Lest We Remember. Why does the Irish State not commemorate the National Army soldiers who died during the Civil War?
Dublin Core
Title
Lest We Remember. Why does the Irish State not commemorate the National Army soldiers who died during the Civil War?
Subject
Irish Civil War
National Army
Commemoration
Inclusiveness
Irish Defence Forces
Description
This paper asks why the National Army Civil War dead are not commemorated in Ireland. Identifying a distinct gap in the literature regarding the Irish Civil War in general and the commemoration of the National Army war dead in particular, the research tackles some key assumptions regarding commemoration in Ireland, challenging in particular the assertion that historic amnesia towards military service in Ireland pertains to the British Army alone.
At national level, the commemorative ceremonies for the Irish State’s own war dead reflect ambivalence about asserting the State’s origins, but also highlight a tension between the different traditions in Ireland. Approaching the problem through examination of both commemorative ceremonial and some of the key surviving structures of monumental material culture in the Irish commemorative landscape, this paper finds that this ambivalence is significant, reflecting perhaps Ireland’s political and strategic culture. Ireland shares some similarities with the Spanish experience of its civil war, but differs substantially in how it has essentially avoided the issue. Drawing on themes such as inclusiveness, ‘good history’ and ethical remembering in commemoration, this study argues that there are inconsistencies in the Irish commemorative landscape which contradict the notion of real inclusiveness. The conclusion of this paper is, therefore, that in Ireland today, as for most of the twentieth century, the National Army soldiers who died fighting for the State are not appropriately commemorated, either by the State, or by the Defence Forces. Moreover, it would appear that the Defence Forces itself has never really developed its own internal culture of commemoration since, United Nations service aside, there is almost complete amnesia regarding its dead from the Civil War, from the Emergency period and from the Troubles.
At national level, the commemorative ceremonies for the Irish State’s own war dead reflect ambivalence about asserting the State’s origins, but also highlight a tension between the different traditions in Ireland. Approaching the problem through examination of both commemorative ceremonial and some of the key surviving structures of monumental material culture in the Irish commemorative landscape, this paper finds that this ambivalence is significant, reflecting perhaps Ireland’s political and strategic culture. Ireland shares some similarities with the Spanish experience of its civil war, but differs substantially in how it has essentially avoided the issue. Drawing on themes such as inclusiveness, ‘good history’ and ethical remembering in commemoration, this study argues that there are inconsistencies in the Irish commemorative landscape which contradict the notion of real inclusiveness. The conclusion of this paper is, therefore, that in Ireland today, as for most of the twentieth century, the National Army soldiers who died fighting for the State are not appropriately commemorated, either by the State, or by the Defence Forces. Moreover, it would appear that the Defence Forces itself has never really developed its own internal culture of commemoration since, United Nations service aside, there is almost complete amnesia regarding its dead from the Civil War, from the Emergency period and from the Troubles.
Creator
Mac Eoin, Stephen
Source
Journal Of Military History and Defence Studies; Vol. 3 No. 1 (2022): Journal of Military History and Defence Studies; 77-112
2712-0171
Publisher
Maynooth Academic Publishing
Date
2022-10-05
Rights
Copyright (c) 2022 CC BY 4.0
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Relation
Format
application/pdf
Language
eng
Type
info:eu-repo/semantics/article
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
Peer-reviewed Article
Identifier
Citation
Mac Eoin, Stephen, Lest We Remember. Why does the Irish State not commemorate the National Army soldiers who died during the Civil War?, Maynooth Academic Publishing, 2022, accessed November 27, 2024, https://igi.indrastra.com/items/show/2586