If you're looking for some "life & times" sort of material from Ireland in the mid 1800s, try to find the writings of....
W. J. O'NEIL DAUNT (1807-1894)
Best I can find out, Daunt was a West Cork priest, and he apparently kept a lot of day to day journals as he travelled about his parishes, mentioning people as he went. We grabbed four HURLEY ref page copies one day (we were in either the Clonakilty or Castleisland Library to memory) from one of his books...
"A LIFE SPENT FOR IRELAND - SELECTIONS FROM THE JOURNALS OF..."
.... which look like this. But I gather there's a heap more stuff of his available, but you might be struggling to find free-to-view copies outside of Ireland. Best check out his books that are available online.
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