Date of Award

Summer 2003

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

History

Committee Director

Douglas Greene

Committee Member

Annette Finley-Croswhite

Committee Member

Kathy Pearson

Call Number for Print

Special Collections LD4331.H47 M644 2003

Abstract

Hunger striking was a powerful weapon used by the Irish Republican Army throughout the twentieth century. This study will attempt to answer the question of which specific symbols were visible during the prison protests and hunger strikes in Northern Ireland from 1976 to 1981. It will also address how such symbols relate to the cult of Irish Republican martyrdom and Catholicism.

Several symbols manifested themselves during this time period. Upon examination, a pattern emerges where two overriding yet contradictory themes were used far more frequently than any other. These two themes were those of traditional Irish Republicanism and Irish Catholicism, with Catholicism involving symbols of sacrifice and selfless loyalty to one's comrades and country. Although each type of symbol was used on its own, both were sometimes surprisingly used together.

This study uses several different types of scholarly materials. Books and articles are consulted that deal with the broad themes of religion, self-sacrifice, and hunger striking. Several works are used that chronicle both the Troubles overall and the prison protests and hunger strikes specifically, in addition to the situation of women in Northern Ireland. Primary source materials are equally diverse and consist of traditional historical sources, including several collections of the recollections and diaries of blanket protestors and hunger strikers, works by Catholic priests on the question of the morality of hunger striking, and newspaper articles. However, because of the multifaceted nature of this study, several other types of sources are incorporated for analysis which includes pamphlets and posters published during the prison protests and hunger strikes, folk songs, and films, which reveal the perception of these events and their importance in Northern Irish history.

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DOI

10.25777/3vk0-gz94

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