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The short annotated bibliography below is offered as an introduction for students who may be keen to develop their studies in this growing field. It is by no means exhaustive and is essentially a personal selection which I have found useful. The works are an easily available and accessible selection of secondary sources, which in turn may direct those interested to the original primary sources - the wealth of maps, cartoons, caricatures, prints, engravings and paintings which are housed in the libraries, galleries and museums of Britain and Ireland.
Foster, R. F. ed. The Oxford Illustrated History of Ireland. Oxford: New York, OUP, 1991.
General history of Ireland with useful range of illustrations including maps, drawings, paintings and photographs with some in colour. Five individual sections, arranged chronologically and thematically compiled by historians respected for their work on particular periods, including one by Declan Kiberd on Irish literature as it relates to Irish history.
Brady, C., O’Dowd, M., Walker, B. eds. Ulster: An Illustrated History. London: B. T. Batsford, 1989.
Standard general historical study of Ulster with illustrations, largely photographic all of which are well referenced in Acknowledgements , but as often case in illustrated histories, generally not analysed.
Bardon, Jonathan. Belfast: An Illustrated History. Belfast: Blackstaff Press, 1982.
Excellent history of Belfast 666AD to present, with narrative supplemented by reproductions of early maps, woodcuts and engravings, photographs of artefacts and documents, cartoons and illustrations from the pictorial press and modern press photographs. Picture research credited to Henry V. Bell and although the visual material is not indexed separately the Bibliography, arranged chronologically is extensive. The publication may be especially useful for those interested in how culture and ideologies are governed by a ‘sense of place’.
Bardon, Jonathan. A Shorter Illustrated History of Ulster. Belfast: Blackstaff Press, 1996.
As name implies a shorter version of his History of Ulster ( Blackstaff Press, 1992) a highly regarded work. A chronological account of the development of Ulster from c7000BC to 1996 with synthetic analysis of political and social and economic history. Picture research, credited to Gerry Healy, provides visual annotation to the narrative and analysis of main text and although illustrations are not indexed separately, the general index and select bibliography are rigorously scholarly.
Litton H. The Irish Civil War: An Illustrated History. Dublin: Wolfhound Press, 1995.
Survey of civil war period aimed primarily at secondary school student or undergraduate. Picture research by Peter Costello provides range of images, mostly photographic, taken from British and Irish press. Again, as with most illustrated histories they are there to supplement the narrative and are provided usually without comment and seldom analysed either in their own right or as valuable comment revealing political and cultural assumptions.
Litton, Helen. The Irish Famine: An Illustrated History. Dublin: Wolfhound Press, 1995.
Similar survey to above. Range of illustrations from pictorial press are separately listed in short notes at end of book, although the student may need more precise guides to sources than she provides for some of the illustrations.
Packenham, Thomas. The Year of Liberty: The Great Irish Rebellion of 1798. Illustrated Edition. London: Weidenfield and Nicolson, 1997.
This is an abridged version by Toby Buchan of the original text (The Year of Liberty. London: Hodder and Stoughton 1969.) in large book format with many colour and monochrome illustrations. Probably published to anticipate the interest of the general reader on the anniversary of 1798. It is useful, not so much for its historical analysis as for the scale and quality of its reproductions of many famous and not so well known images of the period. Unfortunately, although the whereabouts of images is given at end of book they are not always adequately referenced in the main body, and the reader is too often left to rely on his or her own knowledge of the artists and their work.
Price, R. G. G. A History of ‘Punch’. London: 1957.
Spielmann, M. H. The History of ‘Punch’. New York, 1895.
Two histories of the famous magazine . Useful for detailed information on the development of the journal and on contributors both writers and artists. Each work is illustrated. Neither should be treated as serious critical history since both were heavily infected by personal enthusiasm of the authors and the resultant works are in effect hagiographies of the eponymous “Mr. Punch”.
De Vries, Leonard. History as Hot News 1842-1865: The World of the Early Victorians As Seen through the Eyes of ‘The Illustrated London News’. London; John Murray, 1967. Paperback edition 1995.
A selection of illustrations and text ( abridged) from the pages of the journal with an introduction giving a brief outline of the paper’s very early days and working methods. Something of an eulogy for the publication, evident in the enthusiastic forward written by Arthur Bryant, a former contributor. Nevertheless useful for providing a broad overview of the range and type of illustrations during these early years and for the explanations of the pioneering use of the developing technology of printing employed by the paper.
Kissane, Noel. Ed. Treasures From The National Library of Ireland. Boyne Valley Honey Company under licence from National Library of Ireland, 1994.
Selection from holdings of the library under chapter headings such as , ‘Posters, Broadsheets, Ballads’, ‘Prints and Drawings’, ‘Newspapers’, ‘Photographs’, ‘Maps’. Good, well documented introduction and direction towards visual material likely to be of use to researcher.
Kenny, Michael. The Road to Freedom: Photographs and Memorabilia from the 1916 Rising and Afterwards. Dublin: Country House in association with The National Museum of Ireland, 1993.
Selection of reproductions of visual material held in Museum.
Kenny, Michael. The Fenians: Photographs and Memorabilia from the National Museum of Ireland. Dublin: Town House and Country House, 1994.
Similar to above. The inclusion of a few reproductions of cartoons from Weekly Freeman are useful starting point for researcher wanting, for example, representations which give an opposing view to those of Punch during latter part of nineteenth century.
History Ireland History Ireland, Ltd., P.O. Box 695, Dublin 8.
Valuable quarterly for those interested in Irish studies. Provides good coverage of new publications and informative articles by working researchers and academics. Notable for its use of illustrations with almost all contributions. Several contributors are especially interested in using visual sources as basis of their study and often give penetrating analysis of discourse of visual images.
Caldwell, David. “Images of the Land War” M.A. Diss. Queen’s University Belfast, 1997.
Excellent historical study of The Land War 1879-1882 using illustrations in Illustrated London News and Punch as primary sources. Intended in part to redress the tendency of historians to ignore visual material or use illustrations inappropriately, without the same careful attention they accord written sources. Notable for overall analysis of both periodicals’ Irish coverage, and superb decoding of discourse explicit and implicit in each well referenced image. Good bibliography. Also contains a separately bound calendar which catalogues, reproduces and explains every image, however remote, relating to Ireland in Punch for years 1875-1879 (from over three thousand drawings just over one hundred related to Ireland). The dissertation is most suitable for those very familiar with the history of the period and experienced in the language of visual imagery. However, its introduction and concluding sections for each chapter should prove illuminating and informative to the general reader.
Cullen, Fintan. Visual Politics: the Representation of Ireland 1750-1930. Cork: Cork University Press, 1997.
Excellent study which examines the development of how Ireland and the Irish were represented through careful examination of range of paintings by both native and foreign artists. The stated aim is to probe the relationship of the visual arts and Irish cultural studies. Again, a work most suitable for the reader already familiar with the art history of the period and experienced in the language of visual imagery, although not entirely inaccessible to the novice. Thorough analysis of each well reproduced image (sadly, given that many are fine history paintings and portraits, in black and white) which are all meticulously referenced. The particularly fine examination of the representation of the Irish immigrant in Ford Madox Brown’s ‘Work’, a quintessential Victorian painting, is exemplary of the rigorous and scholarly hallmark of his analysis. Contains extensive bibliography, itself an invaluable reference for those working in this field.
Curtis, L. P. Apes and Angels: The Irishman in Victorian Caricature Newton Abbot: David and Charles, 1971, revised edition, 1997.
Central thesis of Curtis’s 1971 publication was that the common satirical intention in nineteenth century cartoons was to portray the Irish visually with ape like features (simianising). For a time span of sixty years he produced sixteen drawings in which the physiognomic features clearly display this characteristic, eight of these were from American periodicals. His conclusions were readily embraced despite the small number of examples he produced. He defended his original work in a revised edition in 1997 asserting that racism was the underlining motive behind the simianising process.
Curtis Liz. Nothing But The Same Old Story: The Roots of Anti-Irish Racism . London: Information on Ireland, 1984.
Selection of visual images from Norman times to recent present illustrating how Irish have been negatively portrayed - as stupid, dirty, violent, ungrateful, treacherous, bestial, drunken, irrational. Propagandist in tone and presence of no positive or even ambivalent portrayals at all may alert the reader to the inherent bias of the work which ignores some of the complexities of the nature of the particular form of colonial relationship in these islands. Most illustrations referenced although quality of reproduction is often poor.
Douglas, Roy, Harte, Liam, and O’Hara, Jim. Drawing Conclusions: A Cartoon History of Anglo-Irish Relations 1798-1998. Belfast: Blackstaff Press, 1998.
Excellent analysis of relationship between visual imagery and political and cultural relationships within and between Britain and Ireland over past two centuries through careful selection of cartoons. Each cartoon is a clear reproduction, well referenced and succinctly analysed. The overall arrangement into chapters dealing with important periods in Irish history make the work both an invaluable introduction to the general reader and a useful reference book for the student.
Foster, R[oy]. F. ‘Paddy and Mr. Punch’ in Paddy and Mr Punch; Connections in Irish and English History. London: Allen Lane The Penguin Press: 1993.
Useful introductory essay for Punch’s coverage on Ireland. He briefly acknowledges ( though somewhat disparagingly) the influence Foucault has contributed to the increasing preoccupation of scholars with representations of the ‘other’ as means to understand mentalities. The essay sits comfortably enough with the others in the book which treat several episodes in Anglo-Irish relations using traditional political historical and literary historical methods. Scholarly and well referenced.
Gillespie, Raymond, and Kennedy, Braian, P. eds. Ireland: Art Into History. Dublin: Townhouse, 1994.
Collection of essays examining a range of eighteenth and nineteenth century images for revelations about contemporary social and political circumstance and attitudes. Interesting fine essay by Fergus O’Farrell on various portrayals of Daniel O’Connell.
Loftus, Belinda. Mirrors: Orange and Green. Co. Down; Picture Press, 1994.
Very useful catalogue of reproductions of various visual symbols held dear to the ‘two traditions’ in Northern Ireland. Traces history of much modern symbolism to earlier forms. Images well reproduced and documented. The present day importance of visual symbols in a geographical area so trapped in conflict is perhaps in itself one of the strongest justifications for the examination of iconography as a core part of cultural and political studies.
Turner, Martyn. Pack Up Your Troubles: Twenty-five Years of Northern Ireland Cartoons. Belfast: Blackstaff press, 1995.
Collection of the political cartoons of Martin Turner which have appeared in newspapers. Forward by Harry Barton. Helpful for anyone interested in development of the political squib and certainly germane to the discussion of satire and ridicule as a form of social and political commentary. As collection the publication is fine, although no references to original dates or publication is given which might hamper its usefulness to student .
Robinson, Nicholas, K. Edmund Burke: A Life in Caricature. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1996.
Very detailed study of visual representation of Edmund Burke. A book appealing to the specialist as a fair amount of knowledge about eighteenth century caricature and the life and times of Burke may be necessary for full appreciation. However, the superb quality of the reproductions will be encouragement enough for most readers. The introduction is a good point of entry for anyone unfamiliar with the eighteenth century world of prints. Clear references for all illustrations in the main body of text, each chapter fully annotated, and two meticulous indexes make the publication a valuable reference work.
Snoddy, Theo. Dictionary of Irish Artists: Twentieth Century. Dublin: Wolfhound Press, 1996.
Authoritative work, giving biographical information on some five hundred Irish artists their works and institutions where their work may be found.
This project was completed under the direction of Dr. Leon Litvack as a requirement for the MA degree in Modern Literary Studies in the School of English at the Queen's University of Belfast. The site is evolving and will include contributions from future generations of MA students on other writers and themes.
This page was written by Edel Magill.
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