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  • © 2019

The Irish Imperial Service

Policing Palestine and Administering the Empire, 1922–1966

Palgrave Macmillan
  • Provides the first detailed study of Irish recruitment into colonial administrative services after Irish independence in 1922
  • Focuses on the Irish involvement in the policing of the British Palestine Mandate, evaluating the Irish contribution to late imperial administration
  • Considers the extent to which the sense of Irish identity impacted on the personal and professional experiences of Irish colonial servants

Part of the book series: Cambridge Imperial and Post-Colonial Studies (CIPCSS)

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Table of contents (8 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xiii
  2. Introduction

    • Seán William Gannon
    Pages 1-21
  3. Palestine ‘From the Aspect of Irishness’

    • Seán William Gannon
    Pages 105-143
  4. Colonial Service Recruitment in Independent Ireland

    • Seán William Gannon
    Pages 187-224
  5. Irishness and Empire in the Twentieth Century

    • Seán William Gannon
    Pages 225-264
  6. Conclusion

    • Seán William Gannon
    Pages 265-267
  7. Back Matter

    Pages 269-293

About this book

This book explores Irish participation in the British imperial project after ‘Southern’ Ireland’s independence in 1922. Building on a detailed study of the Irish contribution to the policing of the Palestine Mandate, it examines Irish imperial servants’ twentieth-century transnational careers, and assesses the influence of their Irish identities on their experience at the colonial interface. The factors which informed Irish enlistment in Palestine’s police forces are examined, and the impact of Irishness on the personal perspectives and professional lives of Irish Palestine policemen is assessed. Irish policing in Palestine is placed within the broader tradition of the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC)-conducted imperial police service inaugurated in the mid-nineteenth century, and the RIC’s transnational influence on twentieth-century British colonial policing is evaluated. The wider tradition of Irish imperial service, of which policing formed part, is then explored, with particularfocus on British Colonial Service recruitment in post-revolutionary Ireland and twentieth-century Irish-imperial identities.

Authors and Affiliations

  • Centre for Contemporary Irish History, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland

    Seán William Gannon

About the author

Seán William Gannon is Irish Research Council Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Centre for Contemporary Irish History at Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland.

Bibliographic Information

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access