Experiencing the Irish revolution: pension records and the sensory and emotional impact of armed conflict

The Military Service Pensions Collection provides a window into how revolutionaries experienced a revolution. Approaching the Irish revolution through the lens of the human senses the significance of seeing and hearing in a guerrilla conflict emerges clearly. The inter-section between gender and the senses was central to women activists’ experience, as the senses were a more significant weapon in the arsenal of this group which did not employ conventional weapons during the military engagements of the Rising, the War of Independence or the Civil War. Because of the breadth of the collection, including applications for both service and disability pensions, sensory loss or damage due to violence can also be explored. As the army pensions could be awarded for psychiatric illness ensuing from conflict as well as the more conventionally recognised visible physical injuries, the MSPC is allowing historians to begin exploring what was in effect Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder among revolutionary veterans, reflecting the emotional impact of intense sensory experiences during the revolution.