lenses, 36.4% with posterior chamber intraocular lenses, and 3.1% with iris-fixated intraocular lenses. Regraft (17.8%), Fuchs' dystrophy (15.7%), and keratoconus (13.2%) followed pseudophakic corneal edema in frequency. Cataract extraction, with or without intraocular lens implantation, was combined with penetrating keratoplasty in 439 cases of 1,264 phakic eyes (34.7%). Intraocular lens exchange was performed in 285 of the 634 cases of pseudophakic cornea edema (44.9%). Conclusion. Pseudophakic corneal edema was the leading indication for penetrating keratoplasty, with an increasing number of cases associated with posterior chamber intraocular lenses during the study period (p = 0.001). The number of regrafts steadily increased between 1989 and 1995 (p = 0.001), being the second most common indication for corneal transplantation since 1992.

The Geography of Revolution: The case of Longford, 1917-1921

Why were some areas of the Ireland more active than others during the War of Independence, and why did the areas of most activity change over the course of the war between 1919 and 1921? In the context of the Irish midlands, County Longford stands out as one of the most violent counties surrounded by areas where there was much less activity by the IRA. Even within the county there was a significant difference in the strength of republican activity between north and south Longford. This article will examine the factors that were responsible for the strength of the IRA campaign in this midland enclave, including socio-economic conditions, administrative decisions and failures, and the contemporary political context.
Much of the evidence upon which the paper is based comes from applications made by Longford Volunteers for military service pensions, granted to veterans of the campaign by the Irish government after 1924. Many of these documents are soon to be released by the Irish government. The paper will also include a discussion of these sources and the way in which they can be used by historians to advance our understanding of Ireland’s revolutionary decade.