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SUMMARY:Ireland and the Great War of 1914-1918: the case for Irish unity -
  Niamh Gallagher (St. Catharine's College)
DTSTART:20121023T163000Z
DTEND:20121023T180000Z
UID:TALK40860@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Gui Xi Young
DESCRIPTION:Sectarianism is believed to be part and parcel of modern Irish
  life. The Great War\, in which numerous Irish Protestants and Catholics e
 nlisted\, is thought to have further polarised both groups leading to part
 ition\, the sectarian violence of the 1920s\, and arguably the more recent
  "troubles" in N. Ireland. Yet a history of ordinary Irish people during t
 he Great War can tell a different story. At home and at the front\, Irish 
 people of both religious persuasions involved themselves in the war effort
 \, helping to diminish the sectarianism of the day and forge new kinds of 
 social and political relationships. This paper examines Irish unity during
  the Great War and discusses the implications of a political middle ground
  for revising our understanding of the Easter Rising of 1916\; the event w
 hich is thought to have turned Irish Catholics against the British war eff
 ort and propelled them to fight for independence. It will suggest that Iri
 sh unity and Catholic commitment to the British war effort were both possi
 ble after the Rising\, raising new questions for our understanding of Nati
 onalism\, Unionism and the Irish identity in wartime Ireland.
LOCATION:Seminar Room S2 Alison Richard Building
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