Women, Their Own Worst Enemy: Police Culture, Sexuality and Sexual Crime in the Irish Free State, 1929

Sexual crime in the Irish Free State was more than an issue of law, it carried ideological importance in a nation that legitimized itself as a beacon of Celtic Catholicism whilst struggling to maintain credibility in a contested post-colonial landscape. The nation’s police force, An Garda Síochána, had a central role in preserving the nation’s reputation for piety. This paper explores the views of two of An Garda Síochána’s most senior officers regarding female sexuality and sexual crime; features that were to influence the level of protection and justice Ireland’s women and children were afforded under law.