The emergence of the Land League and the beginning of the Land War in the aftermath of the famous Irishtown demonstration in April 1879 is among the most influential events in modern Irish history. However, it is not the subject of this work. This monograph is a timely re-examination of some of the underexamined aspects of the Land War. It is organised thematically into three sections of essays under headings: famine, philanthropy and moonlighting. The author describes the purpose of the monograph as ‘an attempt to redress historical and historiographical hiatuses in the Land War drama’ (p. 1).

The opening single chapter section on the famine of 1879–80 is an illuminating study of the impact of famine-linked disease on social relations in rural communities. This is drawn chiefly from Local Government Board reports and the published proceedings of the Mansion House Relief Committee. While the title of the book refers to Ireland alone, the second and largest component of the monograph, philanthropy, contains explorations of the relationships of the Irish diaspora in the United States, Canada and Australasia with the land of their birth, through the prism of humanitarian relief during the famine of 1879–80. Geary emphasises the importance of the living memory of the Great Famine in responses to the crisis in Ireland and amongst the Irish abroad. Several humanitarian relief committees were formed to respond to the crisis in Ireland, occupying the vacuum left by the ideologically constrained Conservative and Liberal British governments. The Duchess of Marlborough's committee raised money through her political and social connections in Britain. The Mansion House Relief Committee, founded by Edmund Gray, a nationalist M.P., lord mayor of Dublin and owner of the Freeman's Journal, sought to be a non-sectarian, humanitarian endeavour. Its committee included leading religious and civic figures. These were the most significant committees in Ireland. While the Mansion House committee received tens of thousands of pounds from the Irish in Australia and New Zealand, it received far less from the United States. Charles Stewart Parnell's American tour raised another £60,000 for relief administered by the nascent Land League, while diatribes directed at the Dublin-based committees limited their support. The relief fund of the New York Herald raised over $300,000, though its owner clashed with Parnell. The role of the Catholic Church in raising money is also explored and highlights the connections of the Irish church with its diaspora. Geary pays particular attention to the activities of Sister Mary Francis Clare, known as the ‘Nun of Kenmare’, who raised money through a combination of religiosity and international celebrity. Geary's forceful analysis of her personality perhaps goes further than is necessary. The final chapter under the theme of philanthropy is an interesting portrayal of the physical distribution of aid by sea. The four ‘philanthropy’ chapters make good use of newspapers both of Ireland and the countries under examination.

The third and final section of the monograph contains two chapters examining agrarian secret societies. The first explores the ‘Royal Irish Republic’, an agrarian/Fenian secret society associated with violence against the boycotted merchant, Jeremiah Hegarty, those who dealt with him in Millstreet, County Cork, and its undoing at the hands of an informer, Daniel Connell. Drawing on the chief secretary's registered and Irish National League papers, as well as newspapers, Geary depicts the overlapping local links between the Land League, Fenians and agrarian secret societies in the region. Violence against women, specifically the forced cutting of hair which has received attention over the course of the Decade of Centenaries, is referred to but the phenomenon is not addressed. The final chapter examines an agrarian incident in Scrahan, County Kerry and its likely influence on George Fitzmaurice's 1914 play, The moonlighter. For giving evidence against local men accused of damaging Fitzmaurice's father's gate, the unmarried mother Bridget Lennane and her children were attacked. The play is not a dramatic retelling of this incident. It is instead set around an eviction during the Plan of Campaign. While the play explores the complex motivations of moonlighters, it does not connect to the story of Bridget Lennane and her family. A stronger focus on the treatment of social outcasts like Lennane at the hands of the state and rural society would have been more impactful. Overall, this engaging monograph fulfils the mission set by the author.