Interview M01

This project examines women’s support for insurgency, using as a case study the conflict in Northern Ireland from 1969-1998. It focuses on an under-researched category of insurgent participant, termed “unofficial” supporters of insurgency, for the purposes of this research. It describes support that takes place outside of the formal membership and command structures of the Republican movement, and which often involved a significant level of personal autonomy in day-to-day operational decision-making. This research seeks to understand not only why women participated in insurgency, but also how they enacted agency within the constraints of patriarchal power structures that governed their religious, cultural and political life. It also seeks to understand the political, military, personal and community consequences of their actions.