The committal of two Mallow children to an industrial school in 1893

Martin McCarthy

‘While [McCarthy's] book is concerned with the broader historical picture, there is always present the personal story of Elizabeth and Bridget McCarthy, whose lives were, like so many other children of their time, changed for better or worse in an Ireland that seems very far from the country we know today’, Brian Moore, The Southern Star (September 2016).

'The Maynooth Studies in Local History have brought about a quiet revolution in Irish local studies, and have changed the larger landscape too. Working from fascinating and little-known sources, and mobilizing the resources of energetic and imaginative scholarship, an extraordinary range of subjects has been identified, illuminated, and brought into focus. These 100 [plus] publications not only explore little-known local episodes and phenomena; they constitute a major contribution to the mainstream of Irish history', R.F. Foster.

'The Maynooth Studies in Local History continues to produce intriguing microhistories that explore the relationship between people and place in the Irish past. The strength of the series lies not just in its diverse subject matter but the balance these short books strike between a full-length study and a short article ... These six studies show the value of the Maynooth series, where concise does not imply superficial ... The range and depth of the work reviewed here highlights how short, focused local studies can make important contributions to regional and national histories.', Aoife Bhreathnach, Irish Historical Studies, (May 2019).