'A most diabolical deed': Infanticide and Irish society, 1850-1900 Hardcover - 2013

From the rear cover

This book examines the phenomenon of infanticide in Ireland, described by the Western Star in 1865 as 'A most diabolical deed'. It is based on 4,645 individual cases of suspected infant murder, attempted infanticide and concealment of birth discovered between the years 1850 and 1900. Through a variety of sources, many of which are rarely used by scholars, attitudes towards the crime of infanticide and women accused of the offence in late nineteenth-century Ireland are revealed. The voices of witnesses, policemen and defendants, recorded in inquest statements, court testimonies and petitions to prison authorities, describe how women's bodies were monitored, how neighbourhood gossip and rumours about hidden pregnancies and suspected infanticide cases were interpreted by locally resident policemen, and how local communities and family members could both protect and expose women suspects. Cases of infanticide also allude to the vulnerability of women during this period, revealing much about the sexual relationship that led to the pregnancy, the lack of available resources to deal with an unwanted pregnancy, and the manner in which women were deemed fully responsible for their 'illegitimate' babies. This engaging and accessible book, incorporating the voices of nineteenth-century Irish inhabitants, will appeal both to scholars of Irish social history and non-academic readers alike.