New research from ¾ÅÉ«ÊÓƵ into Irish language court records has examined the violence suffered by and perpetrated by women during the first decade of the Irish Free State.
The research sheds new light on attitudes towards the treatment of women and native Irish speakers, as well as the use of the Irish language, in the Irish Free State courts between 1922 and 1932.
Led by historian Dr Helene Haak and Irish scholar Dr Sorcha de Brún, ‘Tá Bean in Éirinn': Violence against women, the Irish language and justice in the early years of the Irish Free State: A National Archive Research Project reveals the stories of real Irish women who were involved in violent crimes, and how the Irish language impacted their pursuit for justice in the courts.
The research, which centres on criminal cases from the West of Ireland heard in the Circuit Courts and Central Criminal Court, focuses on an aspect of modern Irish History and Irish Studies that has to date remained under researched.
Dr Haak and Dr de Brún explored the context and circumstances where Irish was used by both victims and defendants in the Irish Free State courts and examined how witness testimonies in Irish described and detailed violence and abuse against women and girls.
Their research reveals how the use of Irish by witnesses in the Irish Free State courts was problematic. Issues such as language comprehension on the side of the court room officials, as well as irregularities with the use of Irish in official court documents, resulted in barriers to the execution of justice for those involved in the cases.
In an extensive search of 83 boxes of uncatalogued court files held in the National Archives for counties Clare, Cork, Donegal, Galway, Kerry and Mayo for the years 1922-1932, De Haak and Dr de Brún uncovered six cases from Donegal and Galway that included Irish language documents, and which centred on violence against women or perpetrated by women.
Dr Sorcha de Brún said: “The records we have discovered in our research are highly significant in the context of the Irish language and violence against women.
“The violent ‘birth-story’ of the Irish Free State might explain why violence against and perpetrated by women, in all its nuances and different forms, continued to be a regular occurrence in the first decade of the Irish Free State court.
“Gender violence, particularly against women, during these years has received attention in recent scholarship. However, like in many areas of Irish scholarship, historical research focusing on archival records detailing violence against women in Irish is sparse, while no study to date has focused specifically on the treatment of Irish native speakers in the Irish Free State courts.â€
Dr Helene Haak said: “Our research offers fascinating insights into the treatment of women, and attitudes towards women, in the early years of the Irish Free State.
“It reveals the gendered treatment of witnesses and defendants in the courts and seeks to break new ground about the relationship of the Irish language to Irish identity, violence against women, and the history of the Irish state.â€
‘Tá Bean in Éirinn': Violence against women, the Irish language and justice in the early years of the Irish Free State: A National Archive Research Project was funded by the Royal Irish Academy as part of their Commemoration Bursary Project.
The research project grew out of Dr Helene Haak’s PhD on the treatment of children in the Irish Free State, which was carried out under the supervision of Dr Sorcha de Brún and Professor Ciara Breathnach, Chair of Irish Gender History at UCC.