Introduction

I’m delighted to introduce this special issue on children and childhood in Ireland. Edited expertly and efficiently by Sarah-Anne Buckley, Marnie Hay, and Ríona Nic Congáil, the articles originated at a conference entitled “Twenty Years A-Growing: An International Conference on the History of Irish Childhood from the Medieval to the Modern Age,” which was held at St. Patrick’s College, Drumcondra, Dublin, in June 2014. (The college changed its name to St. Patrick’s Campus, Dublin City University, in 2015.) In addition to the guest editors of this issue, the conference committee consisted of Gaye Ashford, Mary Hatfield, and Jutta Kruse. Support for the conference came from St. Patrick’s College Research Committee, the Irish Research Council, and the Society for the History of Childhood and Youth (through an Outreach Grant).

More than fifty scholars from a variety of disciplines participated in the conference. They explored over a thousand years of Irish childhoods through cultural, literary, educational, social, institutional, and transnational lenses. There was also an Irish language strand within the conference, which engaged with themes such as language shift and cultural dislocation among Irish children.

The articles in this special issue sample the work of this vibrant community of scholars. You can learn more about their current research and about future events on the “History of Irish Childhood Research Network” (https://irishchildhood.wordpress.com), the website created by the conference organizers.