The Birth of a Nation, 1912-32

About the lecture

This module explores the 20-year period which sees the creation and consolidation of the Irish Free State. The first half of the period (1912-23) was characterised by considerable political and sectarian violence, with the Easter Rising (1916), the War of Independence (1919-21), and the Irish Civil War (1922-23) taking place in quick succession. It is only in the second half of this period, from 1923, that the newly-created Irish Free State can begin to restore social and economic order, and to build a nation based on nationalist and Catholic principles.

About the lecturer

Brian Girvin is a Professor of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Glasgow. He has published widely on twentieth-century Ireland, including most recently a chapter on 'Sean Lemass and the Making of Contemporary Ireland' in the Oxford Handbook of Modern Irish History (2014).