Irish Women and the Great War (Studies in the Social and Cultural History of Modern Warfare)

"This is the first book-length study of the impact of the Great War on women's everyday lives in Ireland, focussing on the years of the war and its immediate aftermath. Fionnuala Walsh demonstrates how Irish women threw themselves into the war effort, mobilising in various different forms, such as nursing wounded soldiers, preparing hospital supplies and parcels of comforts, undertaking auxiliary military roles in port areas or behind the lines, and producing weapons of war. However, the war's impact was also felt beyond direct mobilisation, affecting women's household management, family relations, standard of living, and work conditions and opportunities. Drawing on extensive research in archives in Ireland and Britain, Walsh brings women's wartime experience out of the historical shadow and examines welfare and domestic life, bereavement, social morality, employment, war service, politicisation, and demobilisation to challenge ideas of emancipation and reflect upon the significant impact of the Great War on Irish society."-- Provided by publisher Cover 1 Half-title 3 Series information 4 Title page 5 Copyright information 6 Contents 7 List of Tables 8 Acknowledgements 9 List of Abbreviations 12 Introduction 15 Gender and Emancipation 17 Ireland and the Great War 20 Women in Irish Society 27 1 Mobilising for the War Effort 35 Religion and Mobilisation 47 Politics and Mobilisation 52 Women's Services 57 Motivations and Experiences 66 Conclusion 76 2 Family, Welfare and Domestic Life 78 Food Supply and the State 80 Governmental and Philanthropic Relief 90 Separated Families 101 Bereavement 106 Conclusion 110 3 Social Morality 111 Separation Women 111 Separation Women in the Courts 118 Sexual Immorality and Illegitimacy 127 Women's Patrols 133 Conclusion 137 4 Working Lives 139 Industry 142 Munitions 150 Agriculture 154 Substitution 158 Trade Unionism and Wages 168 Conclusion 176 5 Politicisation 178 Mobilisation and Dissent 178 Rebellion 189 Anti-conscription Campaign 197 Suffrage 202 Conclusion 206 6 Demobilisation 208 Demobilisation and Unemployment 211 Rebuilding of Domestic Life 223 Legacy 230 Conclusion 235 Conclusion 237 Select Bibliography 245 Primary Sources 245 Ireland 245 Cork City and County Archives, Cork 245 Dublin City Archives 245 Dublin Diocesan Archive 245 Irish Labour History Society and Museum, Dublin 245 Kilmainham Gaol 245 Medical Missionaries of Mary Archive, Drogheda 245 Military Archives of Ireland 245 National Archives of Ireland, Dublin 246 National Library of Ireland, Dublin 246 OPW-Maynooth University Archive and Research Centre, Castletown House 246 Representative Church Body Library, Dublin 246 Royal College of Physicians Archive, Dublin 246 Trinity College, Dublin Archive 246 University College Dublin Archive 246 Private Collections 247 Northern Ireland 247 Linen Hall Library, Belfast 247 Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, Belfast 247 Great Britain 247 Bodleian Library, University of Oxford 247 British Library, London 247 British Library of Political and Economic Science, London 247 British Red Cross Archives, London 248 Imperial War Museum, London 248 The National Archives, London 248 Parliamentary Papers 248 Newspapers and Periodicals 249 Contemporary Printed Articles, Books, Pamphlets and Reports (Published before 1922) 249 Memoirs, Novels and Published Personal Accounts 251 Reference Works 252 Selected Secondary Sources 252 Unpublished Theses 264 Index 265 The first full-length study to explore the impact of the Great War on the lives of women in Ireland. Fionnuala Walsh examines women's mobilisation for the war effort, and the impact of the war on their employment opportunities, family and domestic life, social morality and politicisation.