A biographical dictionary of Irish Quakers

Second edition

Richard S. Harrison

This revised and expanded second edition of a book first published in 1997 offers sketches of a wide range of Irish Quakers, mostly 18th- and 19th-century figures. The information provided in these biographical pieces is a mixture of family history, information on commercial life and anecdotal material. In addition to the expected entries for different Bewleys, Pims, Jacobs, Newsoms, Richardsons and others, there are many names listed not now remembered as Quakers. It covers Quakers from all four provinces and most major towns and cities are well as Quakers who emigrated to North America. Coffee merchants, grocers, soap-boilers, spademakers and others emerge in a lively, familiar way. Activists in concerns dear to Quakers are here, in anti-slavery, prison reform, famine relief, anti-hanging and temperance. Whilst many English and American Quakers are remembered internationally, Irish Quakers are mainly of significance in Irish history, but even then they reveal numerous traits shared with a wider Quakerdom, in its emigration patterns, its transatlantic, commercial and philanthropic links.

Richard S. Harrison is a member of the Religious Society of Friends and a graduate of Trinity College, Dublin. He has written several books on Quaker business and Cork themes.