| Summary: | This thesis considers the extent to which the intellectual and cultural interests of women in Ireland between 1740 and 1840 shifted from the private to the public spheres. In addition,-the thesis questions the degree to which such a shift should be perceived purely in positive terms by evaluating the relative merits ofthe private and public spheres within the context ofIrish women's intellectual and cultural engagement during this period. These issues are addressed by examining women's involvement with a range of intellectual and cultural activities, and begins by considering the formation of supportive networks amongst intellectual women in Ireland during this period, which were comparable to the Bluestocking movement taking place in England at the same time. Secondly, women's engagement with literature is considered within the context of women as readers and women as writers, and the mechanics of the publishing process is also discussed bearing in mind the fact that publication was a key way for women of this period to move from the private sphere to the public. Furthermore, women writers of this era had to conform to certain conventions, and so a chapter is dedicated to examining the ways in which women were able to manipulate conventional feminine literary genres in order to express their own ideas and opinions on a topic, w4ich in this case is Irish history and antiquarianism. Similar themes emerge when considering Irish women's engagement with art and science in within the private and public spheres, with the added dimension that these areas in particular provide scope for a review of the use of 'amateur' and 'professional' within this context. Finally, the thesis closes with an examination of women's involvement in intellectual and cultural public spaces and places, using women's experiences in Belfast at the time as a case study.
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