Mapping the loyalist experience in Mayo during the Irish Civil War
Research project by Dr Liam Alex Heffron, funded by Royal Irish Academy 2023-4 Decade of Centenaries Bursary
Summary:
This research project was undertaken to provide insight into the loyalist experience of the Irish Civil War in County Mayo. Undertaken by Dr Liam Alex Heffron and funded by a Royal Irish Academy 2023-4 Decade of Centenaries Bursary, the study used the original compensation claims held at The National Archives in London (originally submitted to British authorities following the conflicts in Ireland over 1919-23), to develop a publicly accessible digital showcase of these records and encourage their thematic or locational analysis and case-study examinations. Using a tailor-made online database and linked mapping solution, each individual claim was digitally summarised and geographically mapped, in an interactive and searchable query database, hosted on a dedicated website. Originally the project scope was limited to North Mayo, but it was later extended to include all Mayo claims and utilise the opportunity of a county-wide study.
Research Methodology:
Among the 4,032 applications received by the Irish Grants Committee relating to claims for compensation for injury or financial loss during the Irish Civil War, almost 140 files were submitted by current or former County Mayo residents. These files are now held in the CO 762 series of Irish Distress & Irish Grants Committee Files and Minutes (1922-1937), at The National Archives.. This research project involved the identification of each of these claim files within the full series and the item-by-item examination of the documents therein. From this study, key identifiers and summary descriptions were extracted for each file and compiled into an online database, with the locations of the claimed incidents of loss or injury (usually the residence of the claimant and / or their affected properties) mapped onto an interactive online map (Google maps). Where feasible, relevant images of notable documents found within the files are attached to the online profile of each claim. Due to financial limitations, this is currently restricted to North Mayo claims under a specific licence from the National Archives (UK), but it is hoped to extend this feature to all the county claim records when resources permit.
Research Outcomes:
The consultation of the relevant records at The National Archives, along with their subsequent examination, imaging and transcription, was carried out by Dr Heffron during multiple visits to Kew, London. All of the records (except one closed file) are unredacted and open for public access, thus available for in-person consultation. However, several have been mislabelled by county, which suggests other County Mayo files may yet be identified if they exist in the series.
Digital Heritage Services, were engaged to design and build the online database powered by Caspio, with mapping coding to provide the public-facing platform embedded into this website, for the project. Their services included training and support to populate the database with key elements, tags and map links, especially as some parameters changed in the course of the project, based on ongoing findings from the claim files.
Outcomes dissemination:
The outcome of this Mapping the loyalist experience in Mayo during the Irish Civil War project is presented here, with a searchable online database, linked to an interactive map and integrated image viewer, alongside ancillary pages providing relevant background and context to the study of the record collection and their original composition. Visitors may freely interrogate all these online resources and explore the individual narrative claims, seek common attributes, themes or disconnects and use the material in furtherance of more inclusive community awareness, education, commemoration and research.
The outcome of the project has a twofold objective:
- To support a balanced and holistic (re)telling of the experience of the marginalised unionist and/ or Protestant population of Mayo over 1921-3 and bring some awareness of the complexity of the period, often overlooked by a mainstream focuss on the activities of the pro- and anti-Treaty sides in the Civil War, viz-a-vis each other.
- To provide academics and local historians with a dataset of geographically plotted and descriptively tagged narratives of the Mayo loyalist compensation claims. These may be used in case studies or as source material in exploring the revolutionary intersection between the Protestant / unionist community, nationalists, republicans and the wider community during 1921-3.
News Update: Official Launch
This online portal titled Mapping the loyalist experience in Mayo during the Irish Civil War will be launched via a recorded webinar by Dr. Liam Alex Heffron as part of National Heritage Week, 17 – 25 August 2024.
Photos:
[a] Image of the first page of a compensation claim application, taken from the series.
[b] The National Archives (UK) building in Kew, London.
[c] An Taoiseach, Enda Kenny, in conversation with Liam Alex Heffron on tech innovation, at WestBIC’s 25 year celebration as official BIC for the BMW region 1 (2015-05-28) © Liam Alex Heffron