Rains, Stephanie (2008) Here be monsters: the Irish Industrial Exhibition of 1853 and the growth of Dublin department stores. Irish Studies Review, 16 (4). pp. 487-506. ISSN 0967-0882

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Abstract

This article explores the juxtaposition of the 1853 Irish Industrial Exhibition in Dublin and the dramatic rise of department stores in the city during the same decade. It analyses the aims, structure and reception of the 1853 Exhibition within the context of the Irish industrial movement, the economic modernity of the post-Famine era and the dramatic changes to consumer culture which were occurring during the 1850s. The article takes as its focus the hitherto neglected ‘monster house’ controversy – conducted in pamphlets and public lectures – regarding the growth of Dublin's department stores. Coinciding with the 1853 Exhibition, the controversy rehearsed many of the same concerns regarding economic and social structures in Irish urban society in the wake of the Famine. Consideration of the ‘monster house’ controversy alongside the issues raised by the 1853 Exhibition allows a new perspective on the development of middle-class urban life in Dublin during the mid-nineteenth century.

Item Type:	Article
Keywords:	monster house; department store; Dublin; Ireland; Industrial Exhibition; consumption;
Academic Unit:	Faculty of Arts,Celtic Studies and Philosophy > School of English, Media & Theatre Studies > Media Studies
Item ID:	11880
Identification Number:	https://doi.org/10.1080/09670880802481338
Depositing User:	Stephanie Rains
Date Deposited:	25 Nov 2019 16:11
Journal or Publication Title:	Irish Studies Review
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Refereed:	Yes
URI:	Publisher
Use Licence:	This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available here

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