Improving Ireland? Projectors, Prophets and Profiteers, 1641–1786 (review)

In this fine collection of essays, Toby Barnard addresses the issue of "improvement" within Ireland through a series of close studies of specific "episodes" that illuminate the strategies used by Protestants and Catholics to shape Irish society between 1641 and 1786.Many of the ideas and practices that Barnard identifies as being crucial to this process were utilized by other European states, but their application to the Irish case was distinctively fashioned by the political, economic, and social conditions that characterized Anglo-Irish relations during this period. Due to the absence of a uniform policy governing the cultivation of Irish resources, as well as doubts concerning the value of such a project at all, these innovators were free to draw upon a wide array of techniques to advance both their own interests and those of society as a whole. Barnard's work is particularly valuable for his deft exploration of the complex connections between the practical emphasis on utility and more abstract theories concerning the nature of civilization. Barnard painstakingly recreates the attempts of individual elites, such as John Perceval (the second earl of Egmont) and Robert French of Monivea, to apply these contemporary models to their estates, highlighting their efforts to promote new crops and advanced methods of cultivation, establish charter schools, and incorporate the latest fashions into architectural and interior renovations of their property. While the actions of these innovators, prophets, and profiteers did not coalesce into a concerted program, Barnard shows how their work contributed to the Enlightenment notion of a "practical patriotism," which in turn helped define Irish society during the late eighteenth century.

Barnard's analysis begins by stressing the importance of the post-Cromwellian transfer of land from Catholics to Protestants, arguing that this shift provided the impetus for the importation of English improving schemes to Ireland. Following the events of the 1650s, such English projectors as William Petty saw Ireland as a laboratory for testing theories that aimed to ensure economic growth and the transformation of the native Irish Catholics into a more "civilized" people. As Barnard explains, these twin goals remained fixtures among English, and later Irish, improvers throughout the long eighteenth century, especially after they came to realize the failure of government intervention to achieve them. The individuals Barnard examines believed that economic and social efforts to improve Ireland needed to be carried out within the realm of civil society, as part of a wider program of cultural change, instead of through legislation originating from Dublin or Westminster. One of the strengths of Barnard's account stems from his careful description of the wider contexts within which these plans originated. In this sense, Barnard shows how the momentum for Irish improvement during the eighteenth century was not limited to such institutions as the Dublin Society or the Physico-Historical Society, but rather, relied upon the actions and interests of specific would-be reformers.

To ensure that their plans were grounded in utility and efficiency, advocates of Irish improvement sought to rationalize their knowledge of Ireland's resources and devise more effective ways of extracting them. Barnard contends that these efforts to better understand Ireland—in terms of its topography, its people, and its past—provide a key to explaining the motives of his subjects. As Barnard carefully illustrates, Petty himself sought to apply his knowledge of Ireland to his holdings in Kerry, albeit with relatively little success. In a similar manner, Barnard shows that as individuals such as Richard Laurence more accurately assessed Ireland's potential, their attitudes towards Irish Catholics shifted to better reflect the need to construct a "patriotic" vision of the nation's future. Throughout Improving Ireland, Barnard stresses that those seeking to advance Ireland's future often showed a deep appreciation for the island's past, using it to bolster both optimistic visions of development and pessimistic fears concerning the vulnerability of their efforts. Finally, studies of this period often focus solely upon the actions...