A BELFAST conference into what “Victorian Ireland” was like is this weekend hearing how as regards alcohol abuse, violence and contentious parades in Northern Ireland, the more things change the more they remain the same.
Over 100 years ago there was even a lethal variant of the “alcopop”, according to Dr Neal Garnham, president of the Economic and Social History Society of Ireland, which is holding its annual conference at the Belfast campus of the University of Ulster over yesterday and today.
He said alcohol abuse and binge-drinking was rife in the 19th century, with “ether drinking” becoming incredibly popular, especially in Northern Ireland.
“Ether was the alcopop of the 1880s, and its use became endemic in Derry and Tyrone due to a decline in the availability of cheap liquor at the time,” said Dr Garnham, who is senior history lecturer at the University of Ulster.
“Despite being initially introduced into Ireland for its supposed medical benefits its use as an inexpensive intoxicant quickly became widespread until its consumption became a criminal offence in Northern Ireland in 1923.
“People would often mix the potent poison with small amounts of alcohol and drink it until they became completely intoxicated and pass out. The side effects of drinking such a lethal substance would have included depression, hysteria, blindness and violent excitement – which meant that ether-fuelled rows were commonplace,” said Dr Garnham.
Dr Paul O’Leary from Aberystwyth University of Wales spoke of how marches and street parades have been causing controversy for centuries. “Historians often focus on how a minority of processions provoked, antagonised and divided people – marches through the street are often seen as sites of conflict,” said Dr O’Leary.
Yet he also recounted how parades in the North sometimes had a beneficial effect. “In the past processions have commonly been occasions that allowed different groups of individuals to integrate and they provide a valuable insight into the ways diverse social, religious and ethnic groups can transcend their differences and forge a common culture.”