ABSTRACT
In the midst of all other perplexities and troubles. The condition of Ireland always remained the worst - the crowning affliction of the statesman. Harriet Martineau's relation to Ireland corresponds with two key events in her life and career. In July 1831, after winning the Unitarian Association's essay contest, she used the prize money to visit her brother James in Dublin. Martineau's assertion that English policy towards Ireland from the reign of William III onward systematically suppressed Irish production to promote its own economic well-being exemplifies the impossibility of distinguishing between social and political culpability for Ireland's troubles. Martineau's emphases on post-famine social reconstruction, on a thorough retrenchment of Ireland's National Education system, on agricultural reforms, on protecting cottage industries and indigenous arts and crafts, and on promoting modernization through public works and industry provide a more enduring.
