Before the Famine
One of the challenges of of teaching and learning about Ireland in the nineteenth century is
achieving a balanced perspective.
For instance, concentration on the tragic events of the Famine does not leave time for a
more rounded view of what life was like in pre-Famine Ireland.
'Despite the grinding poverty endured by the poor, pre-Famine Ireland
was renowned for the exuberance of its folk tradition in music and dance.'
Click here for a lesson on life in pre-Famine Ireland
 | Festive Group Dancing to the Uilleann Pipes, Co. Waterford
Samuel Towgood Rocke, 1820s Ulster Folk & Transport Museum
Can you spot the differences in the clothes the men are wearing? |
Snap Apple Night or All Hallows Eve in Ireland
Daniel Maclise, 1833 Private collection
An influential artist, Maclise influenced man others in producing genre pictures showing the Irish peasantry in typical situations - by the cooking pot or the cross roads engaging in a rustic dance. | 
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‘The young women carry their white stockings and dress shoes in their hands going to the Cushendall Fair, till they are just at the entrance to the village; they then stop at the nearest stream and wash and dress.’
Cushendall Fair, early 19th century |
| Saturday Evening in Connemara Francis Topham, c. 1845 Sheffield Art Museums |
Dancing at Northern Crossroads
Charles Lamb, 1920
A genre painting representing a tranquil
Connemara social gathering engaged in
a common form of activity at the height
of the Anglo-Irish war. 'The Irishness of Irish painting' |  |