Visual, material and print culture in nineteenth-century Ireland

Ciara Breathnach & Catherine Lawless, editors

‘Four Courts Press are putting out some very handsome books now and this volume is particularly rich in illustrations, as befits the wide-ranging and interdisciplinary subject matter on visual and print materials … One of the most interesting chapters is the essay by Catherine Marshall on “History and memorials: fine art and the Great Famine in Ireland”, which deals with the difficulty of memorialising such a profound national tragedy', Hugh McFadden, Books Ireland (April 2011).

‘Good use is made of illustrations throughout the book. This is an example of the interdisciplinary approach throwing new light on well worn topics in Irish history', Books Ireland (September 2010).

‘Breathnach and art historian Lawless present an interdisciplinary collection of essays in which the authors combine visual evidence with written to create a nuanced image of nineteenth-century Irish culture … each presents a look at Irish society from a different viewpoint and many dispel long-help misapprehensions', Reference & Research Book News (February 2011).

‘Ciara Breathnach and Catherine Lawless have put together a most useful collection of nineteen essays dealing with visual culture … a useful volume … the best and longest of the essays is Justin Carville’s. It deals with what he calls the “visual economy” of the Irish face in 1890s Ireland as photographed by Alfred Cort Haddon and Charles R. Browne along the western seaboard … valuable work is offered on a number of topics', Fintan Cullen, Victorian Studies (2012).