Begging, Charity and Religion in Pre-Famine Ireland Reappraisals in Irish History Editors Enda Delaney (University of Edinburgh) Maria Luddy (University of Warwick) Ciaran O’Neill (Trinity College Dublin) Reappraisals in Irish History offers new insights into Irish history, society and culture from 1750. Recognising the many methodologies that make up historical research, the series presents innovative and interdisciplinary work that is conceptual and interpretative, and expands and challenges the common understandings of the Irish past. It showcases new and exciting scholarship on subjects such as the history of gender, power, class, the body, landscape, memory and social and cultural change. It also reflects the diversity of Irish historical writing, since it includes titles that are empirically sophisticated together with conceptually driven synoptic studies. 1. Jonathan Jeffrey Wright, The ‘Natural Leaders’ and their World: Politics, Culture and Society in Belfast, c.1801–1832 2. 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Kyle Hughes and Donald MacRaild, Ribbon Societies in Nineteenth-Century Ireland and its Diaspora: The Persistence of Tradition Begging, Charity and Religion in Pre-Famine Ireland CIARÁN MCCABE Begging, Charity and Religion liverpool univerSitY preSS First published 2018 by Liverpool University Press 4 Cambridge Street Liverpool L69 7ZU Copyright © 2018 Ciarán McCabe The right of Ciarán McCabe to be identified as the author of this book has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication data A British Library CIP record is available print ISBN 978-1-78694-157-2 epdf ISBN 978-1-78694-953-0 Typeset by Carnegie Book Production, Lancaster For Anne Maree There is scarcely a greater plague that can infest a society than swarms of beggars; and the inconveniences to individuals arising from them are so generally, and so severely, felt that relief from so great an evil cannot fail to produce a powerful and lasting effect upon the minds of the public. Anon., Arguments in proof of the necessity and practicality of suppressing street begging in the city of Dublin … (Dublin, 1817), p. 10 [T]he beggar is not in Ireland – as he is in England – an outcast, whose apparent misery is ascribed to imposture or vice – whose contact is degradation to the humblest labourer – and who is relieved, not so much to satisfy his wants as to get rid of his presence. The Irish cottier considers the beggar as his equal – indeed, as acting a part in the great drama of life which he may have to perform erelong himself. The beggar is not an occasional and unwelcome intruder; he makes a part, and probably not the least agreeable part, of the society of the family. He has his regular seat before the potatoe-bowl, his nook near the chimney where a chimney exists, and the corner in which he sleeps, on the straw which he has begged during the day. He brings with him news, flattery, conversation, prayers, the blessing of God, and the good-will of men. [Nassau William Senior], ‘Mendicancy in Ireland’ in Edinburgh Review, lxxvii, no. 156 (Apr. 1843), pp. 400–1 I trouble the gentlemen little; they do not know our miserable condition, when God has made us poor, as well as the very small farmers and labourers, who give us all they have for God’s sake; they know they may soon be in our state, and feel more for us. Mary O’Brien, ‘An old beggar-woman’, Buncrana, County Donegal, PI, Appendix A, p. 744 Contents Contents List of Figures viii List of Tables ix Acknowledgements x Abbreviations xiii Note on Editorial Conventions xv Introduction 1 I Begging and Alms-Giving: Framing the Issues 1 Defining Begging and Alms-Giving 21 2 Measuring Begging and Alms-Giving 64 3 Begging and Alms-Giving: Perceptions and Motivations 95 II Responses I: Cross-Denominational Approaches 4 Civil Parishes’ Responses to Begging 127 5 The Mendicity Society Movement and the Suppression of Begging 146 III Responses II: Denominational Approaches 6 Roman Catholic Approaches to Begging and Alms-Giving 187 7 Protestant Approaches to Begging and Alms-Giving 218 Conclusion 253 Bibliography 261 Index 291 Figures Figures 1.1 Daniel Maclise, ‘An outside jaunting car in a storm’ from John Barrow, A tour round Ireland, through the sea-coast counties, in the autumn of 1835 (London, 1836) (reproduced courtesy of National Library of Ireland) 39 1.2 Chart showing previous occupations of inmates of the Dublin Mendicity Society, 1826 51 1.3 ‘The first alms-begging’ from William Carleton, ‘Tubber derg: or, the red well’ (1852) (reproduced courtesy of National Library of Ireland) 60 3.1 James Malton, ‘View from Capel Street, looking over Essex Bridge, Dublin’ (1797) (reproduced courtesy of National Library of Ireland) 101 5.1 Map of mendicity societies in existence in Ireland, 1809–45 157 5.2 Subscriptions to the Dublin Mendicity Society, 1830–48 177 6.1 Contrasting Catholic and Protestant approaches to poverty, as portrayed in a Catholic-ethos publication; from Anon., People of England! ([London? early 19th cent.]) (reproduced courtesy of National Library of Ireland) 198 Tables Tables 1.1 Previous occupations of inmates of the Dublin Mendicity Society, 1826 51 2.1 Numbers convicted of vagrancy in Ireland, 1805–31 83 2.2 Estimated amounts given by individual shopkeepers in alms to beggars in 1830s Ireland 87 3.1 Reports from medical practitioners across Ireland, in which the spread of disease was attributed to beggars, 1817 111 5.1 Irish cities, towns and villages where mendicity societies were founded, 1809–45 155 5.2 Categories of inmates in the Dublin Mendicity Society on 25 April 1840 174 5.3 Categories of inmates in the Dublin Mendicity Society on an unspecified date in June 1840 174 5.4 Subscriptions and other casual income received by the Dublin Mendicity Society, 1830–48 176 Acknowledgements Acknowledgements his book is the result of a number of years of research, writing and reflection, and many people have helped me in countless ways during Tthis period. While it is not feasible in this short space to thank every single person, I am delighted to take this opportunity to acknowledge the assistance and support received from the following individuals. I want to first thank my doctoral supervisor at Maynooth University, Dr Jacinta Prunty, whose kindness, generosity and encouragement have been inspirational. It was a pleasure to work closely with Jacinta and I could not have wished for a better teacher than she. During my time at Maynooth, I benefited from the knowledge and support of many colleagues: Professor Marian Lyons, Professor Jacqueline Hill, Professor Terence Dooley, Professor Raymond Gillespie and Professor Emeritus R.V. Comerford, as well as Dr Georgina Laragy, Dr Miriam Moffitt, Dr Ciarán Reilly, Dr Adrian Kirwan and Dr Fiona Gallagher, among many others, while I will be eternally grateful to the late Dr Caroline Gallagher for sparking my interest in vestry minute books as source material. The efficiency and kindness of Ann Donoghue and Catherine Heslin were constant sources of support and assurance. This book arises from a PhD thesis completed at Maynooth University and the revision of the original thesis into this monograph was carried out under the guidance of Dr Niall Ó Ciosáin at NUI Galway. Niall inspired me to consider and develop new approaches to my topic, and I am in no doubt that my historical understanding has been developed by his Socratic method of questioning. Professor Catherine Cox and Professor Lindsey- Earner Byrne have encouraged my research since my MA days in UCD, while Professor Peter Gray and Dr Jonathan Wright provided important and valued feedback on earlier stages of this work. As a historian, I am ever-cognisant of the saying ‘Researchers come and go; archives are forever’, which speaks of the eternal debt which researchers pay to custodians of archives. I am indebted to many archivists and librarians, and I am happy to acknowledge their assistance. I would like to thank Dr AcknowledgementS XI Raymond Refaussé, Dr Susan Hood, Jennifer Murphy and Mary Furlong at the Representative Church Body Library for their assistance. Dr Brian Donnelly and his colleagues at the National Archives of Ireland have been helpful, as have the staff members at the National Library of Ireland. I wish to thank Dr Bernadette Cunningham, Siobhán Fitzpatrick and their colleagues in the Royal Irish Academy Library, as well as Penny Woods, Audrey Kinch and Barbara McCormack in the Russell Library, Maynooth; Rev. Robin