Author Biography
Harold Begbie (1871-1929) was born in Suffolk, England. Begbie was an Evangelical Protestant with tendencies towards theological modernism, who believed in social reform based on religious revivalism and individual regeneration. He was a well-known journalist in his time and published over a hundred books, but is now chiefly remembered for defending the existence of the Angel of Mons. Patrick Maume is a researcher with the Dictionary of Irish Biography, and the author of The Long Gestation: Irish Nationalist Life, 1891-1918 (Dublin: 1999). He has edited several titles in the Classics of Irish History series.
Description
"The Lady Next Door", in other words, Ireland, is an account of the tour of Ireland by a pro-Home Rule British Liberal journalist, published in 1914. It provides valuable interview material and personal impressions of several prominent Nationalists and Southern Unionists, giving a snapshot of the views of key activists on what they thought was the eve of Home Rule and their expectations of what a Home Rule Ireland would be like. He gives valuable insight into the ideological tensions of the Liberal-Nationalist alliance, particularly with reference to Nonconformist unease about the prospects for Ulster under Home Rule, the development of moralist rhetoric in defense of Liberal policy, and the tendency of some British commentators to idealize Ireland as a pious rural Arcadia.
Introduction by Patrick Maume
THE LADY NEXT DOOR
- Foreword
Preface
By Way of Introduction
The Bishop's Dream
The Life of a Town
Testimonies
A Quaker's Parlour
Fenian, Lawyer and Earl
Monumentum Aere Perennius
Petty Larcenies
A Case of Persecution
The Fine Flower
Because it is Always Dublin
The Dame
A Corner of Ulster
Hannah
At the Gate of Democracy
Manufactured Mortality. The Orange Capital
Babies
Maids of the Mill
Wealth
The Gospel of Mammon
Conclusions
Note
- On the Sweating of Belfast.
"It is a facsimile of the 1914 book, with an added introduction by Patrick Maume. What invaluable treasures this series has turned up."
Books Ireland
May 2006
"the series' editors must be highly commended ... a fascinating text and one that the author never had the opportunity to revise with the benefit of hindsight ... Ironically, the opinions of those he interviewed, and his own vision for Ireland, would prove to be largely redundant in the post-war era."
Studies 2006
"Begbie's work varies from interesting to engrossing and complements Johnston's academic approach ... In [this] later volume, Patrick Maume's Introduction deftly draws together political, religious and social themes into a brilliant overview of the period. His portrayals pf the author and contributors add a fascinating breadth to the text."
Irish Democrat
2006
"University College Dublin Press has now published over thirty ‘Classics of Irish History'. These contemporary accounts by well known personalities of historical events and attitudes have an immediacy that conventional histories do not have. Introductions by modern historians provide additional historical background and, with hindsight, objectivity."
Books Ireland
Nov 2007
"Scholars of nineteenth-century Irish and Irish-American politics should reacquaint themselves with these classics, part of a long running and immensely useful series from University College Dublin Press.
Patrick Maume has edited and written the introductions for no less than nine of the books in this series, lending them his breadth of knowledge and keen analysis that have made him one of the most learned and intellectually generous young scholars in the field."
Irish Literary Supplement
Fall 2008
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