The bloody toll of Civil War mapped out
PROJECT COUNTS THE HUMAN COST
PEOPLE from Dublin and Cork were more likely to die in the Civil War on the pro-Treaty side while Kerry folk were highest amongst anti-Treaty casualties, new research shows.
The study also found that counties Kerry, Louth and Tipperary were centres of violence during the bloody conflict which divided the nation.
A new database and interactive map has for the first time listed all of the combatant and civilian fatalities during the war which reverberated down the decades.
And while it was a brutal period of Irish history the project also reveals that the numbers killed were considerably less than in the War of Independence.
But the research indicates that the Civil War was more violent, brutal and protracted in counties Kerry, Tipperary and Louth.
The groundbreaking new research and digital mapping project was launched yesterday by Media Minister Catherine Martin.
It lists all of the combatant and civilian fatalities in the Irish Civil War and represents the first systematic attempt to investigate the number of people killed in the conflict.
Atrocities
The Irish Civil War Fatalities Project covers one of the most complex periods in Ireland’s history and one that remained largely hidden because of the atrocities carried out by both sides.
It divided families with brothers fighting against brothers and fathers taking up arms against their own sons. It led to the deaths of pivotal figures in Irish history like Michael Collins and Cathal Brugha.
For decades, historians of the Civil War have resorted to estimates when surveying the human cost of the conflict.
Now a rigorously researched, academically contextualised database and interactive map lists all of the combatant and civilian fatalities.
It takes into account all those who lost their lives in all 32 counties between the opening shots of the Civil War on June 28, 1922 and the ceasefire and dump arms order on May 24, 1923.
The relatively low number of those killed — much less than in the War of Independence — is mainly due to the lack of deliberate killing of civilians.
But on the other hand the research shows that the Civil War was more violent, brutal and protracted in counties Kerry, Tipperary and Louth.
The research also suggests a new chronology of the Civil War, contradicting the idea that major combat was over after the first month of the war.
The study of fatalities shows that deaths spiked not only in the opening ‘conventional’ phase of the war, but also in the peak of the guerrilla war in the autumn of 1922 and again in March 1923 with a concerted series of reprisal killings.
Led by University College Cork in partnership with RTE and the Irish Military Archives, the project was made possible through funding from the Department of Tourism, Culture and Media.
The research has provided new insights into the frequency, nature and concentration of violence across Ireland during the Civil War.
Gap
Those behind the project said that the interactive map is a major work of public scholarship and fills a significant gap in the historical record.
Launching the project, Minister Martin, said: “The Irish Civil War was a great national tragedy and left a deep wound in the newly independent State.
“The significant loss of life and the injury to the fabric of our communities, and many families, were felt for generations, even to this day.
“By exploration of the impacts and factual history of the War, UCC’s research serves to deepen our appreciation of the challenges faced and sacrifices made by the individuals and families that made those communities.” The principal investigator of the Irish Civil War Fatalities Project and Senior Lecturer at UCC School of History Dr Andy Bielenberg said the interactive map is also an essential tool for researching family histories.
He added: “Drawing on a wide range of sources, this project offers new insights into the spatial and temporal patterns of violence during the Civil War as well as the social profiles, ages and backgrounds of the victims of that violence.”