Drink and society in twentieth-century Ireland

This chapter examines debates, controversies and trends in relation to the consumption of alcoholic drink in twentieth-century Ireland, and explores the difficulties and ambiguities associated with characterising the consumption of alcohol in Ireland and defining the Irish drinking culture during this period. In doing so, it includes reflections on drunkenness, temperance, alcoholism, licensing legislation, the drinks industry, the impact of the Catholic Church, the extent to which debate about alcohol was gendered and the role of alcohol in stereotyping Irish identity. Numerous examples of the range of social, political and cultural comment on Irish alcohol consumption are cited, and the chapter also looks at the connections between alcohol consumption and the economy, the impact of modernisation on consumption and the range of alcoholic drinks consumed, and the difficulties associated with alcohol consumption statistics and the comparative analysis of moderate and excessive drinking.