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Henry and Harriette:

Diaries of an enduring odyssey

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Peadar McArdle

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ISBN: 978-1-917242-48-6

 

Price:  €25.00 plus shipping (Irish Address)

 

 

 

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About the Book:

 

Henry and Harriette: Diaries of an enduring odyssey

 

The life of an Irish field geologist and his family during the nineteenth century.

 

We know Henry’s scientific achievements - but this book reveals the man behind them, and the lively family life he shared with his wife Harriette and their eight children. Based on the diaries they kept for over fifty years, it paints a vivid picture of a busy household whose contacts extended beyond the local doctor, parson, business people and landowners to include the likes of Sir William Wilde, Professor Samuel Haughton and Sir Richard Griffith.

Harriette home-schooled the children in their early years, but only the boys received formal education. A talented artist, Harriette painted and drew - sometimes for Henry’s publications - and was a generous and welcoming host. Though Henry attended church regularly, it was Harriette who was deeply devout, confiding her spiritual life to her diary.

Perhaps shaped by his antiquarian interests, Henry was a nationalist and supporter of Charles Stewart Parnell, who praised him for his work on Ireland’s mineral resources. Henry relied heavily on the efficient postal service to maintain contact with the wider world - and to deliver his favourite daily newspaper! And while rugged field mappers are often portrayed as indefatigable, Henry emerges as something more human - a hypochondriac - while Harriette worried deeply about how her own illnesses affected others.

This engaging portrait of the Kinahans makes an important contribution to the social history of science in nineteenth-century Ireland.

 

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“...Why write a diary? The diaries of both Henry and Harriette record activities that took place each day. In Henry’s case he recorded expenses and mapping progress so they would have been useful for his regular work reports. But why, in retirement, did he take to recording his gardening activities in great detail? It seems he was focused for too long on record-keeping and his motivation did not change when he retired. Harriette was more reflective and was prepared to express her emotional response to family events...”

 

 

“...Both Harriette and Henry were well-read and with wide interests. She enjoyed cultural and theatrical activities when young and she indulged her interest later whenever she had an opportunity. She records special occasions when she brought one or more of her children to such events. Henry read newspapers daily even when in isolated locations and he was always anxious to express his opinion on many issues (new industries, folklore, protecting antiquities and many more) even when newspaper editors declined to publish his copy. In truth he had a low rate of success!...”

 

 

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About the Author:

 

Peadar McArdle is a professional geologist and former Director of Geological Survey Ireland, the national agency for geological services. He writes non-fiction books dealing with various aspects of the history of geology and landscape.