Shell-Shocked British Army Veterans in Ireland, 1918-39

This study provides the first exclusive analysis of disabled First World War veterans who returned to Ireland. With a case study of mental illness, it foregrounds how the treatment and experiences of disabled communities in past societies is shaped by the existing socio-economic, cultural and political context. -- .

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With a focus on mental illness, Shell-shocked British Army veterans in Ireland provides the first in-depth investigation of disabled Great War veterans in Ireland. The book 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. -- .