The following research project will address the relationship between the elite and popular politics of County Donegal between the years 1775-1801. In order to do this, the thesis will cover a range of county elections between this period, focusing on the role of the elite and lesser interests of Donegal during the county contests and the activeness of the successful representatives in the Irish House of Commons. In relation to the popular politics of Donegal, the study will take into account the popular political associations of the period such as the Volunteers, United Irishmen and Yeomanry and their role and influence at elections upon the county MPs, and whether their activity conformed to the wider context of late eighteenth and early nineteenth-century Ireland. By extension, the thesis will also take into account other important political issues that will undoubtedly arise, such as the Catholic question in the late eighteenth-century and whether it had any impact in Donegal. Considering the interesting religious and settlement pattern of Donegal (the county had a large Presbyterian population), and the lack of any previous in-depth research of the county’s politics of the eighteenth- century makes Donegal an important study to understand further the relationship between elite and popular politics on a local level. Although there are other county studies that do exist that emphasise the importance of local politics, this thesis will be the first to do so in regards to County Donegal, and will, undoubtedly, contribute greatly to the limited historiography of Donegal politics.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:744781 |
| Date | January 2017 |
| Creators | Wright, Emma |
| Publisher | Ulster University |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
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