Femaile Criminality In Counties Mayo And Down During The Great Irish Famine, 1842-1852

Introduction and Brief Historiographical Overview Female crime has been widely ignored within the context of the Irish Famine, 1845-501. However, in recent years female crime has become a popular and widely investigated research area. To address the paucity of investigation into female crime in Ireland, this dissertation will draw upon historians' writing on female crime in 18th and 19th century England. This will provide a foundation where upon primary materials can be studied. This dissertation will also focus attention directly on female crime, in both counties Mayo and Down2, in an attempt to investigate what drew women into criminality. Throughout this dissertation, historians such as J.M. Beattie and L. Zedner will be called upon; they provide strong reasoning into the female criminal's behaviour and have shown, as will this dissertation, that female crime consists predominantly of petty or small crimes3. These historians also argue the motivations for female criminality4. J.M. Beattie gives an innovative explanation for female in 19th century England, and his arguments will be heavily drawn upon throughout. Several other historians have also guided this dissertation's argument such as, Garthine Walker in "Women, Theft and the world of Stolen Goods", and Jim Phillips and Allyson N. May in "Female Criminality in 18th Century Halifax", to name but a few. However, these 1Cormac Ó Grada, The Great Irish Famine, (Cambridge University Press 1995), p32 - This dissertation will look at the dates commencing the famine, the years after the famine and the famine itself, to gauge if during the famine female criminality increased. Therefore it will examine the period 1842-1852. 2 The counties of Down and Mayo are starkly contrasting, and during the famine these contrast intensified. So this is why they have been chosen for examination. This will be explained in the commencing chapters. 3 Jenny Kermode and Garthine Walker, Women, crime and the courts in early modern England, (UCL Press 1994), p83. 4 L. Zedner, 'Women, Crime and Penal Responses: A Historical Account', Crime & Just. (1991), p307 and J.M.Beattie, 'The criminality of Women in Eighteenth-Century England', Journal of Social History (1975), 80-116. 5 works will only be used as a framework to which we can discuss female crime in the Famine. We need to understand that these historians' are discussing women who were living in a different place, and at a different time to our Irish female. In this case, to completely comprehend female crime in counties Mayo and Down, the Famine context must be understood - as does Down and Mayo themselves. Famine historians are also vital for understanding female crime in this period; therefore the writing of Nicholas Woodward will also be heavily utilised. In his article, "Transportation Conviction during the Great Irish Famine", he outlines the lack of work that has been conducted on crime patterns during the Famine, and the particularly lack of work on female crime5. He critiques this by suggesting more work needs to be into who committed the crimes, why they committed, and where they were committed6. This piece will rectify this by demonstrating female crime in the counties of Mayo and Down; giving this dissertation particular focus on gender roles, and the importance of location when considering the extent of criminal activity. Nicholas Woodward explains that the role of the women in Famine crime changed significantly; He states that even though women were not always dominant in a specific crime, for example sheep stealing, they would often be accomplices to men7. This had not been the case before, and shows an interesting change in the role of the women during the Famine. This is of key importance and will be touched upon within the dissertation. 5 Nicholas Woodward, 'Transportation Convictions during the Great Irish Famine', The Journal of Interdisciplinary History , (2006), p60. 6 Ibid,p62. 7 Ibid. 6 Since very little work has been done in the field of female crime during the Famine, this dissertation will contribute new information and hopefully add an interesting insight into Famine history. Mayo and Down will be compared to contextualise the habits of female criminals. The writings of historians such as Cormac Ó Grada, Christina Kinealy, and Trevor McCavery, and Cecil Woodham-Smith will provide a useful foundation to base the context - These historians have describe Famine conditions, thus setting a foundation upon which we can understand why women may have been driven towards criminality. The Great Famine had many negative implications for the state of Ireland, during and in years to follow. One of these implications was severity of crime throughout the country8, and as one might expect the crime rate in Ireland significantly rose during this period9. Agreeing with this, Moncrieff Wilson elucidates that crime rate rose significantly in the Famine era10. He used statistical means to come to this conclusion, and ultimately argues this was down to a lack of education amongst the poorer classes11. However, this is an explanation lacking in contextual understanding of the Famine, any acknowledgement of gender differences, and how the nature of crime may have changed over time, or from place to place. We need to understand the conditions of the people within this Famine to really get to grips with the complexities of crime within the Famine era. This dissertation is looking for a more detailed and nuanced explanation, and will show lack of education was not the driving factor for criminal activity. An explanation will be reached by looking at the nature of female criminality, while comparing female crime patterns in the counties of Down and 8 Christine Kinealy, The Great Famine: Impact, Ideology, and Rebellion, (Palgrave 2002),p135-141. 9 Cormac Ó Grada, The Great Irish Famine, (Cambridge University Press 1995), p20. 10 James Moncrieff Wilson, On Statistics of Crime in Ireland, 1842 to 1856, (Richard D. Webb 1857), p174. 11 Ibid,p172. 7 Mayo over the period 1842-1852. By doing this it will be possible to see variations occur in the nature of female criminality. To explain these variations, various parliamentary papers, news papers, magistrates papers and journals, petty session papers, and readings, will be considered. The parliamentary papers provide statistical information that will provide a basis for which we can talk about female criminality. However, statistics lack detail and do little in the way of helping us understand the individual; so newspapers, magistrates papers and journals, and petty session papers will be used to give a more detailed and qualitative view of female crime - one where we can understand the women who took part in the crime. When looking at crime sources there are often issues that need to be taken into account such as the 'dark figure'12. The 'dark figure' is the term given to the number that is missing from official statistics. This could be because the recorder felt a crime was not worth recording, or someone has failed to report crime for fear of or even support of the crime13. The 'dark figure' will be accounted for and explained in the following chapters. There are also some specific issues with looking at crime in this period that I will need to take into account in my analysis. For example when using the parliamentary papers for statistics, we must bear in mind the audience for which they are intended. In this case they are for the government in England - so are likely to be edited. This dissertation consists of three chapters: the first compares the counties of Mayo and Down, the second outlines criminal statistics in these counties, and the last looks at anecdotal evidence about the female criminal. To do this the difference between 12 L.Zedner. "Women Crime and Penal Responses: a historical account", Crime & Just, (1991), p 307. 13 Ibid, p 308. 8 Mayo and Down, and how they faired during the Famine will be investigated. Statistics will compare gender differences, and finally, this dissertation will turn to explain in more depth female criminality using petty session records, magistrate journals and newspaper reports. The frequency of female crime, and the types of crime in which they took part in, is highly dependant upon the conditions within each county. Therefore, throughout each chapter Mayo and Down will be compared. During this period, male participation in crime was more common than female participation, both in the diversity of criminal activity and quantity. However, it is still very valuable to evaluate female crime regardless. As already mentioned, to date argument has been insufficient in explaining the rise in female criminal activity during the Famine: Nicholas Woodward, only suggested that female participation in crime increased during this era14. This dissertation will demonstrate that female criminality in both the counties of Mayo and Down became a more common occurrence as the Famine progressed, and died down when the Famine conditions improved. It will argue that female crime in Mayo was more common than in Down. This was primarily due to the mass poverty that Mayo faced during the Famine - compared to the relatively prosperous county of Down. It will also look closely at the nature of female crime to gain a more detailed and revealing picture for the causes of increased female participation in crime. J.M. Beattie's, "The Criminality of Women in Eighteenth Century England", will be utilised; the way in which women were criminal, and the types of crime they engaged in depended on their gender role and differing spheres in society - "social realities for women, and their roles within 14 Nicholas Woodward, "Transportation Convictions during the Great Irish Famine", The Journal of Interdisciplinary History , (2006), p75. 9 society"15 drove them to crime. In essence this backs up the argument of this dissertation: female crime in Mayo and Down during the Famine was dependant upon the Famine conditions, the conditions of Mayo and Down, and the women's role within society. Conclusions that will be drawn from this dissertation will be: an Irish female's participation in crime became more frequent and significant during the Famine: this was the case far more so in Mayo than in Down. Causes for this were two-fold: Firstly a female's role in society; meaning that as the mother figure and caring female, she must ensure the safety of her family - her role meant that she was expected to care for all other members of her family. Secondly, the Famine pushed those who were already on the poverty line into an even more desperate situation. This meant that for those poorer folk in Mayo the only means of survival was for the female to seek different ways to resource food, clothing and other amenities. 15 J.M.Beattie, 'The Criminality of Women in Eighteenth Century England', Journal of Social History , (1975), p116. 10 Chapter 1: The Famine in Counties Down and Mayo: a comparison. In order to fully understand why women would be drawn to crime during the Famine, county Mayo and county Down need to be explained. The geographical location of the counties, the population in each, the general welfare of their inhabitants, and most importantly their economic foundations and reliance upon the potato need to be considered. This first chapter will be the basis for this dissertation; understanding the stark contrasts between the counties is imperative to understanding the next chapters. In the most part the effects of the Famine were most severe in county Mayo, while far less severe in county Down. However, Christina Kinealy points out with particular concern to the Ulster region of Ireland where Down is situated that "other parts of the country also suffered"16. But if we closely compare both Counties Mayo and Down, we can see that the situation for Mayo was in actual fact far more severe. This will help to explain the results in the proceeding chapters, where the crime rate amongst women appears far higher. Crime was far greater amongst the female population of Mayo, compared to Down, since the majority were already vulnerable paupers17; they were thrown into a situation that had not been foreseen, due to unexpected Famine. Down may have also been thrown into this situation, but the county had relative economic stability. This forced those who were already struggling for survival into an unbearable situation. Consequently they were led into crime in order to save themselves and save their families. 16 Christine Kinealy and Trevor Parkhill edited, The Famine in Ulster, (Ulster Historical Foundation 1997), p15. 17 Mayo was the poorest and remote of the Irish counties, with the highest labouring population Cecil Woodham-Smith, The Great Hunger: Ireland 1845-1849, (Penguin Books 1991),p24. 11 J.M. Beattie argues that the English female was more likely to participate in crime in industrial centres, compared to the agricultural villages and towns. However, Ireland at this point was actually facing de-industrialisation making the country as a whole agricultural18. However, on a comparative level, Mayo was far more agricultural and dependant upon farming than county Down19. It is interesting then that Mayo faced far more crime than Down during the Famine era. Therefore, famine conditions, and its differing impacts within the counties drove women to crime. Any impact agriculture may have had on the Famine made worse the poverty of the people since this the thing that failed when famine came to Ireland. Like Beattie, this chapter will show there to be geographical variation which would allow us to contextualise female crime. He suggests that in the agricultural regions of England female criminality was at its lowest, while in the urban cities the crime rate for women was comparatively high20. In urban areas poor conditions of city life forced women into crime as they were so desperate21. He argued that since cities were overcrowded women became invisible - just another member of the crowd. This made it easier to commit crime since they were often undetectable. Young women living in cities would often not have a male protector, so would have to rely on their own ability to provide. This would mean that they had to work, making them vulnerable to economic fluctuations. Whereas, in the countryside women would be known, making criminal activity more detectable; the perpetrator would be judged against strict social conventions placed on women22. They were expected to be polite, demure, and 18 Cecil Woodham-Smith, The Great Hunger: Ireland 1845-1849, (Penguin Books 1991),p 325-329. 19 Liam Kennedy, Mapping the Great Famine, (Four Courts Press LTD, 1999), p42. 20 J.M.Beattie, 'The criminality of Women in Eighteenth-Century England', Journal of Social History (1975), 81. 21 Ibid. 22 Ibid. 12 obedient23. Women from the countryside were also living in a more paternalistic culture where they would be protected from the dangers of poverty - since they had men to look after them24. Ireland during the Famine was very different to England: Ireland was mostly agricultural and not as densely populated25. Further, historically women were responsible for their family's wellbeing, food provision and caring for the general welfare of their family26 would have driven them to do whatever was needed to protect. During the Famine the male protector often left to search for work, money and food, leaving the female alone and consequently directly responsible for the welfare of the family27. Women without families would also commit crime - they also wanted to save themselves from starvation too. This was true for both counties, but both experienced crime in a differing extent; suggesting that in Down there was less desperation due to more economic stability. In this instance our explanation for female criminality must lie in the fact that the importance of moral behaviour was quickly relinquished when food became scarce and survival necessary. Simply survival was more important than social convention, and in Mayo were survival was made more difficult crime became more frequent. Country Mayo during the Famine was one of the poorest in Ireland, and as many historians have pointed out the 'worst hit'28. The majority of the county was made up of farm labourers, accounting for 90% of its population29. The farmers relied almost entirely on the potato; this meant that Mayo's economy was vulnerable. If anything 23L.Zedner. "Women Crime and Penal Responses: a historical account", Crime & Just, (1991), p 317. 24 J.M.Beattie, 'The criminality of Women in Eighteenth-Century England', Journal of Social History (1975),85. 25 Cormac Ó Grada, The Great Irish Famine, (Cambridge University Press 1995), p24 26 J.M.Beattie, 'The criminality of Women in Eighteenth-Century England', Journal of Social History (1975), p85. 27 Nicholas Woodward, 'Transportation Convictions during the Great Irish Famine', The Journal of Interdisciplinary History , (2006), p59-57. 28Cormac Ó Grada, The Great Irish Famine, (Cambridge University Press 1995), p32. 29 Liam Kennedy, Mapping the Great Famine, (Four Courts Press LTD, 1999), p118. 13 should decrease the surplus of the potato crop, that the labourers relied so heavily on, there would be devastation. This devastation is well documented in Parliamentary Papers - within these papers several individuals and groups expressed their concern for the potato failure within Mayo: the Magistrates and Cess-Payers from parishes of Kilmain and Shrule in Mayo expressed their fears when saying, "the want of potatoes is increasing daily and to an alarming extent"30. Further, Sir J Dombrain explained, "the potatoes will not last a beyond the first week of May. The poorer classes will not be able to provide seed"31. Finally, D. Cruise esq. showed his concern explaining that, "stock(s) of potatoes have been almost all destroyed by the disease; . they have parted with their own corn to pay for rent, they have not eaten a sound potato since November. Potatoes found to be planted rot in the ground"32. These accounts give an impression of desperation and fear. They show the fears held by the elite for the poor occupants of Mayo, and how important the potato crop was since there seems to be concern expressed in their words - the potato crop had diminished. The "want"33 as expressed by the Magistrates and Cess-Payers give a strong impression of the desperation that would have been felt by most in Mayo. 30 Magistrates and cess-payers, 1846 (201) Scarcity Commission. The weekly reports of the Scarcity Commission, showing the progress of disease in the potatoes, the complaints which have been made, and the applications for relief, in the course of the month of March 1846. 31 Sir J Dombrain, 1846 (201) Scarcity Commission. The weekly reports of the Scarcity Commission, showing the progress of disease in the