Abstract

This thesis argues that constructs of gender underpinned violence on women in the Irish War of Independence (1919-1921). These acts were not only informed by female victims’ perceived gender, but also performed Crown Force and the Irish Republican Army perpetrators’ view of their own gendered roles and duties, as well as attitudes towards masculinity and war. Using the historiography of the Irish Revolution (1912-1923) as well as gender and performance studies literature – namely Critical Discourse Analysis and the early work of Judith Butler – this paper provides an account of how gender was imagined and experienced by the ‘revolutionary generation’ on the eve of this formative decade in Ireland’s history. Using source material including witness statements, police reports, and military memoranda, this thesis then details how gendered violence on women – physical, psychological and sexual – ‘performed’ the military masculine identities of Crown Forces and the Irish Republican Army respectively. By examining this aspect of Irish women’s experiences during the War of Independence, this thesis seeks to contribute to the ongoing undertaking of gendering the historiography of the Revolution.

Keywords: Ireland; War of Independence; Gender; Violence; Performance; Revolution; Sexual Violence.