Download full text
(external source)
Citation Suggestion
Please use the following Persistent Identifier (PID) to cite this document:
https://doi.org/10.18193/sah.v7i1.200
Exports for your reference manager
'We … galloped hard and straight over some big stone gaps': Freedom of the Hunt for Elite Women in Ireland, 1860-1914
[journal article]
Abstract Hunting was an elite social pastime accessible to both men and women, of the correct social class, throughout the period 1860-1914. Female involvement in this sport preceded their widespread involvement in other sports and pastimes such as tennis and cycling. This article explores the contradictions... view more
Hunting was an elite social pastime accessible to both men and women, of the correct social class, throughout the period 1860-1914. Female involvement in this sport preceded their widespread involvement in other sports and pastimes such as tennis and cycling. This article explores the contradictions inherent in women’s involvement in this masculine sport. The sport demanded that participants display contemporary masculine characteristics of bravery, strength, and independence, and yet it was open to both married and unmarried women of the gentry and ascendancy class in Ireland. The sport was a dangerous one, and considerable skill was demanded of all participants. However, daughters of hunting families were not persuaded against joining the hunt, and were instead encouraged to display the necessary skill and competitiveness to ride a horse side-saddle cross-country at speed; jumping stone walls and banks along the way. It was the norm for women to wear adapted dress modelled on masculine hunting attire, however this dress did not diminish their perceived femininity, and was perceived by some in hunting circles as the most alluring form of female dress. The article explores the numbers of women involved in the sport during the period utilising both contemporary fiction and directories. It also provides a case study of one woman’s experience as she partook of the hunt while also battling long term ill health; challenging the contemporary notion of women as inherently weak and unable for rigorous physical activity.... view less
Keywords
nineteenth century; leisure time; sports; woman; gender-specific factors; role image; Ireland
Classification
Social History, Historical Social Research
Women's Studies, Feminist Studies, Gender Studies
Free Keywords
Gender; Gentry Dress; Health; Irish ascendancy; The hunt
Document language
English
Publication Year
2021
Page/Pages
p. 18-34
Journal
Studies in Arts and Humanities, 7 (2021) 1
ISSN
2009-8278
Status
Published Version; peer reviewed
Licence
Creative Commons - Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0