Slevin, FionaFionaSlevin2025-01-302025-01-302024 the A2024http://hdl.handle.net/10197/27403This thesis investigates the local market dynamics underpinning the development of post-Famine, rural Ireland (1850–75) through a microstudy of Mohill, County Leitrim. Ireland’s Famine of the late 1840s decimated the rural population, causing high rates of death, disease, displacement and emigration. Despite this, most scholars acknowledge that, for those who remained in the country, income and living standards improved in the twenty-five years after the Famine. The economy grew, agricultural prices increased, a retail sector developed, and new opportunities opened for farmers and a growing commercial middle-class. The small town of Mohill, County Leitrim was one of many in rural Ireland that experienced an increase in commercial trade, even though its population was nearly halved during the same period.1 This thesis investigates the market dynamics that underpinned local economic growth by examining the interdependencies and intertwined structures of the rural economy and society in the period. It addresses a number of under-researched areas of Irish history, including the contribution of middle- class farmers, urban dwellers, and small-town retailers. A multi-disciplinary approach enables the broad historiography of post-Famine Ireland to be examined and interpreted in a way that deepens understanding of a multi-layered and complex society. Throughout, the thesis gives particular attention to the role of women: through deep analysis of census returns and other primary sources, it aims to contribute to new understanding of female proprietorship, agency and economic contribution in the period. Using an adapted circular flow of income model as a framework, the thesis systematically tracks and analyses the money flows between sectors of the economy, including households, enterprise and government. Through quantitative and qualitative analysis of a range of primary sources, it assesses the role of a range of actors and entities within the local economy. For example, it assesses the profitability of farming, shopkeepers’ provision of microcredit, household earnings and spending power for all classes, and the role of government procurement in driving local commerce. It tests the degree to which Mohill was an open economy by investigating Mohill’s engagement with a ‘foreign’ sector, for example through markets and fairs. The research demonstrates the important role played by rural towns and their hinterlands in the development of post-Famine Ireland. Through detailed examination of the lives and livelihoods of a broad cross-section of rural society, the thesis provides new insight into how macro-concepts and national-level statistics, such as land tenure, prices and wage levels, affected the lives of people at micro level. The multi-disciplinary, microstudy approach underscores how local level analysis can both expand and challenge narratives based on national data. The thesis is intrinsically an exploration of the survivorship and resilience of people who found a way to come to terms with the Famine and its highly visible consequences, and to sustain and improve their circumstances and status. It demonstrates the vitality, ambition and entrepreneurship that were present in rural Ireland in the aftermath of the Famine, especially amongst the farming and middle classes, even as poverty continued to be present and persistent, and the poorer classes remained locked in a cycle of insecurity, subsistence wages and powerlessness. By using a combination of a broad range of sources, a microhistory approach, and a multidisciplinary research model, the thesis contributes to our understanding of urban history and rural economic development and provides a foundation for further research. By exemplifying experiences of resilience, survivorship, and recovery, it aspires to have universal resonance, particularly for rural areas emerging from colonisation, famine or other catastrophe.enMohill, County LeitrimPlace and peopleAgricultureLandholdingOccupationsIncomesCommerceGovernmentLocal economyFinancingCapitalPoorer classesDoctoral Thesishttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/ie/