A global history of Irish Revolution, 1916-1923

Lead Research Organisation: Queen's University Belfast
Department Name: Sch of History and Anthropology

Abstract

Our project proposes a global history of Irish nationalism focusing on the 1916-23 revolutionary period. The aim is to integrate two sophisticated but separate historiographical fields - centring on the Irish revolution and on Irish migration - to develop a more inclusive framework which will incorporate the diaspora and other external pressures into the mainstream narrative. The key methodology is provided by a transnational approach which will investigate how interactions across national boundaries shaped Ireland's revolution. By investigating the relationship between revolution in the nation-state, diasporic nationalism, and other external pressures during an era of rapid international change, this research will contribute to a wider understanding of nationalism as a global force.
The project comprises two interlocking research strands. The first focuses on the impact of transnational influences on the revolution within Ireland. The second is concerned with analysing the significance of Irish nationalism beyond Ireland. Both address the same overarching question: to what extent must revolutionary change be understood within a global, transnational as well as a nation-state framework?
The research context is framed by the dominance of nation-centred historiographical approaches, reflecting a widespread tendency to regard the nation-state as the natural unit of analysis. Although gaining ground elsewhere, transnational approaches have had little impact on Irish historiography despite the importance of external factors on Ireland. For example, despite acknowledging the impact of Irish America on Irish politics, histories of Irish nationalism such as Richard English's influential Irish Freedom (2003) largely overlook diasporic influences. Similarly, studies of diasporic nationalism rarely analyse its impact on Ireland. As a result, key themes are often debated in insular terms. For example, nation-centred analyses of the Irish revolution can result in the imposition of arbitrary geographical boundaries and neglect of comparative dimensions and external pressures. Local studies, the dominant approach since the ground-breaking research of David Fitzpatrick (1977), provide a sophisticated anatomy of the revolution's impact on Irish society but a limited means of assessing the significance of factors which transcend the nation-state. They shed little light on how the destabilising impact of the First World War, the emergence of self-determination as the principal source of political legitimacy, and the establishment of new republics across Europe heightened political expectations in Ireland.
There is therefore a compelling rationale for looking to Ireland as a case study of the global character of nationalism. As a small country with a large diaspora, forming part of a multinational state and global empire, Ireland was highly susceptible to transnational influences. The well-documented nature of the Irish revolution, its small scale, and the sophistication of the literature on Irish nationalism and the Irish diaspora also point to its potential as a broader case study.
This approach will also contribute to wider British historiography. Although British historians generally emphasise how the UK avoided the First World War's destabilising fallout, the parallels between experiences in the Irish part of the British state and central/eastern Europe where imperial power gave way to democratisation, self-determination and ethnic nationalism are evident. A wider framework will allow for comparative analysis across the 'shatter zones' of empire (Wilson, 2010). Ultimately, our project aims to demonstrate how revolutions represent much broader political moments in global history, without losing sight of the distinctive aspects of national histories. More radically, it will question the assumption - implicit in most historians' work - that nation-centred models provide the best means of understanding the causes of political change.

Planned Impact

Who will benefit?
- (Irish) Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT)
- National Museums Northern Ireland (NMNI) and National Museum of Ireland (NMI)
- Century Ireland
- History Ireland
- the Irish, Northern Irish and UK governments

How will they benefit?
Our project will assist the DFAT in its objective of interpreting the Irish revolution in an international context. Our collaboration with NMNI and NMI will provide both institutions with our historical expertise. It will provide Century Ireland and History Ireland with scholarly research. We will also support the Irish/N.I/UK government's commemorative programmes of historical reflection. For example, by interpreting partition within a European context, our project will enhance understanding of the most sensitive anniversary of the Decade.

What will be done to ensure they benefit?
With the support of the DFAT, our project will develop a portable ten-panel exhibition on the Irish revolution's global dimensions to be offered to Irish embassies across the world. The CI has worked closely with the DFAT to commemorate the 1916 Rising (see http://www.ed.ac.uk/history-classics-archaeology/news-events/news/easter-rising).

We will collaborate with the leading museums in Ireland/N.I. in developing their major exhibitions at the Ulster Museum and Collins Barracks. William Blair, Head of Human History, has welcomed our proposal to work on the Ulster Museum's Partition exhibition: 'The research would stream directly into the development of the exhibition and related programming. The scope of your research would fit perfectly.' As a member of advisory bodies for the Ulster Museum and National Museum's 1916 exhibitions, the PI has close links with both institutions.

We will partner with History Ireland (http://www.historyireland.com/) to produce a publication on the Irish revolution. HI has an international readership, with a 'hard sales' circulation of 5,000 per issue, while its 1916 publication sold c. 10,000 copies. Our publication will be supported by a podcasted Hedge School (http://www.historyireland.com/hedge-schools/). The PI has previously participated in Hedge Schools, and guest-edited a special issue on Fenianism.
We will work with Boston College/RTE to provide content for its online historical newspaper Century Ireland (http://www.rte.ie/centuryireland/). Web-Traffic DATA?

Our project will exploit public engagement opportunities arising as a result of the 2012-2022 Decade of Centenaries (http://www.decadeofcentenaries.com/). Our project meets a key objective of the Advisory Group on Centenary Commemorations: 'The commemorative programme should illustrate how events in Ireland were . . . part of the wider international story. A comprehensive commemorative programme should not only address the key events in Ireland but also enhance the understanding of the wider United Kingdom, European and world context in which they took place' (http://www.decadeofcentenaries.com/statement/).
For statements of Irish, British and N. Irish government commitment to programmes of historical reflection, see:
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/first-world-war-commemorations-and-the-decade-of-centenaries
https://www.dfa.ie/about-us/funding/reconciliation-fund/
https://www.executiveoffice-ni.gov.uk/sites/default/files/publications/ofmdfm_dev/together-building-a-united-community-strategy.pdf [pp 93-97]

* We will build on existing public engagement networks at QUB, including the AHRC-funded Living Legacies Centre (http://www.livinglegacies1914-18.ac.uk/), the AHRC-funded Commemoration of Partition and Civil Wars in Ireland 2020-23 project, and the Universities Ireland historians' committee (of which the PI is a founding member) (http://universitiesireland.ie/category/conferences/). In addition, due to his work on the 1916 centenary, the PI has links with a wide range of bodies responsible for commemorative activity (see Pathways to Impact for further details).
 
Description This three-year project set out to analyse the global history of Irish nationalism focusing on the 1916-23 revolutionary period. The aim was to integrate two sophisticated but distinct historiographical fields - centring on the Irish Revolution and on the Irish diaspora - to develop a more inclusive framework that would incorporate international pressures into mainstream narratives of the revolutionary period. The key methodology was provided by a transnational approach which investigated how interactions across national boundaries shaped Ireland's revolution.
The project comprised two interlocking research strands. The first focused on the impact of transnational influences on the revolution within Ireland. The second was concerned with analysing the significance of Irish nationalism beyond Ireland. Both strands addressed the same overarching question: to what extent must revolutionary change be understood within a global and transnational, as well as a nation-state, framework?
Led by principal investigator, Prof. Fearghal McGarry (Queen's University Belfast), and co-investigator Prof. Enda Delaney (University of Edinburgh), the project's postdoctoral research fellows, Dr Darragh Gannon, Dr Brian Hanley and Dr Patrick Mannion, pursued discrete projects to analyse key research themes. In addition, the research team developed a programme of workshops, conferences, and collaborative publications to establish an international scholarly network ranging from ECRs to more established scholars in the field of revolutionary and diasporic history.
Project research has been published in several journal articles, a History Ireland supplement, a special issue of Irish Historical Studies and a forthcoming edited collection to be published by New York University Press. Further publications, including two monographs and a second collection of edited essays, are in progress and, collectively, this work is having a considerable impact on the historiographical field, further raising the profile of transnational and global approaches to modern Irish history. Impact activities arising from these publications and other project activities, including a successful collaboration with Boston College's Century Ireland website (which features additional scholarly research), are outlined in the accompanying impact narrative report.
Foregrounding the significance of global contexts in shaping the causes, conduct and outcome of the Irish Revolution, our research project demonstrated how much of the importance of republican activities in Ireland, and the counter-insurrectionary responses they provoked, stemmed from their impact beyond the island. It revealed how Irish revolutionaries demonstrated ingenuity and agency in their sophisticated efforts to project their conflict on the global stage. The most innovative aspect of the republican campaign lay less in the development of a guerrilla war strategy as the combination of often symbolic violence, intended to focus global opinion on Ireland, with an audacious claim to sovereignty symbolised by the establishment of an Irish government whose most successful components were its outward-facing departments of Propaganda and Foreign Affairs. The project also demonstrated the extent to which Irish republican strategy and rhetoric reflected global developments such as the rise of the Wilsonian self-determination ideal and the post-war political opportunities offered by the Peace Conference to pursue Irish claims to sovereignty on the international stage.
Our project examined how power was contested across a variety of spaces beyond the island, including consideration of the transnational, coordinated efforts of the British state to suppress and contain global Irish nationalism. We demonstrate how the post-war transition from a world dominated by empire to an international community of democratic nation-states was central to determining the outcome of the Irish struggle for independence. It makes clear how the destabilising impact of the First World War, the emergence of self-determination as the principal source of political legitimacy, and the establishment of new republics across Europe heightened political expectations in Ireland. By constructing an international geography of Irish revolutionary activism, our research project traces how this global shift played out across diverse sites where Irish revolutionaries and their opponents mobilised.
Our research argues that post-war experiences of the Irish part of the UK bear comparison with other 'shatter zones' of empire in central and eastern Europe where the armistice, rather than leading to peace, generated new forms of paramilitary, communal and ethno-nationalist violence which blurred conventional distinctions between combatants and civilians. The formation of post-war republics across central and east Europe provides an obvious frame of reference for considering not only the timing, but also the more limited outcome, of Irish efforts to achieve self-determination. However, Ireland's position within an empire that emerged victorious from the First World War also prompted comparisons with contemporaneous anti-colonial movements, comparisons that have generally been overlooked both by historians wary of applying colonial perspectives to Ireland, and by historians of empire and anti-colonialism who frequently excluded Ireland from their analyses.
By foregrounding international interactions between people, networks and movements, the approaches applied by the project team highlight the importance of transnational connections, particularly between anti-colonial and anti-imperial activists and with other radical international movements such as suffragism and labour. The research demonstrates how the British Empire provided fertile ground for cultivating solidarities between anti-colonial movements who often looked to Irish republicanism as an exemplar of successful resistance. It also identifies the importance of ideas about race in nationalist rhetoric beyond Ireland, exploring how republicans both cultivated solidarity with non-white anti-colonial movements and sought to reinforce Irish claims to independent nationhood through appeals to white privilege. The research also makes clear the importance of specific post-war sites, such as London, Paris, and New York, which acted as global hubs of anti-imperialism, promoting social, intellectual and political interchange between revolutionaries from diverse backgrounds.
Our project has facilitated reassessment of temporal, as well as spatial, frameworks. Questioning conventional nationalist chronologies, which emphasise Easter 1916 as the pivotal moment in the emergence of a revolutionary challenge to British rule, the research points to the importance of the post-war 'Wilsonian moment' in spurring republican activism in Ireland and beyond. Emphasising the importance of the relationship between the First World War and revolutionary nationalism identify by much recent international historiography, our project argues that the Irish Revolution should be evaluated within a broad temporal and geographical perspective, encompassing a 'long decade' of war, revolution and imperial decline that contributed to political instability across much of Europe and Asia.
We argue that the Irish Revolution comprised one of the great transnational moments in Irish history, encompassing a diverse range of actors, objects, places, and ideas. Our project reveals how Irish revolutionaries influenced diverse social and political movements, just as those movements influenced them. Globalising Ireland's revolution has shifted the focus of research on the Irish War of Independence from the military to the political and cultural spheres, ensuring greater attention to the role of ideology and political and literary discourse. Our research has foregrounded the role of suffragists, labour activists and other radicals who have generally been excluded from accounts of the revolution in Ireland despite their influential contemporary roles as transnational connectors.
In addition to illuminating how the transformation of Ireland formed part of a wider political and ideological moment in world history, our project demonstrates how transnational, comparative and global approaches can prompt more inclusive and diverse histories of Ireland. Making sense of revolutionary change in Ireland requires an understanding not only of the Revolution in Ireland, but of how the wider world was changing. In its precociousness, scale, and reach, Irish republicanism presents a compelling case study of the global character of twentieth-century nationalist movements.
Exploitation Route Our research project, and the wider scholarly research networks, collaborations, and publications which it has developed, have enhanced scholarly understanding of global dimensions of the Irish Revolution. Moreover, through a wide range of impact activities (detailed in the accompanying narrative impact report), this research has heightened public understanding of the importance of global aspects of the revolution. Drawing on the transnational and global methodologies developed by this research project, there remains scope for further research projects on global aspects of revolutionary and modern Irish history.
One significant theme that was underexplored by our research project was the role played by the Catholic Church, the most influential transnational organisation to shape opinion on the Irish question. Transnational Irish engagement with anti-conscription movements demands greater attention, as does international opposition to Irish self-determination. Mirroring their republican rivals, Irish unionists toured the US, celebrating Britain's historic links with North America, while the Orange Order mobilised fraternal support in dominions such as Canada and Australia. Post-revolutionary migration - including movements of former servants of the Crown, anti-Treaty republicans, and other minorities who lost out from the revolution - would benefit from transnational research. Given the range of archives, languages and historiographical expertise required to tackle such topics, we hope that our research project will spur further international scholarly collaborations.
Sectors Education,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections
 
Description Between 2017 and 2021 (and subsequent to this date, working in personal capacities) the project team collaborated with educational, public history and media partners - including Boston College, History Ireland, National Museums Northern Ireland, and the Royal Irish Academy - to ensure that the scholarly insights generated by our research on global aspects of Ireland's Revolution were widely disseminated both to stakeholders and the public in Ireland and beyond. Although disruption arising from Covid-19 meant that some planned project impacts could not proceed, alternative means of disseminating research, including through online activity, ensured that a sustained programme of public engagement and impact was delivered. Examples of collaborations and resulting impacts are detailed below. History Ireland Ireland's leading popular history magazine, History Ireland, has proven a key project partner. Under the direction of the project investigators, Dr Brian Hanley took the lead on producing a History Ireland special issue supplement titled The Irish Revolution, 1919-1921: a global history (2019). This public-facing volume, consisting of twenty-one essays by leading and early career scholars, was published in May 2019. The Irish Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht's Commemorations Unit subsequently funded its distribution to 715 post-primary schools across Ireland. Presenting the publication to students at Oatlands College, Stillorgan, Co. Dublin, Minister Josepha Madigan stated: "The Irish Revolution 1919-21: A Global History . . . demonstrates that the War of Independence wasn't just about 'raids and rallies' but part of a wider moment in world history. I am delighted to support its distribution to post-primary schools throughout the country. The publication will be a significant learning resource to support history teachers and students alike in navigating this challenging period in our history." In a further collaboration with History Ireland, project team members discussed their research in a series of Global Irish Revolution-themed 'Hedge School' public-discussion events in Ireland and the UK throughout 2019. Topics included: 'Dev in America'; 'Longford and the Global Irish Revolution'; 'Scotland and the Global Irish Revolution'; and 'The Irish Revolution - local or global'. Recordings of these events are available via podcasts hosted on History Ireland's website and other podcast outlets. For further details, see https://www.historyireland.com/hedge-schools/. Boston College and Century Ireland Several high-profile initiatives were developed with key project partner Boston College. These include a sustained collaboration with Boston College's Century Ireland initiative, directed by Prof Mike Cronin, and a public conference to be hosted in Boston by Prof Rob Savage, director of the Irish Studies program at Boston College. (This conference has been postponed to autumn 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic). From 2018 onwards our project developed content for a global revolution webpage hosted on Century Ireland: www.rte.ie/centuryireland/index.php/global-irish-revolution/. Dr Darragh Gannon took the lead on commissioning scholarly content aimed at a general readership and curating the digital space. To date, over forty original Global Irish Revolution-themed articles have been published on the Century Ireland website. This accessible content presents the latest research in the field to public audiences. Features include explainers (Q and A-style introductions), short reads (1,000-word primers), and long reads (2,500-word thematic essays); 'Global Lives' (2,000-word biographies of transnational actors); and 'Global Archives' (2,000-word archival reviews). The Century Ireland website, a collaboration with Irish national broadcaster RTÉ, attracted 170,000 new individual users and generated 499,600 page views in 2020. Ireland is the largest territory accessing Century Ireland, accounting for 41.8% of all traffic during 2020. Free to access anywhere in the world, Century Ireland also enjoys an international audience, principally from the United Kingdom and the United States. In 2020, 26% of traffic came from the United States and 16.7% from the UK. Five of the top ten territories for traffic were in Europe. Beyond that, Australia, Canada, and India featured prominently. The largest single age cohort of user was 25-34 yrs (20.7%), but there were no major disparities across age cohorts. 18-24 yrs: 17.9%; 25-34 yrs: 20.7%; 35-44 yrs: 14.6%; 45-54 yrs: 15.3%; 55-64 yrs: 16.3%; 65+ yrs: 15.2%. A further collaboration with Century Ireland, focusing on the project's Ireland 1922 commemorative publication, is currently in development. Irish Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Our planned exhibition on Ireland's Global Revolution, which was to be hosted by missions and consulates of the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade across the world, was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic as all missions were closed to public access. The text and images for the exhibition have been completed, and the project team is exploring other options for hosting the exhibition including online or in alternative venues once reopened. Individual project team members participated in other events organised or sponsored by the Department of Foreign Affairs including 'A Farther Shore: American Reflections on the Advent of Irish Independence' (2021), an online discussion convened by the Embassy of Ireland in the USA and Boston College, and the 'Ireland, Revolution and the First World War' conference (Paris, 2019). Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media The Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media sponsored the series of Hedge Schools convened by History Ireland under its Decade of Centenaries 2012-2023 initiative. Due to Covid-19 disruption this programme of talks transferred online in 2020. The Department also provided generous financial support to the Royal Irish Academy to support the publication of Ireland 1922, a major public-facing publication commemorating the events of 1922 which will be published in autumn 1921. Dr Gannon has been invited to serve as a consultant to the Commemorations Unit of the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media in the development of its 'Women's Strand'. Other collaborations with the Irish, Northern Irish and UK governments The project submitted a consultation document, 'Ireland and the wider world', to assist the Expert Advisory Group on Commemorations in advising the Irish Government on the State's approach to the commemoration of significant historical events that took place between 1918 and 1923. Our submission emphasised the importance of acknowledging the role of the global Irish diaspora, and the impact of international events more generally, in shaping the Irish Revolution and its outcome. Members of the project team have informed public policy on the challenging issues surrounding public commemoration in Ireland, Northern Ireland, and the United Kingdom. Prof McGarry sits on the steering committee of Making the Future, a major EU-funded commemorative cultural heritage programme. Dr Gannon serves on the Advisory Board to the Northern Ireland Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment (CCEA), informing the development of curriculum resources for the Department of Education under its 'NI 100 Centenary' project. This project is particularly focused on supporting the learning of KS2 and KS3 level students. Social Media Impacts Innovative social media approaches were used to deliver on the project's impact objectives. The project Twitter account @GlobalIrishRev, created in 2017, was curated by Dr Gannon. This involved the weekly publication of project updates, publications, events, and achievements. Dr Gannon was supported in this endeavour from May 2019 by Dr Patrick Mannion. As of March 2021, the @GlobalIrishRev Twitter account has over 1,400 followers. Dr Gannon developed a bi-weekly series entitled #AZGlobalIrishRev which published new research on every country in the alphabet. Each tweet was issued as a #CFP (call for participants), inviting scholars around the world to contribute their original research on aspects of the Irish Revolution from twenty-six countries. In so doing, a digital network of Global Irish Revolution scholars was created from Newfoundland to New Zealand. The #AZGlobalIrishRev series prompted engagement from Irish embassies/consulates all over the world including Auckland, Beijing, Berlin, Buenos Aires, Canberra, Cairo, Madrid, Mumbai, Tokyo. Building on the success of this initiative, Dr Gannon has developed a series of keynote lectures to Irish embassies/consulates around the world, entitled #AZGlobalIrishRevLive. The first lecture will be delivered (online) to the Embassy of Ireland, Berlin, in April 2021. Media Individual members of the project team have communicated their research findings on the Global Irish Revolution through a variety of national and international media. Prof Fearghal McGarry has written articles for RTÉ and for the Irish Times' commemorative supplement, 1919 War and Peace (circulation c. 120,000). He was a historical consultant for DoubleBand in the production of BBC's forthcoming documentary series, The Road to Partition, and he was consultant for Midas Productions' Hawks and Doves documentary series which was broadcast in 2020 by RTÉ and BBC. Other television and radio programmes which featured the project research of team members include: • Fearghal McGarry, 'The Irish Revolution' (RTÉ television documentary) • Darragh Gannon, 'De Valera in America' (TG4 television documentary) • Darragh Gannon, ABC National Radio, Sydney (Radio) • Darragh Gannon, Newstalk Talking History (Radio) • Darragh Gannon, RTÉ Radio 1 The History Show (Radio) • Darragh Gannon, BBC Radio Ulster Good Morning Ulster (Radio) • Brian Hanley, RTÉ Radio 1 The History Show (Radio) National Museums Northern Ireland The Global Irish Revolution project team met with representatives of National Museums Northern Ireland (NMNI), a key project partner, to discuss areas for collaboration at the outset of the project. Prof McGarry and Dr Gannon liaised closely with staff at the Ulster Museum thereafter, securing research access to the NMNI's collections. Prof McGarry took the lead in consulting with NMNI in the development of its partition exhibition, particularly in relation to global dimensions of partition. William Blair (Director of Collections at National Museums NI) states that this collaboration 'influenced the interpretive strategy and scope of the exhibition', with McGarry's research paper providing an 'essential touchstone' for the exhibition and an 'important reference point for its narrative development'. Dr Gannon contributed to the NMNI's 'Making the Future' programme for commemorative engagement. He was invited to deliver an online lecture on the centenary of partition (September 2020) and to write a biographical introduction for a forthcoming graphic novel on Michael Collins (January 2021). Dr Gannon will be interviewing NMNI Director of Collections William Blair on the Ulster Museum's Partition exhibition in April in the latest event in his QUB Centre for Public History 'History in the Making' series. The Ulster Museum's Partition exhibition is due to open in April 2021. Royal Irish Academy Prof McGarry and Dr Gannon worked with the Royal Irish Academy to produce 'Ireland 1922', an interdisciplinary commemorative publication featuring essays by fifty academics which is aimed at a general readership. Published in Decemember 2021, the book was subsequently launched at the Royal Irish Academy by Irish Taoiseach Micheal Martin who described the publication as 'a great testament to a new generation of Irish historians which is doing so much to make our past more accessible and intelligible . . . it shows us a defining year in our history - a year which simply cannot be understood by accepting a traditional and limited narrative . . . and it illustrates the vital necessity for history which includes very different approches.' The publication was also commended by the President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins, during his Machnamh seminar series. President Higgins noted that 'Ireland 1922' represents 'an attractive invitation to read below the surface of what was a most important but horrific year, 1922.' The publication is supported by online learning resources developed by project staff member, Dr Bobbie Nolan. Featuring a range of primary source and historiographical material, these resources provide supplemental material for teachers and students preparing for future A Level and Leaving Cert exams in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland respectively. These new perspectives and fresh material featured will add new dimensions to existing exam topics. The resources have been created in consultation with history teaching organisations (north and south) to ensure their relevance for teachers. These resources are hosted on the RIA's website and on Scoilnet, the official portal for Irish education of the Department of Education and Skills. National Museum of Ireland The Global Irish Revolution project team met with representatives of the National Museum of Ireland at the outset of the project to discuss areas of potential collaboration. Dr Gannon liaised with staff at Collins Barracks (including Director Lynn Scarff) thereafter, securing research access to the NMI's collections and promoting these collections through his 'Global Archives' initiative. Dr Gannon continues to contribute to the NMI's programme for commemorative engagement. He was invited to deliver a lecture in support of the launch of the NMI's 'Marching on the road to freedom: Dáil Éireann' exhibition (January 2019) and to review the NMI's 'Irish Wars, 1919-1923' exhibition for the Irish Museums Association (January 2021). Commemorative public history initiatives Project team members have supported a wide range of public-history commemorative initiatives. Prof McGarry acted as historical consultant for the GAA Museum's Remembering Bloody Sunday exhibition, and provided a public lecture, 'An "Irish Amritsar"? Ireland's Revolution in Global Context', to its Bloody Sunday online lecture series. McGarry contributed to the planning of Queen's University Belfast's programme of online events to commemorate the centenary of Irish partition. This initiative, which includes a strand of public talks highlighting global perspectives on partition, is supported by the British and Irish governments, Royal Irish Academy and British Academy. The resulting talks will be made available via BBC platforms. In addition to a wide range of scholarly activities detailed elsewhere, project members contributed to numerous public conferences and history festivals over the course of the project, both in Ireland and further afield. Prof McGarry participated in a public conference in Seoul marking the centenary of the March 1st Independence Movement to resist Japanese colonial rule in Korea organised by the Northeast Asian History Foundation, and he also delivered a public lecture on global aspects of the Irish Revolution at Boston College in 2018. Other public events to which project staff contributed include Imagine! Festival of Ideas and Politics (Belfast, 2018); the Douglas Hyde conference (Ballaghaderreen, 2019); and the Universities Ireland conference (Belfast, 2018). McGarry presented research from the project to the Machnamh seminar series organised by President Michael D. Higgins which was broadcast by RTE and made available online in November 1921. The proceedings of the seminar series will be published and made freely available to the pubilc in 2023.
Sector Communities and Social Services/Policy,Creative Economy,Education,Leisure Activities, including Sports, Recreation and Tourism,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections
Impact Types Cultural,Societal
 
Description Beacon Fellowship
Amount € 7,000 (EUR)
Organisation Ireland Canada University Foundation 
Sector Academic/University
Country Ireland
Start 02/2021 
End 12/2021
 
Description O'Donnell Fellowship
Amount $2,000 (AUD)
Organisation University of Melbourne 
Sector Academic/University
Country Australia
Start 01/2020 
End 02/2020
 
Description O'Malley Residential Fellowship
Amount $3,000 (USD)
Organisation New York University 
Sector Academic/University
Country Italy
Start 04/2022 
End 12/2022
 
Description "'Britain's Flag is our Talisman': Nationalism, Memory, and the Ancient Order of Hibernians in the United States and Canada, 1908-1918." - University of Edinburgh Modern Irish History Seminar Series 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact Invited, public lecture at the University of Edinburgh. 40-minute presentation was followed by an extensive question-and-answer session involving postgraduate students and members of the general public.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
 
Description "And Think, Oh! Think! Of Easter Week, 1916": Intergenerational Legacies of the Global Irish Revolution in Newfoundland, 1933-1950" - Irish History Symposium, University of Cambridge 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact Presentation to the joint University of Edinburgh-University of Cambridge graduate workshop at the University of Cambridge. Twenty-minute presentation to graduate students and faculty was followed by a question-and-answer session.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2020
 
Description "Nationalism and Identity 'On Both Sides of the Line': The Ancient Order of Hibernians and Networks of Diaspora in the United States and Canada, 1908-1918." - University of Aberdeen Irish Studies Symposium 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Schools
Results and Impact Invited presentation at the University of Aberdeen's 2019 Irish Studies Symposium. Audience consited of other symposium attendees, drawn from Universities throughout the United Kingdom and Ireland. A question and answer session followed the twenty-minute presentation.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
 
Description #onthisday Global Irish Revolution Twitter Campaign 
Form Of Engagement Activity Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact The #onthisday Global Irish Revolution Twitter campaign chronicles important examples of "global" support for Irish nationalism during the revolutionary period on their 100-year anniversary. Tweets describing and analyzing these events, with accompanying images, are sent out via the @GlobalIrishRev Twitter account on the appropriate dates. The account's followers - academics, graduate students, and engaged members of the general public frequently "retweet" (share) or comment on the tweets. Some of the more successful examples made "impressions" on tens of thousands of people.

The @GlobalIrishRev Twitter account has over 1,100 followers, and its reach/influence is growing every month.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019,2020
URL https://twitter.com/globalirishrev
 
Description 'De Valera: the making of an Irish President' TG4 documentary 
Form Of Engagement Activity A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press)
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Media (as a channel to the public)
Results and Impact N/A
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018
 
Description 'The 1918 General Election': lecture at Peoples College, Dublin, March 2018. 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact A public lecture aimed at explaining local, national and global implications of the 1918 general election.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018
URL https://soundcloud.com/johndirl66/brian-hanley-on-the-irish-election-of-1918
 
Description 'The 1918 General Election: Ireland united or divided?' Centenaries & Citizenship Project, Belfast, June 2018. 
Form Of Engagement Activity A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact Discussion about the local and global nature of Irish politics in 1918 with representatives of Loyalist communities and commemorative groups.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018
 
Description 'The Negro peoples are beginning to realise their powers ' Global Irish Revolution workshop, Belfast, June 2018. 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact This talk will form a core part of my monograph and provoked interesting discussions with participants.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018
 
Description 'The most important city': Liverpool and the Irish Revolution 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Lecture at Centre for Port and Maritime History annual conference, University of Liverpool, 13 September 2018.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018
 
Description 'Very dangerous places': the IRA and the post-war underworld', American Conference for Irish Studies, Cork, June 2018. 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact A presentation of my work on global republican networks, which will provide the basis for a chapter in my monograph. The audience consisted of historians and Irish Studies scholars from across the globe.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018
 
Description A Farther Shore: American Reflections on the Advent of Irish Independence 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact This panel discussion on the impact of the Easter Rising of 1916 was hosted by Ireland's Embassy in the United States and Boston College, in association with the ACIS New England Region & the Consulate General of Ireland in Boston, it also featured Marjorie Howes (Boston College); Rob Savage (Boston College); Bridget Keown (University of Pittsburgh), and Mike Cronin (Boston College) - as well as Ireland's Ambassador Daniel Mulhall.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
 
Description Article on Ireland's Global Revolution for commemorative newspaper supplement 
Form Of Engagement Activity A magazine, newsletter or online publication
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact This article on Ireland's Global Revolution formed part of a commemorative supplement produced by the Irish Times to mark the centenary of the beginning of the War of Independece. The supplement was widely circulated in the Republic of Ireland, particularly in schools.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
URL https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/heritage/century/war-and-peace
 
Description Blog post on dramatic portrayals of the Irish Revolution and its transnational impact. 
Form Of Engagement Activity Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact My blog post 'Gunrunners and Gangsters: Peaky Blinders, the IRA and Historical Drama' featured on the blog 'Historians for History' during September 2017. It discussed the popular BBC drama 'Peaky Blinders' and how research into IRA activity in post war Britain shows up interesting intersections with an inter-ethnic underworld. Within the first week it had been viewed over 500 times and retweeted by dozens of viewers.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
URL https://historiansforhistory.wordpress.com/2017/09/14/gunrunners-and-gangsters-peaky-blinders-the-ir...
 
Description Co. Cavan county council centenary lecture 'Dáil Éireann at home and abroad' (14 January 2019) 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact N/A
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
 
Description Full page article on the impact of the Russian Revolution on Ireland in the SIPTU trade union's newspaper Liberty. 
Form Of Engagement Activity A magazine, newsletter or online publication
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact My article 'Recalling Red October' was published in the December 2017 issue of Liberty, the monthly newspaper of Ireland's largest trade union SIPTU. Online and hardcopy issues of Liberty are distributed to SIPTU's 206,880 members in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The article detailed the impact of the Russian Revolution on Ireland.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
URL https://cloud.3dissue.com/86718/87064/194160/LibertyNewspaperDecember2017/html5/index.html?page=1&no...
 
Description Féile an Phobail panel discussion 'The First Dáil and the War of Independence: one hundred years on' (11 March 2019) 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact N/A
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
 
Description History Ireland Hedge School (Cobh) panel discussion, 'The Irish Revolution: local or global?' (13 April 2019) 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact N/A
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
 
Description History Ireland Hedge School (Edinburgh) panel discussion 'Scotland and the Irish Revolution' (15 May 2019) 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact N/A
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
 
Description History Ireland Hedge School, Cobh Library 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact On Saturday 13 April 2019, as part of CAFE Readers' and Writers' Festival, Cobh Library, Co. Cork, hosted a History Ireland 'Hedge School' entitled 'The Irish Revolution-local or global?' This was attended by a local audience who participated in questions and discussion, and the recorded proceedings were further disseminated via podcast hosted by Histoyr Ireland, Ireland's leading history magazine.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
URL https://www.decadeofcentenaries.com/13-april-2019-history-ireland-hedge-school-the-irish-revolution-...
 
Description History Ireland Hedge School, Edinburgh 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact This History Ireland Hedge School, hosted by the University of Edinburgh, facilitated a public discussion on the role of Scotland in the global Irish Revolution. This discussion was further disseminated by History Ireland via podcast.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
URL https://www.decadeofcentenaries.com/history-ireland-hedge-school-in-the-university-of-edinburgh/
 
Description History Ireland publication on Ireland's Global Revolution 
Form Of Engagement Activity A magazine, newsletter or online publication
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact Edited by Fearghal McGarry and Enda Delaney, The Irish revolution: 1919-21, a global history was produced by History Ireland, Ireland's leading popular history magazine. The third in the History Ireland Centenary Series tracking the decade of commemorations and features contributions from a host of scholars in the field, this special issue, featuring articles by leading Irish and international historians, focused on placing the Irish revolution in a global context. In addition to being widely circulated to the public, the Commemorations Unit (Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht) funded the distribution of The Irish revolution:1919-21, a global history to all post-primary schools in Ireland. Speaking at the presentation of The Irish revolution:1919-21, a global history to senior level history students at Oatlands College, Stillorgan, Co Dublin, Minister Josepha Madigan said 'The Irish Revolution 1919-21: A Global History, the latest publication from the History Ireland stable, demonstrates that the War of Independence wasn't just about 'raids and rallies' but part of a wider moment in world history. I am delighted to support its distribution to post-primary schools throughout the country. The publication will be a significant learning resource to support history teachers and students alike in navigating this challenging period in our history.'
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
URL https://www.decadeofcentenaries.com/presentation-of-the-irish-revolution-1919-21-a-global-history-to...
 
Description Interview with Newstalk Breakfast, Centenary of the First Dáil (21 January 2019) 
Form Of Engagement Activity A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press)
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Media (as a channel to the public)
Results and Impact N/A
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
 
Description Interview with Northern Sound Radio, Centenary of the First Dáil (14 January 2019) 
Form Of Engagement Activity A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press)
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Media (as a channel to the public)
Results and Impact N/A
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
 
Description Interview with RTÉ History Show, Centenary of the First Dáil (20 January 2019) 
Form Of Engagement Activity A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press)
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Media (as a channel to the public)
Results and Impact N/A
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
 
Description Launch of The Irish Revolution: a Global History, New York University 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact Dr. Patrick Mannion and Professor Fearghal McGarry in conversation with Dr. Miriam Nyhan Grey about their new edited collection, The Irish Revolution: A Global History, the latest volume in the Glucksman Irish Diaspora Series.


The Irish War of Independence is often understood as the culmination of centuries of political unrest between Ireland and the English. However, the conflict also has a vitally important yet vastly understudied international dimension. The Irish Revolution: A Global History reassesses the conflict as an inherently transnational event, examining how circumstances and individuals abroad shaped the course Ireland's struggle for independence.

Bringing together leading international scholars of modern Ireland, its diaspora, and the British Empire, this volume discusses the Irish revolution in a truly global sense. The text situates the conflict in the wider context of the international flourishing of anti-colonial movements following World War I. Despite the differences between these movements, their proponents communicated extensively with each other, learning from and engaging with other revolutionaries in anti-imperial metropoles such as Paris, London, and New York. The contributors to this volume argue that Irish nationalists at home and abroad were intimately involved in this exchange, from mobilizing Ireland's vast diaspora in support of Irish independence to engaging directly with radical causes elsewhere. The Irish Revolution is a vital work for all those interested in Irish history, providing a new understanding of Ireland's place in the evolving postwar world.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
URL https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PI1CFMfYdv8
 
Description Online articles on 'Why Irish revolutionaries had to go global' and 'Patrick McCartan: global revolutionary' for Century Ireland 
Form Of Engagement Activity A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press)
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact Two articles for the Century Ireland website concerning aspects of Irish revolutionaries transnational experiences.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
URL https://www.rte.ie/centuryireland/index.php/articles/why-irish-revolutionaries-had-to-go-global
 
Description Online panel discussion 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact Since 2012, Ireland's Decade of Centenaries has seen us examine and explore the series of seminal events that, politically and socially, shaped our island a century ago. From the introduction of the third Home Rule Bill and the Ulster Covenant in 1912, through the first World War and the Easter Rising of 1916, and onto the formation of the first Dáil and the onset of the War of Independence in 1919, we have marked crucial moments, recognising that the shared historical experiences of those years gave rise to very different narratives and memories.Over the coming months, Ireland's Embassy and Consulates across the United States will join with the American Conference for Irish Studies & Irish Studies programmes across many of this nation's leading Universities to host a series of lectures and panels reflecting on the final - and perhaps most contested - years of this formative decade. Our reflections will cover: the war of Independence; the emergence of Northern Ireland; the negotiations and debate of the Anglo-Irish Treaty; the foundation of the Irish State and the Civil War. We will consider how these seismic events were viewed across the Atlantic and the role the United States - and Irish-America - played in shaping them, recognising that, for many Irish emigrants, independence was a farther shore they strove to reach.This first seminar of our series - 'Was it for this' - focuses on the aftermath to 1916, the renewal of Sinn Féin and the Irish Volunteers, the conscription crisis, the election of 1918 & the First Dáil. Hosted by Boston College, in association with the ACIS New England Region & the Consulate General of Ireland in Boston, it features a range of outstanding scholars - Marjorie Howes (Boston College); Rob Savage (Boston College); Fearghal McGarry (Queens University); Bridget Keown (University of Pittsburgh), and Mike Cronin (Boston College) - as well as Ireland's Ambassador Daniel Mulhall.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
URL https://www.dfa.ie/irish-embassy/usa/news-and-events/news-archive/a-farther-shore-american-reflectio...
 
Description Panellist at History Ireland magazine Hedge School discussing the Russian Revolution at the Electric Picnic music festival, 3 September 2017 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact The History Ireland Hedge School debated 'One hundred years since the Russian Revolution: the dustbin of history?' at the Electric Picnic music festival at Stradbally, Co. Laois, 3 September 2017. Podcast available online.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
URL http://www.historyireland.com/podcast/history-ireland-hedge-school-mindfield-electric-picnic/
 
Description Participant in History Ireland Hedge School: '1918 and the new world order' at Electric Picnic, Stradbally, Co. Laois, September 3, 2018. 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact The discussion on Ireland's role in the global upheaval following the Great War is to continue in both academic and popular forums over the coming years.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018
URL https://issuu.com/goworkhouse/docs/mindfield_ep18_programme_29
 
Description Participant in History Ireland Hedge School: 'From bullets to ballots' Ireland 1917-19, National Photographic Archive, 4 December 2018. 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact Part of a panel discussing the dramatic changes in Ireland after 1917 and particularly examining the 1918 general election. I stressed the importance of the continuing world war, the Wilsonian promise of self-determination and Irish republican awareness of the global scene.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018
URL https://www.historyireland.com/podcast/from-ballots-to-bullets-ireland-1918-19/
 
Description Participant in History Ireland Hedge School: 'The 1918 General Election: political earthquake or same old same old?' Allingham Festival, Ballyshannon, Co. Donegal, 10 November 2018 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact A panel discussion on the 1918 general election, in which I stressed the trans-national aspects of the event. Secondary school students from Co. Tyrone attended, along with members of the public from Donegal and Derry.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018
URL https://www.historyireland.com/podcast/the-1918-general-election-political-earthquake-or-same-old-sa...
 
Description Participant in RTE Radio's The History Show, discussing the First Dáil and its impact. 
Form Of Engagement Activity A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Media (as a channel to the public)
Results and Impact I was part of a panel, including my colleague Darragh Gannon, which discussed the First Dáil; Darragh and I stressed the trans-national and global impacts of the Dáil and its message.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2013,2019
URL https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJ8p3Jzlbp4
 
Description Podcast with Edinburgh Cowgate 107 project 'All hail to the pod'. 
Form Of Engagement Activity A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press)
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact Interview with Edinburgh based community podcast which is listened to by those interested in Irish history and political activism across Scotland and beyond.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2014,2018
URL https://soundcloud.com/all-hail-pod
 
Description President of Ireland Machnamh public talk 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact I contributed a lecture to President Michael D. Higgins fourth 'Machnamh 100' seminar on the topic of Ireland's Global Revolution. The seminar was recorded in the Hyde Room of Áras an Uachtaráin in front of a small audience of post graduate students with a research interest in this period of history who engaged with the speakers in a lively question and answer session chaired by Dr Bowman.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
URL https://youtu.be/YD78T3W4aUM
 
Description Public commemoration 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact Dail Eireann, The First 100 Years 1919 -2019 was a one-day conference, produced in partnership with the Houses of the Oireachtas, is being held to mark the 100th anniversary of Dáil Éireann (the Irish Parliament). The conference, which was held during the week of the 100th anniversary of the 14 December 1918 general election, commenced the Irish Government's programme of events to commemorate 100 years of Dáil Éireann, which first sat in the Mansion House on 21 January 1919. The event, involving academics, politicians and journalists, consisted of panel discussions, followed by Q&A sessions with the public, on the origins, consolidation, evolution and development of Dáil Éireann.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
URL https://pure.qub.ac.uk/portal/files/162163171/dail_eireann_first_100_programme_1.pdf
 
Description Public discussion: 'Lessons of the Russian Revolution' 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact I was part of a panel which discussed the impact of the Russian Revolution on Ireland and more generally at Liberty Hall, Dublin, on 17th November 2017. The occasion was the 'Kevin McMahon memorial lecture' organised by the Services, Industrial, Professional and Technical Trade Union (SIPTU), Ireland's largest trade union.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
 
Description Public lecture 'Red Scares and Rebels' 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact Lecture entitled 'Red Scares and rebels': Ireland and Communism' delivered as part of a series run by Dublin City Library and Archives to mark the centenary of the Russian Revolution. This lunch time lecture was held in the Council chamber of Dublin's City Hall on 17 October 2017. A podcast of the talk will become available in the near future.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
 
Description Public lecture, GAA Museum 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact BACK TO BLOODY SUNDAY 100
Remember & Enlighten: Mondays At The GAA Museum, Dublin
Bloody Sunday Online Lecture Series: September 14th - November 16th, Mondays at 7pm
Insight awaits with our lecture series that will examine Bloody Sunday from every angle and analyse the impact felt in its wake.
Our line-up of expert speakers will bring you thought-provoking discussion on a diverse range of topics.
Fearghal McGarry, 'An Irish Amritsar'? Ireland's revolution in global context
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2020
URL https://crokepark.ie/bloodysunday
 
Description Public talk hosted by the Royal Irish Academy 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact I contributed to a panel discussion hosted by the Royal Irish Academy and the National Archivses of Ireland on the topic of 'The Irish Revolution and the making of a new world order: what the archives tell us.' This was filmed in front of a small audience and streamed to a wider audience. The scholarly discussion was followed by a Q&A. Other partcipants included Dr Linda Connolly (Professor of Sociology, Maynooth University) and Dr Patrick Geoghegan (Professor in Modern History, Trinity College Dublin).
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
 
Description Public talk, Douglas Hyde conference 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact Public talk on Ireland's Global Revolution for Douglas Hyde conference. The Douglas Hyde Conference 2019, organised by Roscommon County Council, supported by the Department of Culture, Heritage & the Gaeltacht and Arts Council took place on Friday 27th September at the Northern & Western Regional Assembly Rooms, Ballaghaderreen. This one day programme is part of the Decade of Centenaries programme which sees a number of invited speakers, academics and historians reflect on the events of a hundred years ago under the conference tile of The Road to Democracy. The conference is divided into four themed sessions with two speakers with each covering the significant issues of Revolution to Democracy, Dáil Eireann Centenary, War of Independence and Art & Archives. Audiences will have an opportunity to hear from speakers about the transformation of a revolution with violence of the period into functioning democracy, the attempts to gain international recognition, the symbolism and choreography of the first Dail meeting, the drift into the War of Independence, the difficult role of the Royal Irish Constabulary, art, revolution and reality and of the important value of the military archives pensions collections as first hand local accounts of events in Roscommon.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
URL https://www.decadeofcentenaries.com/the-douglas-hyde-conference-2019/
 
Description Research presentation at international conference marking Korean independence, Seoul, South Korea 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact This research presentation formed part of a public conference in Seoul, organised by the Northeast Asian History Foundation with the support of the South Korean government, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the March 1st Independence Movement, which took place in 1919 to resist Japanese colonial rule in Korea, and the establishment of the Korean Provisional Government, established in Shanghai on April 11, 1919. The overall theme of the conference, which featured scholars from Korea, China, Japan and Ireland, was 'East Asian Independence Movement in the Global Context of Democracy and Republicanism'.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
URL http://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/article/article.aspx?aid=3062018
 
Description Research presentation, Ireland, the Revolution and the First World War conference, Paris 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact Research presentation on Ireland's Global Revolution for international conference supported by the Embassy of Ireland (France), Centre Culturel Irlandais, Paris, and French Mission du Centaire.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
URL https://pureadmin.qub.ac.uk/ws/portalfiles/portal/185708175/Paris_Conference.pdf
 
Description Research presentation, Partitions, Migrations and Spaces of Engagement Conference 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact This conference presentation on Ireland's global revolution formed part of PARTITIONS, MIGRATIONS AND SPACES OF ENGAGEMENT:
the legacies of conflict and the processes of peacebuilding, a research colloquium organised involving scholars from George Washington University, Washington DC, and Queen's University Belfast which was held at Queen's University Belfast on 8-10 May 2019.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
URL https://pure.qub.ac.uk/en/activities/partitions-migrations-and-spaces-of-engagement-conference-2
 
Description Royal Irish Academy launch of Ireland 1922 publication by An Taoiseach Micheal Martin 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact At an address at the Royal Irish Academy on 30 November 2022, the Taoiseach Micheál Martin T.D. reflected on the role Ireland's history had played in his own decisions in politics, he said
'For all of the immense progress which we have achieved, we have not yet secured a lasting understanding and reconciliation between radically different views of Irish identity. Unfortunately, there is rising evidence that many still refuse to see the need to find a place within our historical narrative for elements which are important to other groups.'
He went on to emphasise that 'history is as important as ever in how we frame our identity and influence politics.'
The Taoiseach was speaking on the role of history in our identity and contemporary politics at the flagship address for the Academy's Ireland 1922 project.

Earlier this month in the Machnamh 100 Seminar VI, President Michael D. Higgins said
"It is to be so welcomed that during the period of our Machnamh 100 seminars so much new work has been published on the period of the war of independence, the Civil War and the early years of the establishment of the free state that would decades later be declared the Irish Republic, among such is Ireland 1922 edited by Darragh Gannon and Fearghal McGarry published by the Royal Irish Academy. The 50 pieces from 50 contributors on 50 chosen themes of 1922 are an attractive invitation to reading below the surface of what was a most important but horrific year, 1922."

Educational resources in Irish and English are available for those studying for the Leaving Certificate and lesson plans for the A-Levels were also developed through a partnership of the History Teachers' Association of Ireland and the History Teachers' Association of Northern Ireland, their first time to collaborate.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
URL https://www.ria.ie/news/publications-ireland-1922/taoiseach-micheal-martin-addresses-royal-irish-aca...
 
Description Submission to public consultation process, on behalf of the Expert Advisory Group, on commemoration of the Decade of Centenaries, 1918-23 
Form Of Engagement Activity A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Policymakers/politicians
Results and Impact The following submission was submitted to the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht to assist the Expert Advisory Group on Commemorations in their work to advise Government regarding the State's approach to commemorations over the remainder of the Decades of Centenaries.
Ireland and the wider world: a submission to the Expert Advisory Group on Commemorations

Summary:

We welcome the public call for submissions to assist the Expert Advisory Group on Commemorations in advising Government on the State's approach to the commemoration of significant historical events that took place between 1918 and 1923.

Our proposal is that the historical events and themes proposed for remembrance by the State over the remainder of the Decade of Centenaries acknowledge the role of the global Irish diaspora, and the impact of international events more generally, in shaping the Irish Revolution and its outcome. We also believe that an international dimension will engage the global Irish in matters relating to Irish culture and heritage, a key objective of DFAT's Global Irish: Ireland's Diaspora Policy (2015).

Context and rationale:

One of the most important developments in Irish historical writing over recent decades has been the effort to place the Easter Rising in its broader European context. Once viewed as parallel historical developments, the First World War and the 1916 rebellion are now seen, in the words of Keith Jeffery, to constitute a 'seamless robe' of Irish experience. Historians have been successful in conveying this idea to the general public during the 'Decade of Centenaries'. The international dimension of the State's commemorative programme has also strengthened important connections between the Irish people at home and abroad. One of the most successful aspects of the 2016 centenary, resulting from the DFAT's ambitious global programme, was the extent to which Irish communities across the world participated in historical reflections and ceremonies to mark the Easter Rising. A number of world-leading universities were involved in the 1916/2016 programme including Oxford, Cambridge, Edinburgh, Queen's University, and Boston College, bringing a much-welcome international context to the discussions and debates about the events of this period.
In contrast, there is less public awareness of the extent to which Ireland's campaign for independence was bound up with wider European and global developments after 1918. The attainment of Irish sovereignty depended not only on developments within Ireland but on those beyond the island. The popularity of the Wilsonian ideal of national self-determination in the immediate aftermath of the First World War provided a vital context for the emergence of democratic republics across much of Europe. The global Irish diaspora, not only in the United States but across the British Empire, played a crucial role in sustaining Ireland's struggle for independence. Events in Ireland also had a significant impact beyond Ireland, particularly on oppressed nationalities in other parts of the world.
Irish revolutionaries' appreciation of the need to win international support for Irish independence is evident from Dáil initiatives such as the Message to the Free Nations of the World, the success of the Dáil foreign ministry in establishing consuls across Europe and the wider world, and President de Valera's presence in the United States between June 1919 and December 1920. Despite this, events within Ireland, in particular the military aspects of the War of Independence, tend to overshadow the importance of the international and political dimensions of the struggle for Irish independence. Our concern is that an official commemorative programme which marks only military and political events within Ireland may reinforce insular perspectives on this period of Irish history. This may well have the unintended consequences of promoting insularity and inward-looking perspectives.
We also believe that a greater public understanding and awareness of the wider international context, particularly through exploration of the parallels between experiences in Ireland and other parts of Europe where empires gave way to nation-states, might provide an effective means of approaching some of the most difficult and contested events of 1918-23. Sensitive, and still deeply divisive, issues such as sectarian violence; partition; the experience of religious and political minorities; and civil war - which are often interpreted in a narrow Irish context - might usefully be assessed in a broader, comparative framework as these were features of many of the new post-war European states that emerged from the First World War's violent aftermath.

Recommendations:

1. An event recognising the participation of the global Irish diaspora in the republican campaign for independence be included in The Independence Struggle 1919 - 1921 (military and parallel non-military activity) timeline of key events.

One potential date might be 23 August 1920 when a small group of American and Irish women began a protest vigil outside the British Consulate in New York to draw attention to Terence MacSwiney's hunger strike in London. Four days later, their protest spread to the New York harbour front when Irish, Irish-American and African-American longshoremen refused to unload the cargo of the S.S. Baltic, a White Star liner from which Archbishop Mannix had been removed by the British military to prevent his journey to Ireland. In addition to highlighting international involvement in the struggle for Irish independence, the ensuing dispute demonstrated how Irish demands for independence were, at times, bound up with wider progressive causes such as female suffrage, racial injustice and anti-imperialism.

2. The inclusion of 'Ireland and the Wider World' as a theme within the Significant Historical Events and Themes (1918 - 1923). This will, as the Expert Advisory Committee notes, 'provide an opportunity to highlight new and ongoing research and perspectives and to emphasise the huge broadening of the frameworks for interpreting the events of 1917 - 1923 in recent decades'. In addition to providing 'the opportunity to encourage scholarship at national and local level', these new scholarly interpretations should be made as publicly accessible as possible.

3. Establishing a short series of public lectures by leading international, diaspora and Irish scholars reflecting on global developments, such as the international impact of the shift from empire to self-determination, and the role of the Irish diaspora in shaping Ireland's revolution. This might be hosted at an appropriate venue such as the Royal Irish Academy, and further disseminated to the global Irish diaspora via podcast.

4. The convening of an international scholarly conference at an appropriate high-profile location, such as Boston or New York, bringing together historians of Ireland, the Irish diaspora, and other countries influenced by anti-imperial struggle during this period, to reflect on the global dimensions of Ireland's revolution and its wider impact on empire. Such a conference, organised by an international university or a partnership of a number of international institutions, might incorporate public events involving the Irish diaspora, other diasporic communities, and representatives of civic groups such as the American labour movement which played such a prominent role in the Irish Patriotic Strike of 1920.

Submitted on behalf of the AHRC-funded research project, A Global History of Irish Revolution: (http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk/projects?ref=AH%2FP00914X%2F1)

Prof. Fearghal McGarry, Queen's University Belfast
Prof. Enda Delaney, The University of Edinburgh
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018
URL https://www.chg.gov.ie/news-centre/news-centre-consultations/
 
Description Television commentary, broadcast marking centenary of establishment of First Dail (Irish independence), 1919 
Form Of Engagement Activity A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press)
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact Fearghal McGarry provided in-studio commentary for RTE's broadcast of the commemoration of the establishment of the First Dail commemorated by a joint sitting of the current Dáil and Seanad in the round room of the Mansion House in Dublin where the first Dáil met in 1919.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
URL https://www.rte.ie/news/2019/0121/1024471-dail-centenary-mansion-house/
 
Description Universities Ireland conference: Votes for the People, 1 December 2018 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact 'Votes for the people: 1918' was the seventh in a series of public conferences organised by Universities Ireland, the network of university presidents and vice-chancellors on the island of Ireland to commemorate the centenary of key events in the history of modern Ireland ranging from the Ulster Covenant, through the First World War and the 1916 Rising, to the foundation of the Irish and Northern Irish States. The aim of the conference was to explore both the high politics of the moment and its wider social context. Why did Sinn Féin triumph? How did the enfranchisement of women shape the election and the status of women in society? How did Unionists and Britain respond to the republican challenge? How was the election shaped by local and global concerns during a period of rapid revolutionary change?
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018
URL http://universitiesireland.ie/1912-1923-reflecting-on-a-decade-of-war-and-revolution-in-ireland-vote...
 
Description Website content on Global Irish Revolution, RTE/Boston College Century Ireland project 
Form Of Engagement Activity A magazine, newsletter or online publication
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact Our project provided a range of online print and visual content on Global Irish Revolution, a dedicated strand of the RTE/Boston College Century Ireland project.The Century Ireland project is an online historical newspaper that tells the story of the events of Irish life a century ago. Published on a fortnightly basis, beginning in May 2013, Century Ireland is the main online portal for the Irish decade of commemorations, 1912-23. News reporting on life in Ireland 100 years ago is supported by a wealth of visul, archival and contextual material to facilitate an understanding of the complexities of Irish life in the year between 1912 and 1923. Funded by the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Century Ireland is hosted by RTÉ and the site is complimented by their broadcast schedule and material from the RTÉ archive. At the core of Century Ireland is a collaborative partnership between the major cultural and educational institutions in Ireland. By working so fruitfully together, the various partners are making a range of rarely (or never) seen material available that will bring the events of a century ago to life. Century Ireland was awarded an Eircom Spider award for best Irish Arts, Culture & Heritage website in 2013 and shortlisted for a prestigious Prix Europa, one of the biggest international prizes for public service television, radio and online production.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019,2020
URL https://www.rte.ie/centuryireland/index.php/articles/introducing-the-global-irish-revolution