Songs in Irish popular politics: Cork election songs 1818–1837.

In the heightened political climate of the post-Union years in Ireland, songs written and sung around parliamentary elections articulated key issues of popular politics with a vehemence rarely encountered in other historical sources. Election squibs and ballads written for contested parliamentary elections in Cork city constitute the source material for this paper. These song genres enabled diverse political expression that encompassed satirical depiction of candidates and election practices, and partisan rallying calls. Songs associated with elections from 1818 to 1829 reflect the "carnivalesque" period of early nineteenth century literary Cork in their affective range and satirical content. The broadside ballads published from 1830 onwards advocate support for candidates in the context of an emerging nationalist narrative that appealed to an increasingly politicised working class. The texts feature themes that were reiterated over several consecutive elections, emphasising popular agency, juxtaposing urban and rural issues, and proclaiming the Catholic clergy and O'Connell. Among the song airs are two that had been associated with Irish political resistance since the Jacobite era. This article asserts the importance of these ballads in understanding the transmission of nascent Irish nationalist ideology in popular song during the early nineteenth century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]