Brian Donovan

Irish Soldiers & Rebels: tracing WW1 and Irish revolutionary ancestors

The years 1912-23 saw the deaths of over 75,000 from Ireland in armed conflict, from the fields of France to the streets of Dublin. Irish men and women took arms to fight for Irish freedom, to defend the Empire and to liberate Belgium. They joined the UVF, the ICA, the Volunteers, the IRB, the IRA and other radical organisation. Possibly half a million Irish born joined the British, American, Canadian and Australian armies. This lecture will untangle the complexities of the surviving records and what you are likely to find.

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