Making hay when the sun don't shine: the Rev. William Richardson, science and society in early nineteenth-century Ireland

Allan Blackstock

    Research output: Contribution to journal › Article

    Abstract

    The Reverend William Richardson is known to historians as one of the founders of the Irish Yeomanry in 1796. It is less well known that he was a prolific and important writer on agricultural improvement and geology, who included Humphry Davy and Sir Joseph Banks amongst his correspondents. Although Richardson's ideas on improvement were eventually discredited, in their contemporary context they provide a rare insight into scientific interactions between Ireland and Britain. This article also argues that Richardson's input into Belfast's intellectual life can be contextualised in terms of a struggle between radical and moderate groups to dominate the town's civic identity in the decade after Union.
    LanguageEnglish
    Pages396-411
    JournalIrish Historical Studies
    Volumexxxvii
    Issue number147
    Publication statusPublished - 1 May 2011

    Fingerprint

    Ireland
    Sun
    Civic Identity
    Belfast
    Correspondent
    Geology
    Interaction
    Historian
    Intellectual Life
    Writer
    Humphry Davy

    Keywords

    • Richardson
    • Fiorin Grass
    • Belfast
    • Associational Culture
    • 1798 rebellion
    • provincial science

    Cite this

    Blackstock, Allan. / Making hay when the sun don't shine: the Rev. William Richardson, science and society in early nineteenth-century Ireland. In: Irish Historical Studies. 2011 ; Vol. xxxvii, No. 147. pp. 396-411.
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    Blackstock, A 2011, 'Making hay when the sun don't shine: the Rev. William Richardson, science and society in early nineteenth-century Ireland', Irish Historical Studies, vol. xxxvii, no. 147, pp. 396-411.

    Making hay when the sun don't shine: the Rev. William Richardson, science and society in early nineteenth-century Ireland. / Blackstock, Allan.

    In: Irish Historical Studies, Vol. xxxvii, No. 147, 01.05.2011, p. 396-411.

    Research output: Contribution to journal › Article

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    Blackstock A. Making hay when the sun don't shine: the Rev. William Richardson, science and society in early nineteenth-century Ireland. Irish Historical Studies. 2011 May 1;xxxvii(147):396-411.