Witnessing War, Making Peace: Sources
A lecture by Dr Susan Byrne, Dr Anna Devlin and Greg Walls as part of the Modern and Contemporary Irish History Seminar Series.
Funded by a Taighde Éireann – Research Ireland Advanced Laureate Award, this project seeks to explain why Ireland was so relatively restrained in its use of violence during and after its revolution. In doing so, it will establish new paradigms for exploring the history of violence and pioneer the history of a much less considered phenomenon – restraint. By listening to the ordinary men and women who lived through Ireland’s wars, the project interrogates how they negotiated their ways from conflict to peace; how and why independent Ireland emerged as one of the most stable democracies in Europe in the following decades. Susan Byrne is currently a Research Fellow on a project titled ‘Witnessing War, Making Peace’ . She completed her PhD in 2024 and her research, which was funded by Research Ireland, examined female prisoner’s experience of the Free State justice system, 1922-1947. ‘”Keeping Company with the Enemy”: gender and sexual violence against women during the Irish War of Independence and Civil War, 1919-1923’, an article based on her MA thesis, was published by Women’s History Review. She also contributed to the essay collection, ‘A Very Hard Struggle’, Lives in the MSPC (2023) edited by Anne Dolan and Catriona Crowe for the Irish Military Archives.
Anna Devlin is a Research Fellow on ‘Witnessing War, Making Peace’ since October 2025. Her research examines the pivotal role of economic factors in the transition to peace. She was awarded her PhD for her IRC-funded research on ‘Imagining Ireland’s self-governed economic future, 1893-1923’ in 2025. She published ‘Irish Provisional Government, 1922: a case study of economic policymaking in a new state’ in Irish Political Studies in 2024. The article ‘Protection versus Free Trade in the Free State Era: The Finance Attitude’ with Professor Frank Barry in Irish Economic and Social History was based on her undergraduate research.
Gregory Walls is a 2nd year PhD student on ‘Witnessing War, Making Peace’. His research considers post-conflict experiences and criminality in the move from war to peace in 1920s and 1930s Ireland. Greg completed his undergraduate degree in History and did the MPhil in Public History and Cultural Heritage here at Trinity. He is also involved with the National Archives' 1926 Census project.
The Modern and Contemporary Irish History Seminar Series will take place at 2.30p.m. on Wednesday in the Trinity Long Room Hub Arts & Humanities Research Institute. It provides a forum for discussion and dissemination of new ideas, perspectives, and research on Irish history, Irish Studies and cognate disciplines. All are welcome. We particularly welcome members of the postgraduate community. Convenors: Dr Carole Holohan, Dr Georgina Laragy, Prof Lindsey Earner-Byrne.
Please indicate if you have any access requirements, such as ISL/English interpreting, so that we can facilitate you in attending this event. Contact: laragyg@tcd.ie