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The Irish Revolution, 1917-1921 (HIS3073)

Level:  3
Semester:  1
Course Convenor:  Dr Fearghal McGarry

Course Content  

This module will explore revolutionary politics in Ireland . Key themes will include the rise of Sinn Féin following the Easter Rising, the establishment of Dáil Éireann and the structures of a revolutionary government, the Irish Volunteer’s military campaign against British forces and the British government’s response to these political and military challenges. The course will make use of a wide range of local and others studies to investigate controversial questions relating to the Irish revolution: how important a factor was sectarianism in revolutionary violence, why did some areas of the country see little fighting, how important a factor was the north? An awareness of the contested historiography of the revolution will form an important aspect of the module.  

Topics include:  

The aftermath of the Easter Rising

The Rise of Sinn Féin and the Irish Volunteers, 1917-1919

The role of Dáil Éireann at home and abroad

Military aspects of the Anglo-Irish War

Volunteering: the social composition and motivation of Irish Volunteers

Women and the revolution: the role of Cumann na mBan

Violence and the Irish Revolution

The War in the North

Sectarianism and the Irish Revolution

British policy: the peace process of 1920-21

Cultural representations of the conflict, such as Michael Collins and The Wind the Shake the Barley   

Suggested Reading :

Marie Coleman, County Longford and the Irish Revolution, 1910-1923 (Dublin , 2003)

Peter Hart, The I.R.A. and its Enemies (Oxford , 1998)

Fearghal McGarry, Eoin O’Duffy: A Self Made Hero (Oxford , 2005)