ORDER AND DISORDER

Abstract

This chapter spotlights the role of the state (via the army) in enforcing urban security and in creating professional policing for the capital city. It begins by describing the greatest building project in Dublin, the Royal Barracks. The creation within a capital city of such a vast military establishment was a consequence of the agreement by the (all Protestant) Irish Parliament to house and maintain on Irish soil the bulk of the English standing army during peacetime. The chapter then turns to study the logic behind the increased concentration of the military in the cities. It argues that the permanent presence of military manpower, albeit in largely open residential barracks, helped make the case for continuing the gradual process of urban de-fortification. The chapter also looks into the three collective threats to urban order: faction fights, scarcity riots and artisan protests. It focuses more on the severe food shortages across Ulster and the food protests in 1729 in which civic authorities turned to the military for help. Finally, the chapter reviews the implications of industrial protest — a collective action by producers taken against their masters, other traders or workers, or even against consumers.