Kelly, Stephen (2024) ‘None of us wanted that’: Gerald Boland’s Irish Civil War, 1922-1924. Études Irlandaises, 49 (2). pp. 71-93. ISSN 2259-8863
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Proposed Article - Gerald Bolands Civil War - 1922-1924 - Etudes Irlandaises - Revised Draft July 2024.docx - Accepted Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution. Download (73kB) |
Abstract
Gerald Boland (Gearóid Ó Beoláin), a militant revolutionary, politician and statesman, has until now ranked amongst the neglected figures of the Irish Revolution, including the Irish Civil War (1922-1923) and the nascent years of the Irish Free State. This article addresses this anomaly. Based on a chronological framework covering the outbreak of the Irish Civil War in June 1922, to Boland’s release from prison in the summer of 1924, this article provides a unique insight into his hitherto overlooked civil war experiences.
Ultimately, at the heart of this article, rests the argument that Boland detested almost every aspect of the Irish Civil War. To use his own words, ‘I was glad [when the civil war ended] … None of us wanted that’. Boland’s civil war experiences confirmed his preference for pragmatism over idealism from a military standpoint, and at the same time, revealed a nascent politician (albeit vastly inexperienced) driven by a sense of realism. As such, the essential elements of Boland’s Republicanism comprised pragmatic realism rather than doctrinarian daydreaming.
Item Type: | Article |
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Faculty / Department: | Faculty of Creative Arts & Humanities > School of Humanities |
Depositing User: | Stephen Kelly |
Date Deposited: | 03 Jun 2024 09:09 |
Last Modified: | 16 Dec 2024 11:57 |
URI: | https://hira.hope.ac.uk/id/eprint/4279 |
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