DRAKULA HALÁLA (1921): The Cinema's First Dracula.

This essay covers the history of Károly Lajthay’s Hungarian film Drakula halála (1921), the cinema’s first adaptation of Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula. The essay attempts to construct a production history of the film, as well as to create an accurate list of cast members and key filming locations. As Drakula halála is lost, the essay also features the very first English translation of an extremely rare 1924 Hungarian novella based on the film, which offers much insight into its narrative.

Irish social thought and the relief of poverty, 1847-1880

This paper investigates the way in which the ‘problem of poverty’ in Ireland was encountered, constructed and debated by members of the Irish intellectual and political elite in the decades between the Great Famine and the outbreak of the land war in the late 1870s. This period witnessed acute social upheavals in Ireland, from the catastrophic nadir of the Famine, through the much-vaunted economic recovery of the 1850s–1860s, to the near-famine panic of the late 1870s (itself prefigured by a lesser agricultural crisis in 1859–63). The paper focuses on how a particular elite group – the ‘Dublin School’ of political economists and their circle, and most prominently William Neilson Hancock and John Kells Ingram – sought to define and investigate the changing ‘problem’, shape public attitudes towards the legitimacy of welfare interventions and lobby state officials in the making of poor law policy in this period. It suggests that the crisis of 1859–63 played a disproportionate role in the reevaluation of Irish poor relief and in promoting a campaign for an ‘anglicisation’ of poor law measures and practice in Ireland.

'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.

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.