‘Keeping company with the enemy’: gender and sexual violence against women during the Irish War of Independence and Civil War, 1919–1923

Abstract

ABSTRACT The historical consensus on sexual and gender violence during the Irish War of Independence and the Civil War suggests that, while it occurred, it was rare and did not form part of any wider policy or strategy of war. This article explores narratives of sexual/gender violence to appreciate both the contemporary framing and understanding of occurrences which were reported. The prevalence of ‘haircutting’ will be explored through newspaper reports of such incidents and it is argued that the evidence suggests gender violence was targeted and widespread. However, these reports reveal relatively little about the ways in which both gender and sexual violence were handled. In this context, an incident which occurred in the aftermath of the Civil War involving an attack on two young women by, allegedly, three Free State officers, is presented as a micro study of the ways in which violence against women was perceived and managed.