A Sheepish Account of Ireland's Changing Role in an Imperial Age, 1780-1824

This essay addresses the question of why Ireland's sheep and wool diminished in economic importance during an era in which they seemed to count so much for other states. From 1780 to 1800, the Irish Government and Parliament enjoyed greater autonomy to shape what Julian Hoppit describes as a 'political economy of wool' but used it to discount sheep and wool. After the Union, there was a belated effort by Irish political elites to promote sheep and wool in Ireland's improvement, but it proved a spectacular failure. Integrating political economy and economic history, the essay shows the importance of wool in Ireland's political dynamics and the profound impact of these politics on the economic history of Irish sheep and wool.