Conquering England

Under the Union between Britain and Ireland in 1801, the two countries were engaged in a relationship that was quarrelsome, contentious and in many ways interdependent. Yet it also provided a wider arena for certain ambitions in literature, politics and the arts. Irish talent was exported to London in the nineteenth century; by the turn of the twentieth it was being imported back to an Ireland undergoing political radicalisation and a cultural renaissance. This book, which accompanies a National Portrait Gallery exhibition, explores the Irish presence in London during the Victorian period, focusing on prominent individuals including the writers Oscar Wilde, W.B. Yeats and G.B. Shaw; theatrical impresarios such as Bram Stoker; history painters such as Daniel Maclise; charismatic politicians such as Charles Stewart Parnell and colourful journalists such as T.P. O'Connor. Through these influential individuals, the changing perspectives on Ireland that developed during the second half of the nineteenth century are revealed.