Connacht is a province of western Ireland, made up of the five contemporary counties “Mayo, Sligo, Leitrim, Galway, and Roscommon” (Encyclopedia Britannica). Prior to English colonization, it was one of the five major Gaelic kingdoms. Notably, according to Encyclopedia Britannica, “most of the province remained loyal to the English crown during the Tyrone uprising (1595–1603) and also remained the most Gaelic…part of Ireland” (Encyclopedia Britannica). Geographically speaking, the area is mountainous, with its “eastern boundary” marked by the River Shannon (Encyclopedia Britannica). Around the same time as the first publication of Jane Eyre, Ireland was at the beginning of what would be known as “The Great Famine” (Thom). 

In the context of Jane Eyre, I was struck by the mention of Ireland in itself by Mr. Rochester, when he tells Jane about her new employment situation. This is interesting because Mr. Rochester refers to Jane as a fairy many times throughout the novel. When they first speak to each other, for example, Mr. Rochester asks if she was waiting for “her people” when they met before, “...the men in green… did I break through one of your rings that you spread that damned ice on the causeway?” (Bronte 112). Here, he suggests that because Jane is a fairy, she punished him when they first met by scaring his horse with magic. Later, when asking Jane about his marriage to Miss Ingram, he says, “Tell me now, fairy as you are, - can’t you give me a charm, or a philter, or something of that sort, to make me a handsome man?” (Bronte 220). In using this language to describe Jane, Mr. Rochester solidifies his image of her as otherworldly and strange. 

Therefore, Ireland, being known for its strong folklore connections to the fae, does not seem like a coincidental location for Mr.Rochester to send Jane for employment. The province of Connacht specifically leans into the fae theme. Connacht, as mentioned previously, retained a lot of it’s Gaelic ties and culture even after British Imperialism. Upon further research, Connacht has specific lore pertaining to fairies. As detailed in T.J. Westropp’s article, “A Study of Folklore on the Coasts of Connacht, Ireland Continued” the idea of changelings was prominent in the region. They describe changelings in saying, “The sprites could exercise malignant power on infants especially before baptism, stealing the handsome ones and replacing them by puny withered changelings” (Westropp 104). This description seems to fit Jane, as she is consistently described as being a small, less than attractive woman. In this context, it seems like Mr. Rochester planned to send Jane back to where he thought she really belonged. Knowing that she is lonely and has no real family, choosing this location with a strong connection to fairies like her betrays his affection for the plain governess. 

Works Cited

Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopedia. "Connaught". Encyclopedia Britannica. 9 Jan. 2013. https://www.britannica.com/place/Connaught. Accessed 14 January 2022.

Thom, Alexandar. “1861 Census: Decline in the Population of Ireland (Famine, Disease, Emmigration)” Thoms Almanac of and Official Directory. 1862. https://www.libraryireland.com/articles/DeclinePopulationThom1861/index.php. Accessed 14 January 2022. 

Westropp, T. J. “A Study of Folklore on the Coasts of Connacht, Ireland (Continued).” Folklore, vol. 32, no. 2, , 1921, pp. 101–23, http://www.jstor.org/stable/1255238. Accessed 16 January 2022.