Title:
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The intellectual and cultural interests of women in Ireland c. 1740 - c. 1840.
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This thesis considers the extent to which the intellectual and cultural interests of
women in Ireland between 1740 and 1840 shifted from the private to the public
spheres. In addition,-the thesis questions the degree to which such a shift should be
perceived purely in positive terms by evaluating the relative merits ofthe private and
public spheres within the context ofIrish women's intellectual and cultural
engagement during this period. These issues are addressed by examining women's
involvement with a range of intellectual and cultural activities, and begins by
considering the formation of supportive networks amongst intellectual women in
Ireland during this period, which were comparable to the Bluestocking movement
taking place in England at the same time. Secondly, women's engagement with
literature is considered within the context of women as readers and women as writers,
and the mechanics of the publishing process is also discussed bearing in mind the fact
that publication was a key way for women of this period to move from the private
sphere to the public. Furthermore, women writers of this era had to conform to certain
conventions, and so a chapter is dedicated to examining the ways in which women
were able to manipulate conventional feminine literary genres in order to express their
own ideas and opinions on a topic, w4ich in this case is Irish history and
antiquarianism. Similar themes emerge when considering Irish women's engagement
with art and science in within the private and public spheres, with the added
dimension that these areas in particular provide scope for a review of the use of
'amateur' and 'professional' within this context. Finally, the thesis closes with an
examination of women's involvement in intellectual and cultural public spaces and
places, using women's experiences in Belfast at the time as a case study.
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