In the first half of the 20th Century -1914 to 1923 - the Irish people endured ten years of intense military activity, including participation in a world war, an urban insurrection, a guerrilla war and finally a bitter Civil War.

Ireland changed from a country that was a source of foot soldiers for the British Army to an Independent nation with its own armed forces. The result was a new nation bearing both the hopes of many of its citizens, and the pain left by the wars that had brought it into being.

The experience of individual Irish men, women and children during these years are described in Rooms 19 to 23 in Soldiers and Chiefs.