Witnessing War, Making Peace
Capturing the experiences of those who lived through Ireland’s War of Independence and Civil War.
Despite experiencing both a War of Independence (1919–1921) and a Civil War (1922–1923), Ireland’s experience of violence was relatively restrained compared with much of Europe during the same period, and the country returned to stability remarkably quickly.
Professor Anne Dolan, Professor of Modern Irish History at Trinity College Dublin and a recipient of a Research Ireland Advanced Laureate Award, leads the Witnessing War, Making Peace project. The research examines how people experienced the War of Independence and Civil War, focusing on bystanders and ordinary women and men whose testimonies provided some of the earliest written accounts of events.
Drawing on thousands of inquests, court records, pension files and compensation claims, the project is producing the first qualitative analysis of violence and restraint in Ireland between 1912 and 1923. These sources offer new insights into how individuals, families and communities experienced conflict and adapted to the political and social changes that followed.
By combining historical, archival and qualitative research methods, the project is uncovering previously overlooked experiences of conflict and recovery. The work is contributing to a richer understanding of violence, restraint and reconciliation in modern Ireland, while providing new perspectives on how societies navigate periods of profound political change.
