Family and Community in Ireland

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The first edition of this study of folkways and family life in rural Ireland was hailed by Cora Du Bois as “a classic of functional description…which demonstrated that land reforms, decreasing population, increasing wealth, emigration, the high percentage of unmarried adults, late marriages combined with a high fecundity rate, the high age level, and even the disappearance of the artisan were all to be wholly or partly understood in terms of the familial concepts of the small Irish farmer.” The present edition includes six new chapters on the behavior of Irish townsmen and the distinctions that exist between rural and urban life.