This exploratory book challenges assumptions about who might have been powerful, or powerless, in Union Ireland (1801-1922). It decentres sectarian division, popular and parliamentary politics, and the tradition of physical-force nationalism and emphasizes transnational phenomena, a settler colonial diaspora, and minority groups on the island. Departing from the conventional focus on political leaders, the book concentrates on the everyday dynamics of power and resistance. Structured as interlocking essays spanning the long 19th century, it begins by defining the power structures that governed Ireland, and then examines the governance of Ireland, the development of infrastructure, and the mapping of its population and territory. Drawing on feminist theories of power, the book also explores marginalised groups and their agency, debunking the myth of Irish ‘ungovernability.’ By analysing the diaspora’s influence and the phenomenon of remittances, the book challenges prevailing notions of powerlessness.

Dr Ciaran O’Neill is Ussher Associate Professor in History at Trinity College Dublin and Deputy Director of the Long Room Hub, with research interests in the social and cultural history of Ireland and empire, education and elites, colonial legacies, modern literature, and public history in the long nineteenth century. He las led projects on ‘Seeing Ireland: Art, Culture, and Power in Paris 1922’, and on Trinity’s Colonial Legacies. His first monograph, Catholics of Consequence (2014) won the J.S. Donnelly Prize at the American Conference for Irish Studies. He is editor (with Finola O'Kane Crimmins) of Ireland, Slavery and the Caribbean (Manchester, 2023). His new book Power and Powerlessness in Union Ireland: Life in a Palliative State was published by Oxford University Press in 2024.

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