The slender thread : Irish women on the southern Avalon, 1750-1860
Thesis (Ph.D.)--Memorial University of Newfoundland, 2002. History Bibliography: leaves [720]-750 Women's vital participation in early community formation in Newfoundland has long been overlooked by the traditional historiography Recent writings on migration and early settlement have been more...
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ftmemorialunivdc:oai:collections.mun.ca:theses3/184998 2023-05-15T17:23:33+02:00 The slender thread : Irish women on the southern Avalon, 1750-1860 Keough, Willeen G., 1955- Memorial University of Newfoundland. Dept. of History Canada--Newfoundland and Labrador--Avalon Peninsula 18th Century; 19th Century 2001 xiii, 750 leaves : ill. (some col.), maps (some col.) Image/jpeg; Application/pdf http://collections.mun.ca/cdm/ref/collection/theses3/id/184998 eng eng Electronic Theses and Dissertations (97.27 MB) -- http://collections.mun.ca/PDFs/theses/Keough_WilleenG.pdf a1561115 http://collections.mun.ca/cdm/ref/collection/theses3/id/184998 The author retains copyright ownership and moral rights in this thesis. Neither the thesis nor substantial extracts from it may be printed or otherwise reproduced without the author's permission. Paper copy kept in the Centre for Newfoundland Studies, Memorial University Libraries Women immigrants--Newfoundland and Labrador--Avalon Peninsula--History--18th century Women immigrants--Newfoundland and Labrador--Avalon Peninsula--History--19th century Text Electronic thesis or dissertation 2001 ftmemorialunivdc 2015-08-06T19:20:49Z Thesis (Ph.D.)--Memorial University of Newfoundland, 2002. History Bibliography: leaves [720]-750 Women's vital participation in early community formation in Newfoundland has long been overlooked by the traditional historiography Recent writings on migration and early settlement have been more inclusive, but women's lives still appear secondary and peripheral in texts dealing primarily with the activities of men To broaden the scope of the discussion, this thesis examines the multi-generational group of Irish-Newfoundland women who were co-founders of fishing communities along the southern Avalon peninsula in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. -- Irish women came out to Newfoundland to take advantage of opportunities in the fishing economy, following well-established trade routes between the southeastern counties of their homeland and the island. On the southern Avalon. they and their daughters provided demographic continuities and stability in fishing populations that rose and ebbed with the movements of transient fishermen. In both family and community, they held considerable status and authority They not only performed vital reproductive work for their households, but also became essential shore workers in family work units in the fishery, and were visible in various other capacities in the economic life of the area. These women were primary household managers. They were important spiritual guides in both orthodox Catholic practice and in an ancient. non-Christian system of beliefs and practices. They participated occasionally in communal actions and more frequently in individual interventions to defend property, family, reputation, and community standards. They also readily employed the evolving court system in pursuit of justice, often manoeuvring between formal legal mechanisms and informal confrontation to assert their claims. Thus, the construction of Irish-Newfoundland womanhood that evolved in this new-world setting contrasted strongly with the middle-class feminine ideals of domesticity, fragility, and dependence that increasingly circumscribed the lives of English gentry women in the area. -- Irish-Newfoundland women also resisted the pressures of gender ideology more successfully than their non-emigrating sisters. As the homeland underwent massive demographic and economic transitions throughout the 19th century, rural Irish women were increasingly channelled away from productive work and into domesticity and economic dependence. By contrast. Irish women on the southern Avalon remained economically active, and their status and power in the social, economic, and political lives of their communities remained intact. Thesis Newfoundland studies University of Newfoundland Memorial University of Newfoundland: Digital Archives Initiative (DAI) Canada Newfoundland |
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Open Polar |
collection |
Memorial University of Newfoundland: Digital Archives Initiative (DAI) |
op_collection_id |
ftmemorialunivdc |
language |
English |
topic |
Women immigrants--Newfoundland and Labrador--Avalon Peninsula--History--18th century Women immigrants--Newfoundland and Labrador--Avalon Peninsula--History--19th century |
spellingShingle |
Women immigrants--Newfoundland and Labrador--Avalon Peninsula--History--18th century Women immigrants--Newfoundland and Labrador--Avalon Peninsula--History--19th century Keough, Willeen G., 1955- The slender thread : Irish women on the southern Avalon, 1750-1860 |
topic_facet |
Women immigrants--Newfoundland and Labrador--Avalon Peninsula--History--18th century Women immigrants--Newfoundland and Labrador--Avalon Peninsula--History--19th century |
description |
Thesis (Ph.D.)--Memorial University of Newfoundland, 2002. History Bibliography: leaves [720]-750 Women's vital participation in early community formation in Newfoundland has long been overlooked by the traditional historiography Recent writings on migration and early settlement have been more inclusive, but women's lives still appear secondary and peripheral in texts dealing primarily with the activities of men To broaden the scope of the discussion, this thesis examines the multi-generational group of Irish-Newfoundland women who were co-founders of fishing communities along the southern Avalon peninsula in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. -- Irish women came out to Newfoundland to take advantage of opportunities in the fishing economy, following well-established trade routes between the southeastern counties of their homeland and the island. On the southern Avalon. they and their daughters provided demographic continuities and stability in fishing populations that rose and ebbed with the movements of transient fishermen. In both family and community, they held considerable status and authority They not only performed vital reproductive work for their households, but also became essential shore workers in family work units in the fishery, and were visible in various other capacities in the economic life of the area. These women were primary household managers. They were important spiritual guides in both orthodox Catholic practice and in an ancient. non-Christian system of beliefs and practices. They participated occasionally in communal actions and more frequently in individual interventions to defend property, family, reputation, and community standards. They also readily employed the evolving court system in pursuit of justice, often manoeuvring between formal legal mechanisms and informal confrontation to assert their claims. Thus, the construction of Irish-Newfoundland womanhood that evolved in this new-world setting contrasted strongly with the middle-class feminine ideals of domesticity, fragility, and dependence that increasingly circumscribed the lives of English gentry women in the area. -- Irish-Newfoundland women also resisted the pressures of gender ideology more successfully than their non-emigrating sisters. As the homeland underwent massive demographic and economic transitions throughout the 19th century, rural Irish women were increasingly channelled away from productive work and into domesticity and economic dependence. By contrast. Irish women on the southern Avalon remained economically active, and their status and power in the social, economic, and political lives of their communities remained intact. |
author2 |
Memorial University of Newfoundland. Dept. of History |
format |
Thesis |
author |
Keough, Willeen G., 1955- |
author_facet |
Keough, Willeen G., 1955- |
author_sort |
Keough, Willeen G., 1955- |
title |
The slender thread : Irish women on the southern Avalon, 1750-1860 |
title_short |
The slender thread : Irish women on the southern Avalon, 1750-1860 |
title_full |
The slender thread : Irish women on the southern Avalon, 1750-1860 |
title_fullStr |
The slender thread : Irish women on the southern Avalon, 1750-1860 |
title_full_unstemmed |
The slender thread : Irish women on the southern Avalon, 1750-1860 |
title_sort |
slender thread : irish women on the southern avalon, 1750-1860 |
publishDate |
2001 |
url |
http://collections.mun.ca/cdm/ref/collection/theses3/id/184998 |
op_coverage |
Canada--Newfoundland and Labrador--Avalon Peninsula 18th Century; 19th Century |
geographic |
Canada Newfoundland |
geographic_facet |
Canada Newfoundland |
genre |
Newfoundland studies University of Newfoundland |
genre_facet |
Newfoundland studies University of Newfoundland |
op_source |
Paper copy kept in the Centre for Newfoundland Studies, Memorial University Libraries |
op_relation |
Electronic Theses and Dissertations (97.27 MB) -- http://collections.mun.ca/PDFs/theses/Keough_WilleenG.pdf a1561115 http://collections.mun.ca/cdm/ref/collection/theses3/id/184998 |
op_rights |
The author retains copyright ownership and moral rights in this thesis. Neither the thesis nor substantial extracts from it may be printed or otherwise reproduced without the author's permission. |
_version_ |
1766113181386670080 |