Hard lives: A History of Irish Childhood
Irish History Podcast

Hard lives: A History of Irish Childhood

B2Upper-intermediateSeptember 23, 202634 min
  • Interview
  • History

Childhood in the past was hard, but how children were treated and what their lives were truly like is often left out of Irish history. In this episode historian Frank Hopkins joins me to look at the darkest corners of childhood in 18th and 19th century Ireland: the boys sold to master chimney sweeps, the trade in stolen children's clothes and the poverty that could lead to infanticde. We explore how children were viewed Irish society, why people sold and bought children, how the courts treated child criminals as adults and how reformers eventually won t...

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corners of Irish childhoods in the 18th and 19th centuries. The small boys who were sold

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lead to infanticide. Along the way we ask what a child was actually worth to Irish

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B2 · Upper-intermediate

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0:00

Childhood in the past was undoubtedly hard, but how children were treated and what their lives were worth is a story that's often left out of Irish history. We focus on the 1916 rising, the Great Hunger, the War of Independence, and children rarely feature. In this episode I'm joined by the historian Frank Hopkins to look at some of the darkest

0:28

corners of Irish childhoods in the 18th and 19th centuries. The small boys who were sold to master chimney sweeps, the trade in stolen children's clothes, and the poverty that could lead to infanticide. Along the way we ask what a child was actually worth to Irish society at the time, why people sold and indeed bought children, and how the courts treated

0:52

child criminals as adults, but we also look at how reformers eventually fought their way to improve the lives of Irish children in the 19th century. It's an intriguing chapter in our past, but the episode isn't really suitable if there are younger listeners around, as it does contain references to violence against children and sexual violence.

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