Offaly History lecture to be held on women’s experiences of the Great War in Ireland

The Offaly Historical and Archaeological Society will host a lecture on Monday, April 4 on Zoom about women’s experiences of the Great War in Ireland.

Dr Fionnuala Walsh, Lecturer in Modern Irish History at UCD will give the lecture entitled “Life can never be the same again” discusses the impact of the Great War on ordinary women's lives in Ireland from 1914 to 1918.

Dr Walsh's first monograph, Irish women and the Great War, was published by Cambridge University Press in 2020 and will soon be available to purchase. It was joint winner of the National University of Ireland Publication Prize in Irish History last year.

With over 200,000 Irish men serving in the wartime British Army, the war's effects were inevitably felt at home.

Drawing on extensive primary research, this lecture explores life on the home front for women, focusing on women’s voluntary work for the war effort with the Red Cross and Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps, the impact of the war on their employment opportunities, and its effects on domestic life. The lasting effects of the war for women with regard to bereavement and employment are also examined.

There will be some local case studies of Offaly women included highlighting the commonalities of wartime Offaly with the wider national experience.

The lecture will begin at 8pm and those interested can email info@offalyhistory.com for the Zoom link.

Dr Fionnuala Walsh is Assistant Professor of Modern Irish History at University College Dublin. She completed her PhD and Postdoctoral Fellowship in Trinity College Dublin. Dr Walsh is Secretary of the Women’s History Association of Ireland.