Irish Military Elites, Nation and Empire, 1870–1925: Identity and Authority

Description

This book is a social history of Irish officers in the British army in the final half-century of Crown rule in Ireland. Drawing on the accounts of hundreds of officers, it charts the role of military elites in Irish society, and the building tensions between their dual identities as imperial officers and Irishmen, through land agitation, the home rule struggle, the First World War, the War of Independence, and the partition of Ireland. What emerges is an account of the deeply interwoven connections between Ireland and the British army, casting officers as social elites who played a pivotal role in Irish society, and examining the curious continuities of this connection even when officers’ moral authority was shattered by war, revolution, independence, and a divided nation. Front Matter ....Pages i-xvii Introduction (Loughlin Sweeney)....Pages 1-11 Defining an Irish Military Elite (Loughlin Sweeney)....Pages 13-45 ‘One Ought To Do What One Can for People in His Circ’: Patronage and Affinity among Irish Military Elites (Loughlin Sweeney)....Pages 47-71 Ireland’s Imperial Moment: Wolseley and Roberts in Command (Loughlin Sweeney)....Pages 73-102 Aid to the Civil Power: The Military Establishment, the Land War, and the Home Rule Crisis, 1879–1914 (Loughlin Sweeney)....Pages 103-139 Status Quo Ante Bellum: The Irish Military Establishment, 1914 (Loughlin Sweeney)....Pages 141-171 Irish Officers in the Great War (Loughlin Sweeney)....Pages 173-212 The Irish Military Elite and the War of Independence 1918–22 (Loughlin Sweeney)....Pages 213-234 Barriers Broken: Partition, the Free State, and Empire, 1922–25 (Loughlin Sweeney)....Pages 235-258 Conclusion (Loughlin Sweeney)....Pages 259-272 Back Matter ....Pages 273-301