Women, Power, and Consciousness in 19th-century Ireland

Book excerpt: Presented in a comprehensive and accessible manner, this work examines how these women radically altered the public perception of women's role on society. Their achievements included persuading Trinity College, Dublin to admit women to the exam system, the establishment of the Ladies' Land League, the foundation of the outdoor system of child rearing as well as the setting up of a network of city poor schools. They were also responsible for initiating changes in the legislation under which Irish women were subject to the authority of their husbands for exposing problems like wife abuse, and for abolishing the degrading practices associated with female emigrant trade towards the end of the nineteenth century.