This data collection consists of semi- structured interviews conducted between 2013 and 2015 with a cross-section of religious and political activists in Belfast, Bradford, Dublin and London exploring attitudes to martyrdom and self-sacrifice since 1914. The research project examined the development of the concept of martyrdom and sacrificial death in Britain and Ireland since the outbreak of the First World War. It proceeded through archival, library and web-based research on historic sources, including books and pamphlets, newspapers and online databases, supplemented as necessary by site visits. The leadership activities sought to integrate key insights from other relevant GU projects, exploring both various understandings of religion and quasi-religion, and weighing their importance against other non-religious factors. Work proceeded by means of telephone interviews with researchers leading to an initial working paper. User responses were gathered through two seminars and the project website; and selected researchers attended a symposium intended to distil insights and implications for users and to present them in an accessible form. A widely-circulated hardcopy summary of the outcomes together with online video resources was made available to users, who were invited to attend one of a series of dissemination seminars to be held at various locations around the UK. The leadership interviews and accompanying documentation are also deposited in the UK Data Archive in the collection 'Religion martyrdom and global uncertainties - Part 1: Leadership interviews' (see Related Resources).

The data was collected in semi-structured interviews, which were subsequently transcribed. The Belfast, Bradford and Dublin interviews were conducted by the Belfast-based Institute for Conflict Research, who were contracted as consultants on the project - the Belfast ones by John Bell and the Bradford and Dublin ones by Neil Jarman The London interviews were conducted by Gavin Moorhead, the project Research Associate. All three interviewers followed a structure developed by the PI and discussed with them in advance. The PI also sat in on a selection of interviews. The objective was to achieve a sample of equal proportions of Catholics, Muslims and Protestants across the four case study sites, taking into account the relative numbers of each group in the four cities. Thus Protestants make up the majority of the Belfast sample, Catholics predominate in Dublin, Muslims in Bradford. These identifications were made on the basis of community background not active religious practice, although interviewees were asked to about their religious practice (or absence of it). A parallel objective was to ensure that at least a third of interviewees were women. The eventual distribution of 46 interviews (including one double interview) was Protestant 13, Muslim 16, Catholic 17; Male 30; Female 16. No attempt was made to achieve an even age distribution, as this was thought to be unrealistic in a limited sample alongside the other sampling requirements: it will be noted that the Catholic and Protestant interviewees were in general older than the Muslim ones. Interviewees were identified through existing contacts and networks and through some 'snowballing'. The researchers received valuable assistance from Dr Muhammad Ilyas in approaching Muslim interviewees in London.