Graziers and Grasslands : Portrait of a Rural Meath Community, 1854-1914

In the rural eastern counties in the Famine the dominant figure was parts of many post years the grazier, a farmer who concentrated on fattening cattle of large tracts of land he owned, or more often leased.

County Meath was the heartland of the grazier-farmer and this book examines the impact of grazing in Dunshaughlin in south Meath.

The expansion of the area under grass had major implications for employment, population levels and the social structure of the region.

The graziers were central figures in local politics and the church but their position came under increasing threat at the beginning of this century.