Portal:Ireland/Selected article archive/41



Drapier's Letters is the collective name for a series of seven pamphlets written between 1724 and 1725 by Jonathan Swift to arouse public opinion in Ireland against the imposition of a privately minted copper coinage which Swift believed to be of inferior quality. William Wood was granted letters patent to mint the coin, and Swift saw the licensing of the patent as corrupt. In response, Swift represented Ireland as constitutionally and financially independent of Britain in the Drapier's Letters. Because it was a politically sensitive subject, Swift wrote under the pseudonym M. B. Drapier and the Drapier's Letters are seen as the most important of Swift's "Irish tracts."

Although the letters were condemned by the Irish government, with prompting from the British government, they inspired popular sentiment against Wood and his patent. This turned into a nationwide boycott, which forced the patent to be withdrawn; Swift was later honoured for this service to the people of Ireland. Many Irish people recognized Swift as a hero for his defiance of British control over the Irish nation. Beyond being a hero, many critics have seen Swift, through the persona of the Drapier, as the first to organize a "more universal Irish community", although it is disputed as to who constitutes that community.

The first complete collection of the Drapier's Letters appeared in the 1734 George Faulkner edition of the Works of Jonathan Swift along with an allegorical frontispiece offering praise and thanks from the Irish people. Some of Swift's other political writings are Gulliver's Travels, A Tale of a Tub, and A Modest Proposal. Read more...