FOREWORD

The Wicklow Decade of Centenaries Programme supports the development of initiatives at county and community level to re-examine and commemorate significant events, individuals and groups during the revolutionary years (1912–23) in County Wicklow. I believe that as part of this project, this publication, which is focused on Wicklow’s experience of the War of Independence (1919–21), contributes to this goal by combining local stories and experiences with local research and scholarship via access to local archives. In doing so, it promotes a greater understanding of historical events and their legacies and thus encourages communities toward further exploration and reflection. It is a tangible demonstration of the benefits of free public access to authentic local archival sources, including online access to digitised local archives such as those available on the Wicklow County Council website www.wicklow.ie.

It is fitting that the Wicklow County Archives Service is honouring the work of County Wicklow's historians in this way—historians who serve their communities by documenting our county's history and heritage for generations to come. In his ‘Machnamh 100’ address, President Michael D. Higgins challenged us to ‘engage with our shared past in a manner that is honest, authentic and inclusive, and as might assist a healing of conflicts that cannot be forgotten.’ The contributors to this volume have risen to that challenge with stories of revolutionary Wicklow that are comprehensive, balanced and inclusive.

Frank Curran

Chief Executive Wicklow County Council April 2021

Supported by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media under the Decade of Centenaries 2012-2023 initiative and Wicklow County Archives, Wicklow County Council

Map of southeast Ireland, Johnston, 1920. Alamy Stock Photo