{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,6]],"date-time":"2026-07-06T17:35:54Z","timestamp":1783359354894,"version":"3.54.6"},"reference-count":63,"publisher":"BMJ","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,11,5]],"date-time":"2021-11-05T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1636070400000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100002081","name":"Irish Research Council","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["IRCLA\/2017\/32"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["IRCLA\/2017\/32"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100002081","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["bmj.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Med Humanities"],"accepted":{"date-parts":[[2021,6,29]]},"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2022,3]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>At the height of the Irish War of Independence, 1919\u20131921, 45-year-old Kate Maher was brutally raped. She subsequently died of terrible wounds, almost certainly inflicted by drunken British soldiers. This article discusses her inadequately investigated case in the wider context of fatal violence against women and girls during years of major political instability. Ordinarily her violent death would have been subject to a coroner\u2019s court inquiry and rigorous police investigation, but in 1920, civil inquests in much of Ireland were replaced by military courts of inquiry. With the exception of medical issues, where doctors adhered to their ethical responsibility to provide clear and concise evidence on injuries, wounds and cause of death, courts of inquiry were cursory affairs in which Crown forces effectively investigated and exonerated themselves. This article adopts a microhistory approach to Maher\u2019s case to compare how civilian and military systems differed in their treatments of female fatalities. Despite the fact that the medical evidence unequivocally showed that the attack was of a very violent sexual nature, the two soldiers directly implicated were not charged with rape or any other sexual offence. In her case, and in those of other women who died violently while in the company of soldiers and policemen, prosecutions of the men involved resulted in acquittal by military court martial. This was so both for women portrayed as of immoral character and for others assumed to be \u2018respectable\u2019. It also reflects on the wider question of sexual violence during the Irish War of Independence, concluding that while females experienced a range of gender-determined threats and actions such as armed raids on their homes, the \u2018bobbing\u2019 of hair and other means of \u2018shaming\u2019, rape, accepted as the most serious act of sexual assault, was regarded by all combatants as beyond the pale.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1136\/medhum-2021-012178","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,11,5]],"date-time":"2021-11-05T13:25:40Z","timestamp":1636118740000},"page":"94-103","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1136\/crossmarkpolicy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["Sexual assault and fatal violence against women during the Irish War of Independence, 1919\u20131921: Kate Maher\u2019s murder in context"],"prefix":"10.1136","volume":"48","author":[{"given":"Ciara","family":"Breathnach","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"History, University of Limerick Faculty of Arts Humanities and Social Sciences, Limerick, Ireland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Eunan","family":"O'Halpin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"History, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"239","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,11,5]]},"reference":[{"key":"2025092412233078000_48.1.94.1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Coroners (Ireland) Act 1881, 44 & 45 Vic., c. 35.\u201d (1881).","DOI":"10.1038\/scientificamerican01151881-35"},{"key":"2025092412233078000_48.1.94.2","unstructured":"\u201cBritish Parliamentary Papers (BPP), Judicial Statistics, 1919 [Cmd. 1431], 8, 12.\u201d n.d."},{"key":"2025092412233078000_48.1.94.3","unstructured":"\u201cOffences against the Person Act 1861, 1861 c. 100 Section 48.\u201d n.d."},{"key":"2025092412233078000_48.1.94.4","unstructured":"\u201cRestoration of Order in Ireland Act 1920,10 & 11 Geo. 5 c.31.\u201d n.d."},{"key":"2025092412233078000_48.1.94.5","unstructured":"\u201cNational Archives of Ireland, Mountjoy Prison General Register Female, 1918, 1\/44\/15 January 1918 Drunk; 16 October 16, 1919 Soliciting.\u201d n.d."},{"key":"2025092412233078000_48.1.94.6","unstructured":"\u201cNational Library of Scotland, Acc 6119 (Wimberley Papers), 153.\u201d n.d."},{"key":"2025092412233078000_48.1.94.7","unstructured":"\u201cThe National Archives of the United Kingdom (Hereafter TNA), WO35\/, GHQ, Irish Command, to All Divisional Commanders, 30 Sept. 1920, Enclosing Regulations for the Holding of \u2018Courts of Inquiry on Dead Bodies.\u2019\u201d n.d."},{"key":"2025092412233078000_48.1.94.8","unstructured":"Bielenberg A . 2020. \u201cFemale Fatalities in County Cork during the Irish War of Independence and the Case of Mrs Lindsay.\u201d In Women and the Irish Revolution, edited by Connolly Linda , 148\u201363. Dublin: Irish Academic Press."},{"key":"2025092412233078000_48.1.94.9","unstructured":"Bourke J . 2007. Rape: A History from 1860 to the Present. London: Virago."},{"key":"2025092412233078000_48.1.94.10","unstructured":"BPP, Local government (Ireland) officials . n.d. \u201cReturn to an Order of the Honourable the House of Commons, Dated 14th March, 1901 [331]:\u201d 62."},{"issue":"no.1","key":"2025092412233078000_48.1.94.11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"104","DOI":"10.1353\/hah.2020.0032","article-title":"\u201cCapital Punishment in Irish Prisons.\u201d","volume":"22","author":"Breathnach","year":"2020","journal-title":"Health and History"},{"issue":"no 1","key":"2025092412233078000_48.1.94.12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"87","DOI":"10.2307\/2598899","article-title":"\u201cFarm Servanthood in Ireland, 1900-1940.\u201d","volume":"36","author":"Breen","year":"1983","journal-title":"The Economic History Review"},{"key":"2025092412233078000_48.1.94.13","unstructured":"Bull William . \u201cChurchill College Cambridge Archives. \u201cSir William Bull Papers, BULL 5\/3, President de Valera Cyclostyled Letters to MPs, 12 Feb. 1921.\u201d."},{"key":"2025092412233078000_48.1.94.14","unstructured":"Burney I . 2000. Bodies of Evidence: Medicine and the Politics of the English Inquest, 1830\u20131926. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press."},{"issue":"no.1","key":"2025092412233078000_48.1.94.15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"108","DOI":"10.1080\/09612025.2020.1719649","article-title":"\u201cKeeping Company with the Enemy\u2019: Gender and Sexual Violence against Women during the Irish War of Independence and Civil War, 1919\u20131923.\u201d","volume":"30","author":"Byrne","year":"2021","journal-title":"Women\u2019s History Review"},{"key":"2025092412233078000_48.1.94.16","unstructured":"Campbell C . 1994. Emergency Law in Ireland, 1918-1925. 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London: Putnam and Company."},{"issue":"1","key":"2025092412233078000_48.1.94.40","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"85","DOI":"10.7560\/JHS22104","article-title":"\u201cTrauma, Body, and Mind: Forensic Medicine in Nineteenth-Century Dutch Rape Cases.\u201d","volume":"22","author":"Ruberg","year":"2013","journal-title":"Journal of the History of Sexuality"},{"key":"2025092412233078000_48.1.94.41","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/014177800440248"},{"key":"2025092412233078000_48.1.94.42","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/014177800440248"},{"key":"2025092412233078000_48.1.94.43","unstructured":"The American Commission . 1921. The American Commission on Conditions in Ireland: Interim Report. Washington DC: The Commission."},{"key":"2025092412233078000_48.1.94.44","unstructured":"TNA \u201cWO35\/130\/20, Case of Annie Dixon Minutes by Major General Boyd, July 9, and General Headquarters Irish Command to Dublin Castle, July 15, 1921.\u201d"},{"key":"2025092412233078000_48.1.94.45","unstructured":"TNA \u201cWO35\/147\/A\/38 Nellie Carey Courts of Inquiry in Lieu of Inquest, January 6, 1921.\u201d"},{"key":"2025092412233078000_48.1.94.46","unstructured":"TNA \u201cWO 35\/149B\/15, Courts of Inquiry in Lieu of Inquest, Case of Sarah Fitzpatrick, February 5, 1921.\u201d"},{"key":"2025092412233078000_48.1.94.47","unstructured":"TNA \u201cWO 35\/155B\/4 Kate Maher Courts of Inquiry in Lieu of Inquest, January 13, 1921.\u201d"},{"key":"2025092412233078000_48.1.94.48","unstructured":"TNA \u201cWO 35\/155B\/32, Courts of Inquiry in Lieu of Inquest, Case of Michael Joseph Murray, March 19, 1921.\u201d"},{"key":"2025092412233078000_48.1.94.49","unstructured":"TNA \u201cWO 35\/155B\/5 Courts of Inquiry in Lieu of Inquest Case of Mary Maher, Tipperary, January 6, 1921.\u201d"},{"key":"2025092412233078000_48.1.94.50","unstructured":"TNA \u201cWO35\/93\/Part B, Return of Field General Court Martial, February 1, 1921.\u201d"},{"key":"2025092412233078000_48.1.94.51","unstructured":"TNA \u201cWO 35\/151b, Courts of Inquiry in Lieu of Inquest, Case of Kate Kelleher July 3, 1921.\u201d"},{"key":"2025092412233078000_48.1.94.52","unstructured":"TNA \u201cHO184\/161 RIC Service Records Joynson Service Number 71959.\u201d"},{"key":"2025092412233078000_48.1.94.53","unstructured":"TNA \u201cHO 184\/37 Indicates That Joynson Was Born in 18 September 1897 He Was Described as a Protestant Labourer and Ex-Soldier, He Was Recruited from London and Appointed to Serve in the RIC on July 20, 1920.\u201d"},{"key":"2025092412233078000_48.1.94.54","unstructured":"TNA \u201cHO 184\/62 Nominal Returns Arranged by County, Joynson Was Moved to Cashel on 20 July 1920.\u201d"},{"key":"2025092412233078000_48.1.94.55","unstructured":"TNA \u201cHO 184\/62 Charles Stanley Honour, Service Number 71,038, Born in 1893, Was Appointed to Dundrum on 13 April 1920.\u201d"},{"key":"2025092412233078000_48.1.94.56","unstructured":"TNA \u201cHO 184\/161 According to the Disbandonment Register Both Joynson and Honour Received Pensions of \u00a354 When They Concluded Service on 6 February 1922.\u201d"},{"key":"2025092412233078000_48.1.94.57","unstructured":"TNA \u201cWO35\/152\/1 Courts of Inquiry in Lieu of Inquest, Frederick Hugo, June 20, 1921, Dr Jeremiah Kelleher Was the Medical Witness.\u201d"},{"key":"2025092412233078000_48.1.94.58","unstructured":"Townshend C . 2014. The Republic: The Fight for Irish Independence. London: Penguin."},{"key":"2025092412233078000_48.1.94.59","unstructured":"University College Dublin . n.d. \u201cMulcahy Papers, P7\/A\/17, Chief of Staff to O\/C South Roscommon Brigade, 4 Mar. 1921, and to O\/C East Clare Brigade, 12 April 1921.\u201d"},{"key":"2025092412233078000_48.1.94.60","unstructured":"Ward M . 1983. Unmanageable Revolutionaries: Women and Irish Nationalism. London: Pluto Press."},{"key":"2025092412233078000_48.1.94.61","unstructured":"Wellcome Trust . n.d. \u201cLondon, England; Collection: The Medical Directory, 1915; Reference: b21330724_i13765954 Accessed via Ancestry.Com.\u201d"},{"key":"2025092412233078000_48.1.94.62","unstructured":"Westminster Diocesan Archives . n.d. \u201cCardinal Bourne Papers, 5\/3, \u2018War on Women in Ireland\u2019, Undated (1921).\u201d"},{"key":"2025092412233078000_48.1.94.63","unstructured":"Wimberley Douglas . \u201cNational library of Scotland, ACC 6119 (Douglas Wimberley papers).\u201d."}],"container-title":["Medical Humanities"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/syndication.highwire.org\/content\/doi\/10.1136\/medhum-2021-012178","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,24]],"date-time":"2025-09-24T19:23:44Z","timestamp":1758741824000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/mh.bmj.com\/lookup\/doi\/10.1136\/medhum-2021-012178"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2021,11,5]]},"references-count":63,"journal-issue":{"issue":"1","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,2,21]]},"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2022,3]]}},"alternative-id":["10.1136\/medhum-2021-012178"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1136\/medhum-2021-012178","relation":{},"ISSN":["1468-215X","1473-4265"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1468-215X","type":"print"},{"value":"1473-4265","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2021,11,5]]}}}