"Her good neighbours had riz that upon her": The Role of the Community in Suspected Infanticide Cases in Ireland, 1850–1900

Between 1850 and 1900, over four thousand individual suspected infanticide, attempted infant murder and concealment of birth cases were brought to public attention in Ireland.  The majority of accused women were unmarried.  Using court documents, prison records, parliamentary papers, newspapers and statistical returns, this paper will focus on the role played by members of local communities, particularly women, in these suspected cases.

It is clear from the evidence that in many instances, women attempted to protect unmarried daughters, granddaughters, siblings, nieces, neighbours and friends, and offered assistance with acts of infanticide and concealment of birth.  This paper will examine the role that accomplices played in the crime, and will also consider the court treatment of those thought to have aided with the offence.

In other instances, however, the local community posed a threat to the pregnant or recently-delivered woman. Members of the local community could act as informers, revealing their suspicions about concealed illegitimate pregnancies or deliveries directly or indirectly to the police. This paper will thus explore the ways in which members of the nineteenth-century communities brought suspected infanticide cases to the attention of the Irish authorities.  It will also reveal police responses to this information, and the reactions of accused women to the alleged charges.