By Laura Kelly
Published in The History of the Family, January 2026.
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Abstract

This article explores the first five years of the Irish young people’s anti-abortion group Youth Defence. Using newspaper articles and archival sources, I illustrate how the group effectively mobilised the category of ‘youth’ in their activism. ‘Youth’ was used to excuse their militant activities and any violence associated with the group. I also argue here that while the group’s activism was profoundly influenced by American campaigners, their rhetoric and activism also embodied nationalist and Catholic tropes. The establishment of Youth Defence also marked a turning point in the anti-abortion movement in Ireland. As older strategies appeared to be losing momentum, the young activists used very imaginative ways of operating but also built on older activists’ methods such as the engagement with transnational connections. I show how the activism of these young people, while focused on the abortion issue, also represented a reaction against broader social and cultural change in Irish society. In subsequent sections, I focus on the activities of Youth Defence and show how their activism, which attracted significant media attention, represented a new wave of more militant anti-abortion activity in Ireland, which provoked tensions both among the public and within the wider anti-abortion movement. Fundamentally, the article aims to show that while the anti-abortion cause was the main reason for activists joining Youth Defence, it also enabled them to channel wider anxieties around young people’s experiences, national identity and changes in Irish society, into protest. In exploring the history of Youth Defence, this article contributes to the history of conservative activism in Ireland and the wider history of the anti-abortion movement.