The nature of family relationships will be examined the first lecture in the Galway Archaeological and Historical Society spring series, which will be held in the Harbour Hotel on Monday, January 13 at 8pm.
‘Siblinghood, guardianship, and family responsibility in nineteenth-century Belfast’, is the title of the presentation by Dr Shannon Devlin.
In January 1860, nine-year-old Edmund Garrett arrived back in Belfast from Paris to reside with his uncle and guardian. It followed several years of tense family disagreement over his guardianship, which culminated in a fraught civil court case in France where his mother, Emma, accused her cousin of spying on her.
The domestic crisis brought to light family secrets, gossip, and sibling allegiances as members of the extended family became – both willingly and reluctantly – involved in the dispute.
The case demonstrates the overlapping loyalties within three intermarried families of the Belfast industrial elite. Being in the same generation, most people have their longest-lasting relationship with a brother or sister. Yet, siblings are often side-lined in favour of looking at the family from a vertical perspective.
The relationship between cousins is even less explored. This lecture uses sibling and cousin relationships to explore obligation and emotional attachment in the extended Irish family.
Dr Shannon Devlin is a lecturer in history at the University of Galway and an executive member of the Women’s History Association of Ireland. Her research uses horizontal relationships, such as that between siblings, to explore gendered power relations and networking in the Irish middle classes.
Her book, entitled Siblinghood and Sociability in Nineteenth-Century Ulster, was published last year by Liverpool University Press.
