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Clubs and Societies in eighteenth-century Ireland

Powell set the agenda, along with his co-editor, for this exploration of associational life in Ireland using the under-explored theme of sociability, and secured contributions from some of the leading figures in Irish history on this subject. His personal contribution to the book comprises four self-authored chapters (10, 12, 17 and 19). He also co-wrote chapter 1 and shared more general responsibilities for the development, organisation and editing of the book with his co-editor.

This book is the first major attempt to systematically and comprehensively address the role that clubs and societies played in eighteenth-century Ireland. A huge enterprise (496pp., 26 chapters) which involved the commissioning of essays from the leading historians in this field of Irish history, and a huge amount of original research by the editors. Little material detailing the day-to-day activities of Irish clubs in this period survives, and so research for the four essays by Powell has involved a painstaking trawl through the dozens of extant newspaper titles – metropolitan and provincial – for this period.