THE effect of the 1916 Rising and Irish independence on the Irish Protestant experience and psyche will be explored at a conference at the University of Maynooth on Saturday.
'Silenced Stories - The Protestant Experience of 1916' will, said the Rev Earl Storey from Maynooth University's Centre for Studies in Irish Protestantism, create a conversation around the subject.
He said the Protestant experience in 1916 and the journey towards independence was "sometimes overlooked" in the Irish narrative of nationalism and heroic struggles.
"Although Irish Protestantism has many historic links with various aspects of Irish nationalism, by 1916 the nationalist movement had become overwhelmingly, although not exclusively, a Catholic phenomenon," he said.
"In the years that followed, Catholicism and the Irish identity became ever more inextricably intertwined.
"Largely inadvertently, in the process alternative or other experiences of Irishness and identity have often been overlooked."
Speakers include Professor Roddy Cowie from Queen's University, Belfast, who will consider the impact of 1916 on the psyche and sense of identity of southern Protestants, and Dr Ben Levitas from Goldsmith's University in London, who will examine playwright Sean O'Casey's contribution to understanding revolution, social change and conflict in Ireland.
Dr Miriam Moffitt from St Patrick's College, Maynooth, will talk about how Protestants "of more modest means" fared during the turbulent years around 1916 and independence.
Prof Tony Walsh from the Centre for Studies in Irish Protestantism said that "alternative or other experiences of Irishness and identity", such as those of Irish Protestants, were "rarely mentioned in popular stories about the Rising and its aftermath".
"The conference is about reflecting on the past with a view to building a better, stronger future and to think about the experience of minorities of all kinds in a world that often doesn't seem to see them," he said.
:: More information at www.journeyinselfbelief.org/silencedstories
