Manchester University Press Shell-Shocked British Army Veterans in Ireland, 1918-39: A Difficult Homecoming (Disability History)

Shell-shocked British Army veterans in Ireland, 1918-39 tells the story of Irish veterans of the First World War who suffered from psychoneurotic ailments as a result of war service. Relying on previously untouched and newly released archival material, this monograph is a thematic analysis dedicated to the rehabilitation of mentally ill pensioners who returned to civil society and those who received institutional treatment. The unique socio-political and economic circumstances in Ireland ensured the Irish experience of post-war mental illness and disability did not reflect previous British-centric works. This case study argues that the post-war care and rehabilitation of mentally ill veterans of the Great War was dictated by unique bio-psycho, socio-economic, cultural and political concerns. With a focus on mental illness, this monograph provides the first in-depth investigation of disabled Great War veterans in Ireland. The monograph is a result of five years of researching previously untouched archival sources including psychiatric records of former patients otherwise closed to the public. The remit of the work contributes to various historiographical fields including disability history, the social history of medicine, the cultural history of modern war, the history of psychiatry, and Irish studies. It also seeks to extend the scope of the First World War with an emphasis on how war-induced disability and trauma continued to affect large numbers of ex-servicemen beyond the official cessation of the conflict.