Media: BOOK - paperback, 464 pages
Author: M. Luddy & M. O'Dowd
Year: 2020
ISBN: 9781108731904
Publisher: Cambridge University Press

What were the laws on marriage in Ireland, and did church and state differ in their interpretation? How did men and women meet and arrange to marry? How important was patriarchy and a husband's control over his wife? And what were the options available to Irish men and women who wished to leave an unhappy marriage? This first comprehensive history of marriage in Ireland across three centuries looks below the level of elite society for a multi-faceted exploration of how marriage was perceived, negotiated and controlled by the church and state, as well as by individual men and women within Irish society. Making extensive use of new and under-utilised primary sources, Maria Luddy and Mary O'Dowd explain the laws and customs around marriage in Ireland. Revising current understandings of marital law and relations, Marriage in Ireland, 1660–1925 represents a major new contribution to Irish historical studies.

If you think you know all there is to know about marriage in Ireland, you'll likely have your socks blown off by Marriage in Ireland, 1660–1925 by Maria Luddy and Mary O'Dowd (2020, Cambridge University Press) - Chris Paton

Contents

List of Figures
List of Illustrations
List of Tables
Acknowledgements
List of Abbreviations
Introduction

Part I What Is a Marriage?
1 A Legal Marriage?
2 Couple Beggars

Part II Ways to Marriage
3 Meeting and Matching with a Partner
4 Courtship Behaviour
5 Breach of Promise
6 Abductions

Part III Happy Ever After?
7 Marital Relations
8 Adultery and Sex outside Marriage
9 Bigamy

Part IV The Unmaking of Marriage
10 Marital Violence
11 Desertion
12 Divorce

Conclusion
Select Bibliography
Index