Michael Davitt: New Perspectives

Michael Davitt (1846-1906) is a man often hailed as one of the main figures of nineteenth century Irish history, and is remembered in particular as ‘the father of the Land League’. In spite of this, research on his life and significance has been limited, the historiography being dominated for a quarter of a century by Theo Moody’s Davitt and Irish Revolution (Oxford, 1981). The importance of this work is unquestioned, and yet it only covers Davitt’s life until 1882 - after which time, Moody concedes in his conclusion, he pursued a career as ‘nationalist, labour leader, democratic reformer, humanitarian, and internationalist’. Thus, it is the purpose of this collection of essays to build upon, challenge, and revise Moody’s work - to highlight areas of Davitt’s life which have remained in the background (such as his impact on the British labour movement, and especially Scotland, his education in Lancashire and his own views on education in a ‘free’ Ireland) and to reassess Davitt’s position in Irish history and popular imagination.