Welcome
The Economic and Social History Society of Ireland was formed in 1970 to promote the study of economic and social history in Ireland.
The benefits of membership, which include a subscription to the print and electronic versions of Irish Economic and Social History, are detailed at Membership Information.
The benefits of membership, which include a subscription to the print and electronic versions of Irish Economic and Social History, are detailed at Membership Information.
2024 Annual Conference - Registration is now open
Queen's University Belfast
29-30 November 2024
Click here for registration
Click here for conference programme
29-30 November 2024
Click here for registration
Click here for conference programme
ESHSI Distinguished Lecture 2024
The Economic and Social History Society of Ireland are delighted to announce that Professor Judy Stephenson will deliver this year's online distinguished lecture on Friday 4th October at 4pm
The lecture is entitled "Wages before machines: Understanding the wage puzzle of the early Industrial Revolution"
Abstract:
Economic historians have used day wages as a key economic indicator since the mid nineteenth century. Decades of scholarship using these wages has firmly established that throughout the late eighteenth century, as investment in new technology and production soared and output rose, ordinary workers wage incomes did not rise in Britain. Workers did not see income gains from industrialisation until the 1860s. This has often been told as a story of ‘exploitation’, but, as Crafts (2021) showed, in a macroeconomic framework wages were better than could have been expected given demographic pressures. However, the microeconomics of wage bargaining are hitherto unexplored. This lecture shows how examining the frictions and institutions of wage determination, with cases from the building industry and textile industries, helps explain how the early modern labour market ‘set’ wages, and created and supported rigidities in wage bargaining, which limited labours’ share.
You can register for the zoom link here: https://ucd-ie.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_LumG-H8GTUm7FmB8K3tgJg#/registration
The Economic and Social History Society of Ireland are delighted to announce that Professor Judy Stephenson will deliver this year's online distinguished lecture on Friday 4th October at 4pm
The lecture is entitled "Wages before machines: Understanding the wage puzzle of the early Industrial Revolution"
Abstract:
Economic historians have used day wages as a key economic indicator since the mid nineteenth century. Decades of scholarship using these wages has firmly established that throughout the late eighteenth century, as investment in new technology and production soared and output rose, ordinary workers wage incomes did not rise in Britain. Workers did not see income gains from industrialisation until the 1860s. This has often been told as a story of ‘exploitation’, but, as Crafts (2021) showed, in a macroeconomic framework wages were better than could have been expected given demographic pressures. However, the microeconomics of wage bargaining are hitherto unexplored. This lecture shows how examining the frictions and institutions of wage determination, with cases from the building industry and textile industries, helps explain how the early modern labour market ‘set’ wages, and created and supported rigidities in wage bargaining, which limited labours’ share.
You can register for the zoom link here: https://ucd-ie.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_LumG-H8GTUm7FmB8K3tgJg#/registration
News
New Researcher Prize 2022
The Economic & Social History Society of Ireland are pleased to announce we will once again be offering a new researcher prize at the annual conference in October 2022. This will be awarded to the graduate student(s) who present the best paper as judged by the panel. Full details here
New Researcher Prize 2021 - Winners
The society were delighted to award Noel Carolan (DCU) & Abigail Fletcher (Edinburgh) as joint winners. Full details and special commendations here
Obituary: Frank Carney
David Dickson, Cormac Ó Gráda and Peter Solar have written an obituary for Frank Carney, and economic historian of the pre-Famine era, who died in 2021. Read it here.
Connell Lecture 2020-2021
Jane Humphries (LSE and Oxford) delivered this year's Connell Lecture on Friday 4 June 2021. A recording of her lecture is available here.
Irish Economic and Social History, Vol. 47 (2020)
The 2020 edition of Irish Economic and Social History, published by SAGE, is available on-line. Access volume 47 here.
Have you got economic and social history news relevant for the society?
Please visit the ESHSI News Blog and contact the editor.
The Economic & Social History Society of Ireland are pleased to announce we will once again be offering a new researcher prize at the annual conference in October 2022. This will be awarded to the graduate student(s) who present the best paper as judged by the panel. Full details here
New Researcher Prize 2021 - Winners
The society were delighted to award Noel Carolan (DCU) & Abigail Fletcher (Edinburgh) as joint winners. Full details and special commendations here
Obituary: Frank Carney
David Dickson, Cormac Ó Gráda and Peter Solar have written an obituary for Frank Carney, and economic historian of the pre-Famine era, who died in 2021. Read it here.
Connell Lecture 2020-2021
Jane Humphries (LSE and Oxford) delivered this year's Connell Lecture on Friday 4 June 2021. A recording of her lecture is available here.
Irish Economic and Social History, Vol. 47 (2020)
The 2020 edition of Irish Economic and Social History, published by SAGE, is available on-line. Access volume 47 here.
Have you got economic and social history news relevant for the society?
Please visit the ESHSI News Blog and contact the editor.
Economic and Social History Society of Ireland Company Limited by Guarantee
Registered in Dublin, Ireland
(Companies Registration Office register number: 774857)
c/o Professor Catherine Cox,
UCD School of History
John Henry Newman Building, University College Dublin,
Stillorgan Road, Dublin 4,
Ireland, D04 F6X4
