Irish Civil War Digital Project

24 May 2023

The Civil War Digital Project coordinated by the Atlas of the Irish Revolution Team in UCC brings together a range of scholarly contributions on myriad aspects of the internecine conflict. 

In 2022, the RTÉ and the Atlas of the Irish Revolution editorial team in UCC collaborated on the development of the Irish Civil War, a three-part television documentary based on UCC's definitive Atlas of the Irish Revolution. Screened on RTÉ 1 over three consecutive nights in December 2022, and notable for its wide range of contributors, original musical score and visual impact, the series explored the full, often difficult, story of the Irish Civil War and its legacy. The documentary series is available to view on the RTE player. 

The Irish Civil War digital project was launched on the RTE website in January 2022 as a companion to the documentary series. It offered an opportunity for a 'deeper dive' into the often complex history of 1922-23.

The large-scale project, coordinated by UCC's Atlas editorial team and supported under the Government of Ireland's Decade of Centenaries Programme, is organised around a timeline of 11 key centenary dates between the handover of Dublin Castle on 16 January 1922 and the ceasefire on 24 May 1922.

Each centenary date has a dedicated index featuring a selection of maps, thematic articles and curated content from across RTE's platforms as well as archival images and documents from a range of cultural institutions. 

Collectively, the 11 indexes, 54 articles, 24 maps, and 10 explainer videos represent a valuable long-term resource for students, teachers or anyone interested in Ireland's social, cultural, military or political history during the Irish revolutionary period. 

Index 1: 

16 January 1922: The Handover of Dublin Castle to the Provisional Government 

''The Castle has Fallen': The Transfer of Power' by Dr John Gibney

''Women of Character': Women TDs of the Second Dáil and their contribution to the Treaty debates' by Claire McGing

'How the Civil War devastated the Labour Party' by Dr Emmet O'Connor

'Michael Collins: From Treaty to Civil War' by Dr Gabriel Doherty 

'Blurred lines: The Provisional Government of the Irish Free State' by Dr Helene O'Keeffe 

Index 2:

26 March 1922: The IRA Convention 

''A Defiant Gathering': The 1922 IRA Convention' by Dr John Borgonovo 

'Thank God you have got to manage it and not we': Britain and the Irish Civil War by Prof Charles Townshend 

'Call to arms: creating the Irish National Army' by Gerry White

'Shadow boxing: the Limerick Stand-Off, March 1922' by Dr John O'Callaghan

'Ireland's Other Civil War: Ulster January-June 1922' by Dr Robert Lynch 

Index 3:

16 June 1922: The 'Pact' Election 

'The 1922 "Pact" Election' by Prof Michael Gallagher 

'Press, Propaganda and the Treaty split' by Dr Donal Ó Drisceoil 

'Class warfare: was there a social basis to the Civil War divide?' by Prof Gavin Foster 

'Taking Sides? How voters responded to the "pact election"' by Dr Bill Kissane 

'Practicalities of the future: the 1922 Constitution Committee' by Antoinette Doran NAI

Index 4:

27/28 June 1922: The Battle of Dublin 

'Attacking the Block: the Battle of Dublin' by Liz Gillis 

'Under Siege: the Battle of the Four Courts' by Michael Fewer

'Soldiers of the Republic: Cumann na mBan and the Civil War' by Dr Margaret Ward

'Why the Four Courts?' by John Dorney 

Index 5:

21 July 1922: The Conventional Phase of the Civil War 

'Urban warfare: the Battle for Limerick' by Dr Pádraig Óg Ó Ruairc

'What was the Conventional Phase of the Civil War?' by Dr Helene O'Keeffe

'Bullet holes and battlefields: the archaeology of the Battle for Cork' by Dr Damian Shiels

'Conventional warfare: the Battle of Kilmallock' by Dr John O'Callaghan

'How did the Civil War impact civil society?' by Dr Bill Kissane 

Index 6:

8 August 1922: The Sea Landings 

'Turning point: the Battle of Cork' by Dr John Borgonovo

'W.D. Hogan: The man who photographed the Civil War' by Elizabeth M. Kirwan

'Emmet Dalton: the man behind the sea landings' by Sean Boyne

'The Civil War on water' by Dr John Borgonovo 

'No means of defence: raids on lighthouses during the Civil War' by Dr Eoin Kinsella 

Index 7:

22 August 1922: The Death of Michael Collins 

The Last Journey - Interactive Map 

'The Death of Michael Collins' by Dr Gabriel Doherty 

'Interactive map: the ambush' that killed Michael Collins

'War of words: censorship and propaganda during the Civil War' by Dr Donal Ó Drisceoil 

'The Catholic Church and the Irish Civil War' by Dr Brian Heffernan 

'The Archaeology of an Ambush: Surviving Traces of Béal na Blá, 22 August 1922' by Dr Damian Shiels and Niall Murray