The \u27Sister Kingdom\u27 on Display: Ireland in the Space of the British Exhibition, 1851-1911

British exhibitions of the nineteenth and early twentieth century were spaces that, through the display of colonial objects, promoted European, and specifically British, supremacy. During this period, Ireland occupied a unique position, and after the Act of Union in 1800 it was both a colonized space and a part of the United Kingdom. Through the analysis of seven exhibitions, this paper aims to examine the representation of the Irish in these public and often contested spaces. Ultimately, due to a number of individual agents who utilized the exhibition in order to fulfill a variety of conflicting goals, the narrative of Ireland that emerges is complex. This narrative highlights both the intricacies of the Irish question during this era, as well as the numerous functions of the exhibition