Recent years have seen the topic of victims and victimhood brought to the fore on the island of Ireland, both in the North with the publication of the controversial Eames/Bradley report dealing with victims of the Troubles, and in the Republic with the publication of the final Ryan Report on institutional abuse. In this collection, drawing on the cross-disciplinary nature of Irish studies, contributors from the fields of history, literary and cultural studies, politics, sociology and civic society provide multifaceted perspectives from which to examine the issue of victimhood in Ireland. The volume explores in detail how a traumatic past, whether repressed or proclaimed, can continue to impact on the present, both at a personal and societal level.