Violent Loyalties: Manliness, Migration, and the Irish in the Canadas, 1798-1841

Being an Irish man was a consistent, contentious issue in the Canadas. The aim of this book is to provide the first
gendered examination of male Irish migration to Upper and Lower Canada within
the broader contexts of negative stereotypes about Irish violence and Irishmen's
questionable loyalty to the British Empire. Through examinations of key violent episodes and (in)famous individuals,
Violent Loyalties argues that being
an Irishman in the Canadas meant daily negotiations with discrimination, ethnic
rivalries, the pressure to become more 'British', and having to base one's
sense of manliness on being the most visible 'other' in the colonies. Irish Catholics faced the burden of being
dual minorities - the 'other' religion within the Anglophone world and
English-speaking in the Catholic sphere already established by
French-Canadians. Irish Protestants also
had difficulties adapting to their new communities, as the problematic
association with violent Orangeism and rivalries with Scottish and English
immigrants, many of whom were United Empire Loyalists, created obstacles in the
quest for upward social mobility. Both
Canadian and Irish historiographies are sorely lacking in examinations of
masculinity compared with those investigating American, French, Australian, or
British manliness. This gap in the
literature becomes even more apparent outside of a twentieth-century
focus. Violent Loyalties aims to fill these lacunae in the
histories of colonial Canada and the Irish diaspora.