Armagh and the Great War

In 1914, County Armagh represented a miniature Ireland, with an industrialized, urban north, and a largely rural, agricultural south. It was also the ecclesiastical capital of Ireland and the birthplace of Orangeism. This book is the first detailed exploration of how the people of one of the six Northern Irish counties endured World War I. At a time when Ireland was re-examining the nature of its involvement in World War I, historian Colin Cousins looks at this question from a Unionist perspective and what emerges is a challenge to perceptions of a simple enthusiasm, patriotism, and loyalty. Using many previously unseen sources, the author looks at the role played by charities, schools, and youth groups, at the role of women's associations, and how individual families attempted to come to terms with the immense sacrifices their sons and husbands had made on the Western Front.