The Irish Conflict: 1968-1998

Catalog description

Offered every other autumn. This course examines the evolution, nature and context of the chronic civil and political unrest that erupted in the North of Ireland in 1968. When a civil rights movement aimed at securing such modest demands as ‘one man, one vote’ met with vehement state resistance, Ireland was pitched into the most sustained political violence in post-World War Two Western Europe. The longest deployment of the British Army in history failed to contain the most sophisticated insurgency ever known. O’Donnell will identify and explain the major political forces in play; not least the agendas of all major combatants. Account will be taken of the international dimension of the ‘Long War’, including the role of both private and state actors in the USA. Students of this course will receive a comprehensive overview of an inter-generational conflict from its inception to the seismic Good Friday Agreement of 1998 which resulted in all major forces adopting purely political modes of contest. Printed primary, manuscript and online resources will be utilized on a case study basis. Subthemes include political propaganda; tactics and strategy of the Irish Republican Army; hungerstriking; counterinsurgency; ‘The Dirty War’; justice and the law and ‘peace processes’. On completion students will be well situated to pursue high level courses in programmes concerned with political science; military studies and jurisprudence.