Luddy, Maria. (1997) "Abandoned women and bad characters" : prostitution in nineteenth-century Ireland. Women's History Review, Vol.6 (No.4). pp. 485-503. ISSN 0961-2025

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Abstract

This article examines the extent of prostitution in nineteenth-century Ireland. It centres on the problem of prostitution as one of visibility and the prostitute as a site of possible contagion, both physical and moral. The legal powers given to the police to control prostitution were used when prostitution became a particular problem and the focus of public and clerical condemnation. However, for the public prostitution was most acceptable when it was hidden from public view. Attempts to rescue and reform prostitutes came from lay and religious women in particular. The establishment of Magdalen Asylums offered the Irish public a place of confinement for their 'wayward' daughters, placing them away from the public gaze. Examining the registers of these asylums reveals that 'fallen women' were capable of using these institutions for their own ends, particularly in the nineteenth century. The decline in prostitution evident in Ireland from the 1870s owned much to the new 'morality' being imposed on the Irish people by the middle classes and the Catholic church.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Subjects:	D History General and Old World > DA Great Britain H Social Sciences > HN Social history and conditions. Social problems. Social reform H Social Sciences > HQ The family. Marriage. Woman
Divisions:	Faculty of Arts > History
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Prostitution -- Ireland -- History -- 19th century, Prostitutes -- Ireland -- History -- 19th century, Prostitution -- Moral and ethical aspects -- Ireland -- 19th century
Journal or Publication Title:	Women's History Review
Publisher:	Routledge
ISSN:	0961-2025
Official Date:	1997
Volume:	Vol.6
Number:	No.4
Number of Pages:	19
Page Range:	pp. 485-503
Identification Number:	10.1080/09612029700200157
Status:	Peer Reviewed
Publication Status:	Published
Access rights to Published version:	Restricted or Subscription Access
Version or Related Resource:	Luddy, M. (2001). Abandoned women and bad characters: prostitution in nineteenth-century Ireland. In : Hayes, A. and Urquhart, D., eds., The Irish women's history reader. London : Routledge. pp. 87-94.
Related URLs:	Related item in WRAP
URI:	http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/id/eprint/15840

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