University of Wisconsin Press

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.

In the 1870s and 1880s, in Irish eyes, misrule by British officials and absentee landlords mirrored imperial oppression across the globe. Paul Townend shows that a growing critique of British imperialism shaped a rapidly evolving Irish political consciousness and was a crucial factor giving momentum to the Home Rule and Land League campaigns.