Ireland in the Concert of Nations, 1922-2022

2022 SOFEIR Congress

18-19 March 2022, Université d’Orléans

Laboratoire REMELICE EA 4709

‘To the Nations of the World! Greeting.’ These are the words to be found at the beginning of the message opening the First Dáil on 21st January 1919, asking the free nations of the world to recognise Ireland's independence and its status as a full-fledged Republic. This appeal urged the victors of the First World War to recognise Irish independence officially and to secure for the new State a place within the emerging League of Nations. This was part of the wider international context set on the one hand by US President Wilson’s famous Fourteen Points, which called for guarantees of independence and territorial integrity for both large and small states, and on the other hand by the political framework resulting from the Paris Peace Conference, which gave birth to the short-lived League of Nations. While this message was definitely not sufficient to raise awareness in favour of the Irish cause amongst major nations, it was nevertheless part of a resolutely international strategy. While negotiations were taking place in Paris at the Peace Conference, Eamon De Valera flew to the United States to seek the support of the Irish-American community. Shortly afterwards, diplomats and plenipotentiaries, including Arthur Griffith and Michael Collins, left for London to negotiate the terms of the Anglo-Irish Treaty, a slim majority in the Dáil would eventually vote for, which incidentally led to the Irish Civil War. Indeed the Treaty simultaneously organised the partition and retention of six of the nine counties of Ulster within the United Kingdom under the name of Northern Ireland.

1922, a pivotal year for Ireland, saw the independence of over three quarters of the island from the previous colonial power, or at least a form of relative emancipation since the new state still had a dominion status within the British Empire. On 6 December 1922, the Irish Free State was created on the basis of a first Constitution that was initially more liberal and even secular than its recent past may have implied.

A century later, the commemoration of these events, when a divided Ireland was striving to forge a place for itself within the concert of nations, is still a bone of contention, marked by narratives that still seem to be conflictual not to say irreconcilable. Somewhat paradoxically, the same symphony –or conversely the same sense of cacophony– seems to resonate a century later, in the relationship with other European nations as well as in the renewed questioning on the island’s partition. Thus Ireland's call to free nations to assert its place within Europe in particular is echoed today as the UK - and thus the six Northern Irish counties - leaves the European Union while Ireland reaffirms its links with it. Similarly, a century after partition, the possibility of Irish reunification has resurfaced as the twists and turns of Brexit have focused all eyes on it. As a result, the Northern Irish conflict has resurfaced. Meanwhile, the two parts of Ireland have followed a number of international influences and world trends, even if they have also resisted them at times, whether in terms of dominant economic policies or secularisation for example.

This SOFEIR Congress wishes to mark the centenary by questioning Ireland's place as an island, as a state and a society or societies within the international context, down the years ever since partition, and also from a contemporary perspective. It will also look at the cultural, social, political and economic developments of the country in a comparative manner, and by including all possible objects of study without omitting literary, artistic or cinematic representations.

Organised by:  Karin FISCHER, Élodie GALLET, Chloé LACOSTE et Thierry ROBIN

Contact : elodie.gallet(at)univ-orleans.fr et/ou thierry.robin@univ-orleans.fr