This article serves as an introduction to a special issue of Irish Economic and Social History (Volume 47) that illuminates the diversity of childhoods experienced by children growing up in Ireland and in the Irish diaspora between the mid sixteenth and the early twentieth centuries. The article explores the development of the history of children and childhood in Ireland as a growing area of academic enquiry and discusses the problems and challenges associated with studying children and childhood in the past. It also contextualises the articles included in the special issue of the journal, which demonstrate how age, class, gender, geography, religion and ethnicity combined with adult control to influence the lives of children ranging from infancy to early adolescence. Adult control was reflected in decisions made regarding the feeding, fostering, educating, employing, entertaining and punishing of children. Such decisions could have lifelong consequences for the children concerned. This introductory article highlights the central role of adults in influencing, controlling and representing children’s lives but also provides insight into the diverse experiences of Irish childhoods during five centuries.

中文翻译：

---

几个世纪的爱尔兰童年

这篇文章是对爱尔兰经济和社会历史特刊（第 47 卷）的介绍，它阐明了在 16 世纪中叶至 20 世纪初在爱尔兰和爱尔兰侨民中成长的儿童所经历的童年的多样性。本文探讨了爱尔兰儿童和童年历史作为一个日益增长的学术探究领域的发展，并讨论了过去与儿童和童年研究相关的问题和挑战。它还结合了该杂志特刊中的文章，这些文章展示了年龄、阶级、性别、地理、宗教和种族与成人控制相结合如何影响从婴儿到青春期早期儿童的生活。成人控制反映在关于喂养、寄养、教育、雇用、娱乐和惩罚儿童。此类决定可能对有关儿童产生终生影响。这篇介绍性文章强调了成年人在影响、控制和代表儿童生活方面的核心作用，但也提供了对五个世纪以来爱尔兰童年的各种经历的洞察。