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The Irish Revolution, 1912-23: Sources

Module description

During 1912-23, Ireland experienced radical changes in its governance and society. This module, which requires no prior knowledge of Irish history, explores an extraordinary period of revolution, guerrilla warfare, civil war and Partition. Through close study of the available primary sources, you will come to understand the roots of current tensions within and between Britain, the now separate Republic of Ireland and a Northern Irish state still joined to the UK. The co-requisite Context module (HIH3158) will provide the social and political background to this formative period – and engage you with the lively field of Irish Revolutionary historiography.

Module aims - intentions of the module

Ireland’s seemingly natural trajectory towards self-governance within the United Kingdom was halted, in 1912, by Ulster Unionists’ rejection of the British government’s Home Rule Bill. The consequent militarisation of Irish society – and the outbreak of global war in 1914 – provided opportunities for radical republicanism to overtake moderate nationalism as the driving force for change in Ireland. This module aims to:

• Through in-depth analysis of the available source material, explore the constitutional, (para)military and popular violent processes through which, by 1923, independence was established for the twenty-six southern counties (of the Irish Free State), whilst six Partitioned Ulster counties, comprising the new Northern Ireland state, remained under UK authority (as they do until this day)
• Consider the perspectives of government officials, armed combatants and civilians, addressing historical topics (religion, nationality, identity, radicalism, counter-insurgency) that have strong contemporary resonances
• Foster the broad research, analytical, interpretative and communication skills that can be usefully applied to future academic studies and in graduate jobs
• Encourage the development of discipline-specific skills, including sensitivity of historical controversy and robust awareness of the sectarian and political agendas that often beset the study of recent and on-going conflicts, in Ireland and elsewhere

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 1. Have a detailed knowledge of the different sources available for the study of the Irish Revolution (1912–23), together with a very close specialist knowledge of those sources which the students focus upon in their seminar presentations and written work
• 2. Analyse the complex diversity of the sources studied

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 3. Analyse closely original sources and to assess their reliability as historical evidence. Ability to focus on and comprehend complex texts
• 4. Understand and deploy relevant historical terminology in a comprehensible manner
• 5. Follow the often complex reasoning of political, ideological and military discourses in the period

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 6. Carry out independent and autonomous study and group work, including presentation of material for group discussion, developed through the mode of learning
• 7. Digest, select and organise material to produce, to a deadline, a coherent and cogent argument, developed through the mode of assessment
• 8. Present complex arguments orally

Syllabus plan

Whilst the content may vary from year to year, it is envisioned that it will cover some or all of the following topics:

The introductory sessions will provide a framework within which all students (regardless of their prior knowledge of Ireland/Irish history) can place their future work. In the process, you will also be exposed to some of the module’s key primary sources including, for example, British government reports and Irish nationalist memoirs. These sessions are likely to cover:

• Ireland and the Union
• Religion and society in nineteenth-century Ireland
• The development of constitutional and violent movements for Irish independence

Following the introductory sessions topics are likely to include:

• The Home Rule Party (and Home Rule Crisis)
• Ulster Unionism and the militarization of Irish society
• Radicalism and republicanism: Arthur Griffith, Sinn Féin and the Irish Revolutionary Brotherhood; labour; women’s suffrage
• World War I and Irish soldiers abroad
• The Easter Rising
• Aftermath of the Rising and the 1917 by-elections
• Political imprisonment
• The 1918 General Election and the alternative state (Dáil Éireann)
• The War of Independence, 1919–21
• The early IRA (Irish Republican Army)
• The Anglo-Irish Treaty
• Partition and borders
• The Irish Civil War
• Social revolution? The Irish Land Question since the Wyndham Act (1903)
• Cultural revolution? Lives and beliefs of the ‘revolutionary generation’

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Formative assessment

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Details of summative assessment

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Re-assessment notes

The re-assessment consists of a 4000 word portfolio of source work, as in the original assessment, but replaces the individual presentation with a written script that could be delivered in such a presentation and which is the equivalent of 25 minutes of speech (2,500 words).

Deferral – if you miss an assessment for certificated reasons judged acceptable by the Mitigation Committee, you will normally be either deferred in the assessment or an extension may be granted. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of deferral will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment.

Referral – if you have failed the module overall (i.e. a final overall module mark of less than 40%) you will be required to submit a further assessment as necessary. If you are successful on referral, your overall module mark will be capped at 40%.

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

• James Connolly,  The Reconquest of Ireland  (Dublin, 1915) – many reprints are available online:  http://www.ucc.ie/celt/online/E900002–002/
• Thomas Fennell,  The Royal Irish Constabulary: a history and personal memoir  (Dublin: UCD Press, 2003)
• Countess Markievicz (1920), from Esther Roper (ed.),  Prison letters of Countess Markievicz (1934), in David Pierce (ed.), Irish writing in the twentieth century: A reader (Cork: Cork University Press, 2000), 282–84
• ‘Proclamation of the Irish Republic, 24 April 1916’, in Alan O’Day and John Stevenson (eds.),  Irish Historical Documents since 1800  (Dublin: Gill and Macmillan Ltd, 1992), 160–61 – many reprints
• Ernie O’Malley, On another man’s wound (new edn, The Mercier Press Ltd, 2013) – available as ebook

Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources

• ELE - https://vle.exeter.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=11341 
• Databases accessed through the Library website, including: Cabinet Papers (1915–1984); ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Guardian and The Observer; ProQuest Historical Newspapers: Irish Times & Irish weekly
• Digital Collections, the Library of Trinity College Dublin:  http://digitalcollections.tcd.ie/home/index.php ; enter search term ‘recruiting’ for World War I recruitment posters
• Irish Military Archives, Bureau of Military History Collection (1913–21), with a particular focus on Witness Statements: http://www.bureauofmilitaryhistory.ie/index.html
• 'Letters of 1916', Trinity College Dublin: http://dh.tcd.ie/letters1916/
• Parliamentary debates, from Ireland ( http://debates.oireachtas.ie/ ) and the UK ( www.parliament.uk ); see especially the debate on the Anglo-Irish Treaty: http://debates.oireachtas.ie/dail/1921/12/19/

Key words search

History, revolution, war, Ireland, Great Britain, violence, politics, nationalism