Oxford University Press has published Ordinary Lives, Death, and Social Class: Dublin City Coroner's Court, 1876-1902, by Ciara Breathnach (University of Limerick). A description from the Press:
Ordinary Lives, Death, and Social Class focuses on the
evolution of the Dublin City Coroner's Court and on Dr Louis A. Bryne's
first two years in office. Wrapping itself around the 1901 census, the
study uses gender, power, and blame as analytical frameworks to examine
what inquests can tell us about the impact of urban living from
lifecycle and class perspectives. Coroners' inquests are a combination
of eyewitness testimony, expert medico-legal language, detailed minutiae
of people, places, and occupational identities pinned to a moment in
time. Thus they have a simultaneous capacity to reveal histories from
both above and below. Rich in geographical, socio-economic, cultural,
class, and medical detail, these records collated in a liminal setting
about the hour of death bear incredible witness to what has often been
termed 'ordinary lives'. The subjects of Dr Byrne's court were among the
poorest in Ireland and, apart from common medical causes problems
linked to lower socio-economic groups, this volume covers preventable
cases of workplace accidents, neglect, domestic abuse, and homicide.
More information is available here. An interview with the author is available here, via New Books Network.
-- Karen Tani
