Nation of Politicians
Gender, Patriotism, and Political Culture in Late Eighteenth-century Ireland

The politicization of non-elites was driven by the Volunteers, a militia force that emerged in Ireland as British troops were called away to the American War of Independence. This book argues that the development of Volunteer-initiated activities - associating, petitioning, subscribing, and shopping - expanded the scope of political participation.

Using a wide range of literary, archival, and visual sources, Higgins examines how ubiquitous forms of communication - sermons, songs and ballads, handbills, toasts, graffiti, theater, rumors, and gossip - encouraged ordinary Irish citizens to engage in the politics of a more inclusive society and consider the broader questions of civil liberties and the British Empire. "A Nation of Politicians" presents a fascinating tale of the beginnings of Ireland's richly vocal political tradition at this important intersection of cultural, intellectual, social, and public history.