Realities of Irish Life

First published in 1868, this book provides an intriguing memoir of Irish culture and society during and after the Potato Famine. W. Steuart Trench (1808–72) studied agriculture with a view to becoming a land agent: having taken on this role for the Shirley estate in Monaghan in 1843, he eventually managed Irish estates for the Marquess of Lansdowne in County Kerry, for the Marquess of Bath and for Lord Digby. His book, a series of stories of everyday (and some extraordinary) events in nine...