Why Remember? An analysis of Historical Narratives produced by National Cultural Institutions in the Irish Decade of Centenaries

This thesis investigates commemoration in the Irish Decade of Centenaries. It focuses on how two key events – the First World War and the 1916 Easter Rising - were presented in exhibitions held in national cultural institutions and semi-state and private institutions. It examines the different interpretations of these historical events presented by institutions located in Dublin city centre and Belfast city centre. These were the National Library of Ireland, the National Museum of Ireland, Ireland2016 and An Post, Ireland 2016 Ltd., and the Ulster Museum. It explores the evolving modes and practices of commemoration over the last century, and how the historical narratives of WWI and the Rising presented in the Decade of Centenaries commemorations reflect these changes. The context of changing political relationships between Ireland and Britain and on the island of Ireland, and trends in historiographical research, form the basis for examining the historical interpretations presented in the exhibitions. The core research elements of this thesis are an analysis and investigation of centenary commemorative public exhibitions on the First World War and the 1916 Easter Rising. The different historical interpretations of the events presented in the exhibitions are compared across their use of common historical themes and trends. These were: the integration of First World War history into the history of the revolutionary period, and vice versa; women’s experience of and participation in WWI and the Rising; and the impact of these events on ‘ordinary’ people told through everyday artefacts and personal papers. These themes reflect contemporary trends in Irish historiography of WWI and the Rising. The thesis also explores contested histories of WWI and the Rising around the themes of violence, legitimacy, and identity that are not confronted or ignored in the exhibitions, leading to narratives of absence. The treatment of these themes is contextualised within the historic and contemporary political traditions of remembering WWI and the Easter Rising. Through this analysis this thesis demonstrates the importance of the role of historians, as curators or members of advisory panels, in the creation and production of these commemorative exhibitions. It outlines their vital involvement in generating nuanced, complex, and engaging histories of the Irish experience of WWI and the Easter Rising for a general audience during a period of heightened public engagement with the past.