Navigating War and Violence Workshop Review

Navigating War and Violence in twentieth-century Ireland Review

DCU hosted Navigating War and Violence in twentieth-century Ireland on 4-5 April 2025. Over thirty researchers presented at the event from fifteen institutions across Ireland, Britain, and mainland Europe. The event was organised by four PhD students in the School of History and Geography, Hayley Brabazon, Cormac Keenan, Conor Roddy, and Anastasios Vavalis, supported by several colleagues in the school and the wider Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences who also chaired many of the panels.

The event brought together researchers that are working across different periods, on different themes, and using different methodologies, who are united by a common interest in how violence - political, structural, and interpersonal - was experienced and understood in Ireland across the twentieth century (and into the twenty-first century). Among the fascinating topics were panels that examined the escalation and de-escalation of conflicts, the post-conflict lives of those who experienced violence, the everyday life of individuals during war, and how conflicts were portrayed, interpretated, and reported. 

Both days ended with a thought provoking keynote. First up was Fredrika Larsson from Swedish Defence University who discussed republican and loyalist murals in Belfast, 1979-2022. The second was delivered by Anne Dolan (TCD) who spoke about ‘Histories in “the midst of blood”’ and the dynamics of violence.

To learn more about Navigating War and Violence, head over to its X page (@nwavc2025) or its Bluesky (@nwavc2025.bsky.social).