Breach of Promise Cases in Early Nineteenth-century Carlow and Mountrath: Matters of Deceit

Marriage was of huge significance to women and men for social, emotional and economic reasons. Married women had greater status than unmarried women, the most acceptable way to form families was through marriage and, as in all time periods, both men and women desired children. Economic stability, though not necessarily guaranteed by marriage was an inducement to marriage for many women, especially in a society where paid employment opportunities for them were limited. A breach of promise to marry is a fundamental break of a promise, by either a man or woman, to carry through a marriage. Usually an engagement period precedes a marriage and the couple make promises to marry sometime in the future. In common law such promise was a legally binding contract, and if broken the responsible party could be sued for a breach of promise to marry. However, as this book will show, breach of promise cases were not always straightforward. Such promises were like a contract and like other contracts some sort of evidence was required if a prosecution was to be successful and damages awarded. In Ireland almost all the breach of promise cases, from the late 18th to the early 20th centuries, were brought by women. Essentially, the woman who brought the case was seeking money, ‘damages’, for a broken promise of marriage. Exploring the history of breach of promise cases in Ireland allows an insight into courtship rituals, reveals the significance of monetary considerations in marriage settlements, and the value that was placed on women’s, and men’s, reputations.