This half-day symposium will explore aspects of the history of the Barringtons in Limerick and the experience of the Anglo-Irish ascendancy.

The Barrington family were deeply embedded in the political, social, economic, and sporting fabric of Limerick city and county from their time of their arrival in the late seventeenth century to their departure in the mid-1920s. From their merchant origins in the city, they became prominent landlords and civic leaders who contributed greatly to Limerick life. They were widely admired as philanthropists, ‘good landlords’, and pioneering sportsmen, as well as for the way in which, while staunch unionists, they came to advocate for a pragmatic accommodation with the emergent political realities of the Irish revolutionary period.

Programme:

09.45: Introductory remarks

10.00: Panel 1 Beginnings and End

Sharon Slater (Ind.): From Commerce to Castle: The Rise of the Barrington Family from Merchants to Landed Gentry

Gráinne Walshe (Ind.): Winnie: The Last Barrington

11.00: Tea and coffee

11.30: Panel 2: Philanthropy

Ciarán Reilly (Maynooth University): Sir Matthew Barrington and the Great Famine at Murroe

Róisín Doherty McBride (MIC): ‘Worthy of Our Help’: John Barrington and the Limerick Discharged Prisoners Aid Society

12.30 Break

12.45 Panel 3: The Barringtons in Context

Maeve O’Riordan (UCC): Living Well with Purpose – the Lives of Single Women of the Irish Ascendancy.

Brian Hughes (MIC): The Barringtons and Ex-unionists in the Irish Free State.

13.45: End

Description supplied by the event organiser.