Читать книгу The Life and Times of Mary Ann McCracken, 1770–1866 - Mary McNeill - Страница 11

ORIGINAL FOREWORD

At the close of the eighteenth and beginning of the nineteenth centuries the North of Ireland was profoundly influenced by the American, the French and the Industrial Revolutions. Mary Ann McCracken’s long life spanned this great era of upheaval and creative change. A woman of strong character and generous sympathies, with a ready pen and a forthright mind, she was solidly embedded in that vigorous, industrious, intellectually alert middle class which played such a decisive part in moulding British and Ulster life. She suffered deeply from the tragic consequences of rebellion. But she was unbroken, and after the saddening days of 1798 and 1803 she threw herself with enthusiastic energy into living a many-sided life dominated by family affection and humanitarian zeal. Mary McCracken and her circle were keen letter writers and fortunately much of what they wrote has survived. This mass of correspondence has been used by Miss McNeill in composing her account of Mary McCracken’s life. Miss McNeill brings to her task not only industry but also a sympathetic understanding of her subject’s ideals and feelings and keen awareness of Belfast, the growing city, pulsating with energy, in which Mary Ann McCracken’s life was spent.

R.B. McDowell

Trinity College, Dublin

18 September 1959