Conference Presentations by Tim Ellis
This paper will explore how and why politicians were depicted as ‘others’ in Irish political cart... more This paper will explore how and why politicians were depicted as ‘others’ in Irish political cartoons between 1922-39. Whilst L. P. Curtis (1971) has explored how political cartoons depicted Irish nationalists as ‘others’ in the nineteenth century, scholars have devoted little attention to the discourses of political cartoons in independent Ireland. Nonetheless, Irish cartoonists consistently utilised symbols of ‘otherness’ to de-legitimise politicians, between 1922-39.
In 1922, Éamon de Valera appeared in political cartoons as emaciated and effeminate, at a time when the political rhetoric of the Civil War was strongly gendered. In the late 1920s, de Valera’s opponents used the racialised visual symbolism of physiognomy to construct him as irrational, un-manly and un-Irish. During the 1930s, in the Irish Press, William Cosgrave appeared in upper-class, British seonín clothing, making him appear out of step with contemporary Irish social mores.
Cartoons could potently delegitimise politicians, because, as Anthea Callen (1998) argues, visual images can potently signify ‘otherness.’ Those who did not conform to Irish nationalist conceptions of race and gender faced delegitimisation. Mairead Carew (2018) argues that, in the inter-war period, constructions of Irishness entailed being a white European. Similarly, Aidan Beatty (2016), argues that Irish nationalism has long privileged masculinity over femininity. Rather than mere humorous illustrations of current affairs, political cartoons thus potently embodied the socio-political discourses that structured the society of the Irish Free State.
Despite the ‘visual turn’ in the humanities in recent decades, few scholars have explored the rol... more Despite the ‘visual turn’ in the humanities in recent decades, few scholars have explored the role of visual culture in the political history of Ireland. This paper argues that we should explore the multiple ways in which visual culture and visibility both form a crucial part of Irish political culture, offering the politics of the Irish Civil War as a case study.
The emergent Irish Free State invested considerable effort into hiring official photographers and photographic censors, whilst surveilling and disciplining the visual appearance of its soldiers. Both the visibility and outward appearance of the National Army was vital, as in ‘Treatyite’ discourse, the visible and ‘respectable’ National Army soldier was contrasted with the ‘shadowy’ and immoral IRA gunman. In the post-revolutionary Free State, visibility became politically associated with law and order, whilst invisibility became linked to anarchy.
One of the most significant political phenomena, internationally, in the 1930s were the infamous ... more One of the most significant political phenomena, internationally, in the 1930s were the infamous ‘shirted movements’, commonly, though not exclusively, associated with Fascist and para-Fascist organisations. The significance of coloured shirts in the politics of the 1930s, for instance, has attracted scholarly interest, notably in Phillip Coupland’s (2004) and Perry Wilson’s (2013) work on the British and Italian black-shirts respectively. The significance of clothing in the contemporary Irish ‘Blueshirts’ has received very little attention from scholars, however.
This paper argues, that, the ‘Blueshirts’ like many contemporary organisations, invested their uniform with many practical functions and imbued it with multiple symbolic meanings. The colour blue, for instance, connoted the symbolism of St. Patrick and thus constituted a conservative, Catholic-nationalist statement. Like many other contemporary right-wing movements, the Blueshirts contrasted their ‘practical’, ‘modern’ uniform with the ‘outdated’ and ‘stiff’ shirts of mainstream politicians, regarding their uniform as a metaphor for action and discipline. Blueshirt leaders also noted that the uniform made members “so very conspicuous,’ and thus, easier to surveil and discipline.
Opponents of the Blueshirts also recognized the significance of the shirt. In street confrontations, left-wing republicans were known to set fire to blue shirts that had been captured. As a result of these confrontations, a nervous Irish government in 1934 proposed legislation which sought to ban the blue shirt. As a result, the shirt prompted a debate which questioned the very nature of Irish democracy itself.
This paper argues that the Irish Press utilised visual images in the 1930s very effectively to ne... more This paper argues that the Irish Press utilised visual images in the 1930s very effectively to negotiate the demands of democracy. Whilst scholars (such as Mark O’Brien) have explored the institutional history of the Irish Press this paper instead analyses the under-explored cultural content of the newspaper.
During the 1930s commentators recognised that politics, both in Ireland and abroad, was becoming increasingly ‘visual’. Commentators also praised the Irish Press’s strikingly ‘modern’ design, layout and use of images. During election campaigns, content analysis reveals that the Irish Press published nearly 50% more images relating to political topics than its rival, the Irish Independent, for instance.
The ‘visuality’ of the Irish Press particularly suited Fianna Fáil’s political style, as the party consistently used spectacle and visual culture to engage with voters. The paper itself utilised visual images for multiple purposes. Photographs of Fianna Fáil meetings potently communicated Fianna Fáil strength and popularity. These photographs could be manipulated in a particular way so as to perhaps exaggerate Fianna Fáil support, whilst still remaining realistic and believable. Indeed, the verisimilitude of the photographic medium allowed the Irish Press to make controversial claims about their political opponents. In its use of visual culture, the Irish Press thus offered a strikingly modern and revolutionary contribution to the politics of the early Irish state.
This paper will explore how ‘respectability’ offers both a transnational and comparative framewor... more This paper will explore how ‘respectability’ offers both a transnational and comparative framework for exploring the Irish Revolution. Historians have long used ‘respectability’ to understand the political tactics of subaltern groups. The most sophisticated account is Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham’s 1994 monograph Righteous Discontent, which explores how African American Baptist women used ‘respectability’ as a ‘bridge discourse’ to gain political capital and forge links with more powerful white, male allies. The first part of this paper will thus comparatively examine how Higginbotham’s insights from the study of African American women can be applied to the Irish Revolution. Participants in the Irish revolution conspicuously used ‘respectable’ behaviours, such as maintaining a tidy appearance, abstaining from alcohol and attending mass, for political capital. The Irish Volunteer, for instance, reminded its readers to come to drills ‘clean shaven and with a haircut.’ The second part of this paper explores how ‘respectability’ functioned as a transnational discourse. This was particularly true in the postcolonial circumstances of the Irish Civil War, when the nascent Free State was consciously trying to attain membership of the League of Nations. National Army soldiers, for example, were reminded in An t-Óglách that ‘the world is watching us.’ This part of the paper will explore the Free State’s use of photography during the Civil War, as a case study, to explore how images of the new state were consciously constructed to be ‘respectable’ with an international audience in mind.
This paper will explore the ability of political cartoons to depict politicians’ masculinities in... more This paper will explore the ability of political cartoons to depict politicians’ masculinities in different ways, in order to both develop and denigrate their public personae. This paper examines the significance of masculinity in political cartoons of Éamon de Valera, a deeply prominent figure in modern Irish history, images of whom have dominated Irish popular culture throughout the twentieth century. At the height of his political powers, de Valera appeared as a strong muscular figure, and portrayals of his physical strength intersected with his agrarian rhetoric about the virtues of the ‘strong farmer’ along with his socially conservative ideas about the correct place of women in Irish society. De Valera’s opponents, in their political cartoons, conversely, depicted him as being not only weak and feminine, but also insufficiently Irish, thus conflating nationhood with gender.
To his supporters, de Valera embodied a virtuous, distinctly Irish nationalist masculinity. In the digital age, images of de Valera’s ‘traditional’ Irish masculinity, have been re-appropriated in new and surprising ways. The Rubberbandits, a prominent Irish satirical, hip-hop duo, (who have promoted their own, distinctly modern performance of Irish masculinity) have utilised images of de Valera in their work, most notably in their song, ‘Double-dropping yokes with Éamon de Valera.’ De Valera, one of the most prominent figures in modern Ireland, has left a deeply complex legacy, and, consequently, his image has become implicated in a complex variety of performances of Irish masculinity.
This paper will explore the significance of photography in the political controversies generated ... more This paper will explore the significance of photography in the political controversies generated by the Irish Civil War. This conflict, fought between those who accepted and those who rejected the Anglo-Irish Treaty (which offered Ireland Dominion status in the British Empire) was a key moment in the development of an independent Irish state. Memories of the civil war remain traumatic, not least because of some of the grave atrocities committed during the conflict.
Approaches to studying the Irish Civil War have been predominately conservative, utilising high political analyses which focus on the personalities of the war’s generals and politicians. Only recently have historians, such as Gavin Foster [see The Irish Civil War and society (Basingstoke, 2015)], examined the conflict through the framework of social history. This paper will examine the Civil War, through photographs, a type of source that has generated very little interest in Irish historiography and has been relatively under-explored in military history and interdisciplinary studies of conflict. Photographs, nonetheless, provide an illuminating source-base with which we can examine the Irish Civil War. Due to the growth of cameras and photographs as consumer products in 1920s Ireland, photography had a significant social and political impact on the emergent Irish state. The presentation that accompanies this paper will therefore be rich in photographs and other visual images.
During the Civil War, outbreaks of military indiscipline, such as the Ballyseedy Massacre, were ‘grave matters’ which bordered on serious atrocities. Although photography had a number of political applications during the Civil War, this paper will focus on the significance of photography in combating negative perceptions of the pro-Treaty National Army. It will show, for instance, how photography constituted a vital part of the battle for ‘hearts and minds’ within the conflict and helped to project a ‘respectable’ ‘soldierly’ image of the National Army. It will also show how photography could be deployed subtly for surveillance purposes and ensure that the National Army followed internationally-recognised rules and standards of warfare.
Wars are vital processes in the formation of identities and memories, and the Irish Civil War was no exception. Some of the more serious atrocities committed continue to be traumatic and controversial, and remain a site of continued resentment in Ireland today. By utilising a methodology of ‘discourse analysis’ this paper will highlight the complexity of the relationship between the identities, memories and debates associated with conflict, and visual culture. I will thus close the paper with an examination of the implications of this methodology.
This paper thus offers a theoretically informed approach, grounded in ‘alternative’ sources, to a deeply controversial period in Irish history. The identities formed by the traumatic Irish Civil War remain bitterly strong today, and will be strengthened by the conflict’s centenary in five years time. Utilising visual sources allows us to deconstruct these identities further, and better understand the bitterness that military conflict generates.
This paper will argue that political cartoons are a particularly illuminating source for analysi... more This paper will argue that political cartoons are a particularly illuminating source for analysing women’s experiences, gender and masculinities in Irish history. It will do so through a case study of cartoons which were utilised to protest the socially conservative and masculinised politics of the Irish Free State between 1922-39. Whilst women played an important political role in the Irish revolution, women’s rights and access to the political sphere were significantly curtailed after 1922. This was achieved through legislation, which among other things, limited women’s participation on juries and access to contraception. Whilst six women took their seats in the revolutionary Dáil Éireann, only one woman between 1923-33 was able to do so.
This paper will explore how political cartoons constituted a vital means of political self-expression and protest for Constance Markievicz and Grace Gifford in the aftermath of the Irish revolution, a difficult time for politically-active, radically-minded women. Whilst heavily gendered, Gifford’s and Markievicz’s cartoons also examined race and imperialism in an Irish context, and this paper will thus also analyse women’s negotiations of race and decolonisation in the Irish Free State. Themes in Markievicz’s and Gifford’s cartoons also permeated into the content of Dublin Opinion, a humorous journal, which utilised cartoons to make a subtle critique of the masculine conquest of political space in post-revolutionary Ireland. Whilst the history of masculinities has been very under-explored in Irish historiography, this paper offers insight into how masculinity was represented visually in early independent Ireland.
By examining how political cartoons could be used to communicate a range of discourses around gender and political protest, this paper will show how political cartoons really did constitute ‘an art of resistance’ in post-revolutionary Ireland.
Book Reviews by Tim Ellis
Irish Historical Studies, 2019
Review of Michael Collins, the man and the revolution, by Anne Dolan and William Murphy.
Papers by Tim Ellis
History Studies, 2019
One of the most significant political phenomena, internationally, in the 1930s were the infamous ... more One of the most significant political phenomena, internationally, in the 1930s were the infamous ‘shirted movements’, commonly, though not exclusively, associated with Fascist and para-Fascist organisations. The significance of coloured shirts in the politics of the 1930s, for instance, has attracted scholarly interest, notably in Phillip Coupland’s (2004) and Perry Wilson’s (2013) work on the British and Italian black-shirts respectively. The significance of clothing in the contemporary Irish ‘Blueshirts’ has received very little attention from scholars, however.
This paper argues, that, the ‘Blueshirts’ like many contemporary organisations, invested their uniform with many practical functions and imbued it with multiple symbolic meanings. The colour blue, for instance, connoted the symbolism of St. Patrick and thus constituted a conservative, Catholic-nationalist statement. Like many other contemporary right-wing movements, the Blueshirts contrasted their ‘practical’, ‘modern’ uniform with the ‘outdated’ and ‘stiff’ shirts of mainstream politicians, regarding their uniform as a metaphor for action and discipline. Blueshirt leaders also noted that the uniform made members “so very conspicuous,’ and thus, easier to surveil and discipline.
Opponents of the Blueshirts also recognized the significance of the shirt. In street confrontations, left-wing republicans were known to set fire to blue shirts that had been captured. As a result of these confrontations, a nervous Irish government in 1934 proposed legislation which sought to ban the blue shirt. As a result, the shirt prompted a debate which questioned the very nature of Irish democracy itself.
Thesis Chapters by Tim Ellis
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Conference Presentations by Tim Ellis
In 1922, Éamon de Valera appeared in political cartoons as emaciated and effeminate, at a time when the political rhetoric of the Civil War was strongly gendered. In the late 1920s, de Valera’s opponents used the racialised visual symbolism of physiognomy to construct him as irrational, un-manly and un-Irish. During the 1930s, in the Irish Press, William Cosgrave appeared in upper-class, British seonín clothing, making him appear out of step with contemporary Irish social mores.
Cartoons could potently delegitimise politicians, because, as Anthea Callen (1998) argues, visual images can potently signify ‘otherness.’ Those who did not conform to Irish nationalist conceptions of race and gender faced delegitimisation. Mairead Carew (2018) argues that, in the inter-war period, constructions of Irishness entailed being a white European. Similarly, Aidan Beatty (2016), argues that Irish nationalism has long privileged masculinity over femininity. Rather than mere humorous illustrations of current affairs, political cartoons thus potently embodied the socio-political discourses that structured the society of the Irish Free State.
The emergent Irish Free State invested considerable effort into hiring official photographers and photographic censors, whilst surveilling and disciplining the visual appearance of its soldiers. Both the visibility and outward appearance of the National Army was vital, as in ‘Treatyite’ discourse, the visible and ‘respectable’ National Army soldier was contrasted with the ‘shadowy’ and immoral IRA gunman. In the post-revolutionary Free State, visibility became politically associated with law and order, whilst invisibility became linked to anarchy.
This paper argues, that, the ‘Blueshirts’ like many contemporary organisations, invested their uniform with many practical functions and imbued it with multiple symbolic meanings. The colour blue, for instance, connoted the symbolism of St. Patrick and thus constituted a conservative, Catholic-nationalist statement. Like many other contemporary right-wing movements, the Blueshirts contrasted their ‘practical’, ‘modern’ uniform with the ‘outdated’ and ‘stiff’ shirts of mainstream politicians, regarding their uniform as a metaphor for action and discipline. Blueshirt leaders also noted that the uniform made members “so very conspicuous,’ and thus, easier to surveil and discipline.
Opponents of the Blueshirts also recognized the significance of the shirt. In street confrontations, left-wing republicans were known to set fire to blue shirts that had been captured. As a result of these confrontations, a nervous Irish government in 1934 proposed legislation which sought to ban the blue shirt. As a result, the shirt prompted a debate which questioned the very nature of Irish democracy itself.
During the 1930s commentators recognised that politics, both in Ireland and abroad, was becoming increasingly ‘visual’. Commentators also praised the Irish Press’s strikingly ‘modern’ design, layout and use of images. During election campaigns, content analysis reveals that the Irish Press published nearly 50% more images relating to political topics than its rival, the Irish Independent, for instance.
The ‘visuality’ of the Irish Press particularly suited Fianna Fáil’s political style, as the party consistently used spectacle and visual culture to engage with voters. The paper itself utilised visual images for multiple purposes. Photographs of Fianna Fáil meetings potently communicated Fianna Fáil strength and popularity. These photographs could be manipulated in a particular way so as to perhaps exaggerate Fianna Fáil support, whilst still remaining realistic and believable. Indeed, the verisimilitude of the photographic medium allowed the Irish Press to make controversial claims about their political opponents. In its use of visual culture, the Irish Press thus offered a strikingly modern and revolutionary contribution to the politics of the early Irish state.
To his supporters, de Valera embodied a virtuous, distinctly Irish nationalist masculinity. In the digital age, images of de Valera’s ‘traditional’ Irish masculinity, have been re-appropriated in new and surprising ways. The Rubberbandits, a prominent Irish satirical, hip-hop duo, (who have promoted their own, distinctly modern performance of Irish masculinity) have utilised images of de Valera in their work, most notably in their song, ‘Double-dropping yokes with Éamon de Valera.’ De Valera, one of the most prominent figures in modern Ireland, has left a deeply complex legacy, and, consequently, his image has become implicated in a complex variety of performances of Irish masculinity.
Approaches to studying the Irish Civil War have been predominately conservative, utilising high political analyses which focus on the personalities of the war’s generals and politicians. Only recently have historians, such as Gavin Foster [see The Irish Civil War and society (Basingstoke, 2015)], examined the conflict through the framework of social history. This paper will examine the Civil War, through photographs, a type of source that has generated very little interest in Irish historiography and has been relatively under-explored in military history and interdisciplinary studies of conflict. Photographs, nonetheless, provide an illuminating source-base with which we can examine the Irish Civil War. Due to the growth of cameras and photographs as consumer products in 1920s Ireland, photography had a significant social and political impact on the emergent Irish state. The presentation that accompanies this paper will therefore be rich in photographs and other visual images.
During the Civil War, outbreaks of military indiscipline, such as the Ballyseedy Massacre, were ‘grave matters’ which bordered on serious atrocities. Although photography had a number of political applications during the Civil War, this paper will focus on the significance of photography in combating negative perceptions of the pro-Treaty National Army. It will show, for instance, how photography constituted a vital part of the battle for ‘hearts and minds’ within the conflict and helped to project a ‘respectable’ ‘soldierly’ image of the National Army. It will also show how photography could be deployed subtly for surveillance purposes and ensure that the National Army followed internationally-recognised rules and standards of warfare.
Wars are vital processes in the formation of identities and memories, and the Irish Civil War was no exception. Some of the more serious atrocities committed continue to be traumatic and controversial, and remain a site of continued resentment in Ireland today. By utilising a methodology of ‘discourse analysis’ this paper will highlight the complexity of the relationship between the identities, memories and debates associated with conflict, and visual culture. I will thus close the paper with an examination of the implications of this methodology.
This paper thus offers a theoretically informed approach, grounded in ‘alternative’ sources, to a deeply controversial period in Irish history. The identities formed by the traumatic Irish Civil War remain bitterly strong today, and will be strengthened by the conflict’s centenary in five years time. Utilising visual sources allows us to deconstruct these identities further, and better understand the bitterness that military conflict generates.
This paper will explore how political cartoons constituted a vital means of political self-expression and protest for Constance Markievicz and Grace Gifford in the aftermath of the Irish revolution, a difficult time for politically-active, radically-minded women. Whilst heavily gendered, Gifford’s and Markievicz’s cartoons also examined race and imperialism in an Irish context, and this paper will thus also analyse women’s negotiations of race and decolonisation in the Irish Free State. Themes in Markievicz’s and Gifford’s cartoons also permeated into the content of Dublin Opinion, a humorous journal, which utilised cartoons to make a subtle critique of the masculine conquest of political space in post-revolutionary Ireland. Whilst the history of masculinities has been very under-explored in Irish historiography, this paper offers insight into how masculinity was represented visually in early independent Ireland.
By examining how political cartoons could be used to communicate a range of discourses around gender and political protest, this paper will show how political cartoons really did constitute ‘an art of resistance’ in post-revolutionary Ireland.
Book Reviews by Tim Ellis
Papers by Tim Ellis
This paper argues, that, the ‘Blueshirts’ like many contemporary organisations, invested their uniform with many practical functions and imbued it with multiple symbolic meanings. The colour blue, for instance, connoted the symbolism of St. Patrick and thus constituted a conservative, Catholic-nationalist statement. Like many other contemporary right-wing movements, the Blueshirts contrasted their ‘practical’, ‘modern’ uniform with the ‘outdated’ and ‘stiff’ shirts of mainstream politicians, regarding their uniform as a metaphor for action and discipline. Blueshirt leaders also noted that the uniform made members “so very conspicuous,’ and thus, easier to surveil and discipline.
Opponents of the Blueshirts also recognized the significance of the shirt. In street confrontations, left-wing republicans were known to set fire to blue shirts that had been captured. As a result of these confrontations, a nervous Irish government in 1934 proposed legislation which sought to ban the blue shirt. As a result, the shirt prompted a debate which questioned the very nature of Irish democracy itself.
Thesis Chapters by Tim Ellis
In 1922, Éamon de Valera appeared in political cartoons as emaciated and effeminate, at a time when the political rhetoric of the Civil War was strongly gendered. In the late 1920s, de Valera’s opponents used the racialised visual symbolism of physiognomy to construct him as irrational, un-manly and un-Irish. During the 1930s, in the Irish Press, William Cosgrave appeared in upper-class, British seonín clothing, making him appear out of step with contemporary Irish social mores.
Cartoons could potently delegitimise politicians, because, as Anthea Callen (1998) argues, visual images can potently signify ‘otherness.’ Those who did not conform to Irish nationalist conceptions of race and gender faced delegitimisation. Mairead Carew (2018) argues that, in the inter-war period, constructions of Irishness entailed being a white European. Similarly, Aidan Beatty (2016), argues that Irish nationalism has long privileged masculinity over femininity. Rather than mere humorous illustrations of current affairs, political cartoons thus potently embodied the socio-political discourses that structured the society of the Irish Free State.
The emergent Irish Free State invested considerable effort into hiring official photographers and photographic censors, whilst surveilling and disciplining the visual appearance of its soldiers. Both the visibility and outward appearance of the National Army was vital, as in ‘Treatyite’ discourse, the visible and ‘respectable’ National Army soldier was contrasted with the ‘shadowy’ and immoral IRA gunman. In the post-revolutionary Free State, visibility became politically associated with law and order, whilst invisibility became linked to anarchy.
This paper argues, that, the ‘Blueshirts’ like many contemporary organisations, invested their uniform with many practical functions and imbued it with multiple symbolic meanings. The colour blue, for instance, connoted the symbolism of St. Patrick and thus constituted a conservative, Catholic-nationalist statement. Like many other contemporary right-wing movements, the Blueshirts contrasted their ‘practical’, ‘modern’ uniform with the ‘outdated’ and ‘stiff’ shirts of mainstream politicians, regarding their uniform as a metaphor for action and discipline. Blueshirt leaders also noted that the uniform made members “so very conspicuous,’ and thus, easier to surveil and discipline.
Opponents of the Blueshirts also recognized the significance of the shirt. In street confrontations, left-wing republicans were known to set fire to blue shirts that had been captured. As a result of these confrontations, a nervous Irish government in 1934 proposed legislation which sought to ban the blue shirt. As a result, the shirt prompted a debate which questioned the very nature of Irish democracy itself.
During the 1930s commentators recognised that politics, both in Ireland and abroad, was becoming increasingly ‘visual’. Commentators also praised the Irish Press’s strikingly ‘modern’ design, layout and use of images. During election campaigns, content analysis reveals that the Irish Press published nearly 50% more images relating to political topics than its rival, the Irish Independent, for instance.
The ‘visuality’ of the Irish Press particularly suited Fianna Fáil’s political style, as the party consistently used spectacle and visual culture to engage with voters. The paper itself utilised visual images for multiple purposes. Photographs of Fianna Fáil meetings potently communicated Fianna Fáil strength and popularity. These photographs could be manipulated in a particular way so as to perhaps exaggerate Fianna Fáil support, whilst still remaining realistic and believable. Indeed, the verisimilitude of the photographic medium allowed the Irish Press to make controversial claims about their political opponents. In its use of visual culture, the Irish Press thus offered a strikingly modern and revolutionary contribution to the politics of the early Irish state.
To his supporters, de Valera embodied a virtuous, distinctly Irish nationalist masculinity. In the digital age, images of de Valera’s ‘traditional’ Irish masculinity, have been re-appropriated in new and surprising ways. The Rubberbandits, a prominent Irish satirical, hip-hop duo, (who have promoted their own, distinctly modern performance of Irish masculinity) have utilised images of de Valera in their work, most notably in their song, ‘Double-dropping yokes with Éamon de Valera.’ De Valera, one of the most prominent figures in modern Ireland, has left a deeply complex legacy, and, consequently, his image has become implicated in a complex variety of performances of Irish masculinity.
Approaches to studying the Irish Civil War have been predominately conservative, utilising high political analyses which focus on the personalities of the war’s generals and politicians. Only recently have historians, such as Gavin Foster [see The Irish Civil War and society (Basingstoke, 2015)], examined the conflict through the framework of social history. This paper will examine the Civil War, through photographs, a type of source that has generated very little interest in Irish historiography and has been relatively under-explored in military history and interdisciplinary studies of conflict. Photographs, nonetheless, provide an illuminating source-base with which we can examine the Irish Civil War. Due to the growth of cameras and photographs as consumer products in 1920s Ireland, photography had a significant social and political impact on the emergent Irish state. The presentation that accompanies this paper will therefore be rich in photographs and other visual images.
During the Civil War, outbreaks of military indiscipline, such as the Ballyseedy Massacre, were ‘grave matters’ which bordered on serious atrocities. Although photography had a number of political applications during the Civil War, this paper will focus on the significance of photography in combating negative perceptions of the pro-Treaty National Army. It will show, for instance, how photography constituted a vital part of the battle for ‘hearts and minds’ within the conflict and helped to project a ‘respectable’ ‘soldierly’ image of the National Army. It will also show how photography could be deployed subtly for surveillance purposes and ensure that the National Army followed internationally-recognised rules and standards of warfare.
Wars are vital processes in the formation of identities and memories, and the Irish Civil War was no exception. Some of the more serious atrocities committed continue to be traumatic and controversial, and remain a site of continued resentment in Ireland today. By utilising a methodology of ‘discourse analysis’ this paper will highlight the complexity of the relationship between the identities, memories and debates associated with conflict, and visual culture. I will thus close the paper with an examination of the implications of this methodology.
This paper thus offers a theoretically informed approach, grounded in ‘alternative’ sources, to a deeply controversial period in Irish history. The identities formed by the traumatic Irish Civil War remain bitterly strong today, and will be strengthened by the conflict’s centenary in five years time. Utilising visual sources allows us to deconstruct these identities further, and better understand the bitterness that military conflict generates.
This paper will explore how political cartoons constituted a vital means of political self-expression and protest for Constance Markievicz and Grace Gifford in the aftermath of the Irish revolution, a difficult time for politically-active, radically-minded women. Whilst heavily gendered, Gifford’s and Markievicz’s cartoons also examined race and imperialism in an Irish context, and this paper will thus also analyse women’s negotiations of race and decolonisation in the Irish Free State. Themes in Markievicz’s and Gifford’s cartoons also permeated into the content of Dublin Opinion, a humorous journal, which utilised cartoons to make a subtle critique of the masculine conquest of political space in post-revolutionary Ireland. Whilst the history of masculinities has been very under-explored in Irish historiography, this paper offers insight into how masculinity was represented visually in early independent Ireland.
By examining how political cartoons could be used to communicate a range of discourses around gender and political protest, this paper will show how political cartoons really did constitute ‘an art of resistance’ in post-revolutionary Ireland.
This paper argues, that, the ‘Blueshirts’ like many contemporary organisations, invested their uniform with many practical functions and imbued it with multiple symbolic meanings. The colour blue, for instance, connoted the symbolism of St. Patrick and thus constituted a conservative, Catholic-nationalist statement. Like many other contemporary right-wing movements, the Blueshirts contrasted their ‘practical’, ‘modern’ uniform with the ‘outdated’ and ‘stiff’ shirts of mainstream politicians, regarding their uniform as a metaphor for action and discipline. Blueshirt leaders also noted that the uniform made members “so very conspicuous,’ and thus, easier to surveil and discipline.
Opponents of the Blueshirts also recognized the significance of the shirt. In street confrontations, left-wing republicans were known to set fire to blue shirts that had been captured. As a result of these confrontations, a nervous Irish government in 1934 proposed legislation which sought to ban the blue shirt. As a result, the shirt prompted a debate which questioned the very nature of Irish democracy itself.