British Voices of the Irish War of Independence

British Voices of the Irish War of Independence PDF

Author: William Sheehan

Publisher: Gill & Macmillan Ltd

Published: 2007-03-14

Total Pages: 276

ISBN-13: 1848899114

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?Ireland's War of Independence generated a wealth of published material but very little from a British perspective. Yet many British servicemen left accounts of their time in Ireland from 1918 to 1921. They describe military operations, the IRA, the Irish, the actions of their own forces, morale and relationships with local communities. There is Brigadier Vinden's strange tale of a drinking session with Michael Collins and humour in the sending of Gaelic-speaking Highlanders into a public house to eavesdrop in the belief that Sinn Féiners always spoke Irish to each other. The author has gone deep into British military archives to unearth these never-published accounts. Supplemented with unpublished photographs from the Imperial War Museum and the Irish National Library, these accounts form a landmark oral history told through the personal experiences of men from across the ranks.

British Voices

British Voices PDF

Author: William Sheehan

Publisher: Collins Press

Published: 2007

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781905172375

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William Sheehan has gone deep into British military archives to unearth these never-published accounts from British soldiers, sailors, and airmen who served in The Irish War of Independence. Military operations, views on the IRA, the Irish, actions of their forces, morale and local communities are all described. Surprisingly many felt they were winning the war, while others are outspoken in their dislike of the war. Vivid accounts of the treatment of prisoners will find a contemporary echo. The book includes accounts from famous soldiers like Field Marshall Montgomery and General Percival as well as soldiers tales of drinking sessions with Michael Collins and humorous eavesdropping stories.

A Hard Local War

A Hard Local War PDF

Author: William Sheehan

Publisher: The History Press

Published: 2017-12-29

Total Pages: 238

ISBN-13: 0750987480

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Following years of discontent over Home Rule and the Easter Rising, the deaths of two Royal Irish Constabulary policemen in Soloheadbeg at the hands of the IRA in 1919 signalled the outbreak of war in Ireland. The Irish War of Independence raged until a truce between the British Army and the IRA in 1921, historical consensus being that the conflict ended in military stalemate. In A Hard Local War, William Sheeham sets out to prove that no such stalemate existed, and that both sides were continually innovative and adaptive. Using new research and previously unpublished archive material, he traces the experience of the British rank and file, their opinion of their opponents, the special forces created to fight in the Irish countryside, RAF involvement and the evolution of IRA reliance on IEDs and terrorism.

Guerrilla Warfare in the Irish War of Independence, 1919-1921

Guerrilla Warfare in the Irish War of Independence, 1919-1921 PDF

Author: Joseph McKenna

Publisher: McFarland

Published: 2014-01-10

Total Pages: 301

ISBN-13: 0786485191

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Tracing the development of the Irish Republican Army following Ireland's Declaration of Independence, this book focuses on the recruitment, training, and arming of Ireland's military volunteers and the Army's subsequent guerrilla campaign against British rule. Beginning with a brief account of the failed Easter Rising, it continues through the resulting military and political reorganizations, the campaign's various battles, and the eventual truce agreements and signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty. Other topics include the significance of Irish intelligence and British counter-intelligence efforts; urban warfare and the fight for Dublin; and the role of female soldiers, suffragists, and other women in waging the IRA's campaign.

Ireland's War of Independence 1919-21

Ireland's War of Independence 1919-21 PDF

Author: Lorcan Collins

Publisher: The O'Brien Press Ltd

Published: 2019-05-27

Total Pages: 246

ISBN-13: 1788491467

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An accessible overview of Ireland's War of Independence, 1919-21. From the first shooting of RIC constables in Soloheadbeg, Co Tipperary, on 21 January 1919 to the truce in July 1921, the IRA carried out a huge range of attacks on all levels of British rule in Ireland. There are stories of humanity, such as the British soldiers who helped three IRA men escape from prison or the members of the British Army who mutinied in India after hearing about the reprisals being carried out by the Black and Tans in Ireland. The hundreds of thousands of people who celebrated the Centenary of the 1916 Rising with pride and joy are the same people who will appreciate the story of the Irish Republicans who battled against all odds in the next phase of the fight for Ireland between 1919 and 1921.

The War of Independence in Kildare

The War of Independence in Kildare PDF

Author: James Durney

Publisher: Mercier Press Ltd

Published: 2013-07-08

Total Pages: 268

ISBN-13: 1781172293

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The Kildare IRA was heavily outnumbered by crown forces and had neither the manpower nor weaponry to seriously challenge them. With about 300 activists in County Kildare, and only about a third of them ready to take to the field at one time, they faced nearly 6,000 troops and hundreds of police and Black and Tans. However, the county was an important axis for intelligence gathering and communications to the south and west, and it is here Kildare made its greatest impact. The open flat plains of Kildare militated against ambushes, while its proximity to the capital also inhibited the Kildare Volunteers. Nevertheless there was a strong revolutionary element in the county. The book looks at the group of Volunteers who followed the railway track into Dublin to partake in the 1916 Rising and details attacks at Greenhills, Maynooth and Barrowhouse. The author also examines the Rath internment camp in the Curragh, reaction in the county to the Truce and Treaty, and the eventual split in the republican movement in the lead up to civil war. This comprehensive account will be a valuable addition to literature on this formative period in Ireland's history.

The Western Front

The Western Front PDF

Author: William Sheehan

Publisher: Gill Books

Published: 2011

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9780717147861

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The Western Front concentrates on the personal stories of Irish soldiers who fought in World War One, chronicling the experiences of officers and soldiers who served on the Front from recruitment, through training, to their experiences on the battlefields. These individual experiences are set within the wider context of the service and the military experiences of the various Irish regiments of the British Army to give a fascinating picture of life on the front line. This is the human story at the heart of a war that cost the lives of 35,000 Irishmen. From the Introduction 'This book seeks to free from archives ... the voices of officers and men who served in the Irish regiments, both Northern and Southern, in the First World War. The goal is to give readers an insight into the experiences, thoughts, hopes and fears of those who served ... It attempts to take the reader through the experience of enlistment and training, of life behind and in the trenches, and of the battles fought and losses mourned. This book is about the experiences of ordinary Irishmen in an extraordinary and terrible war.'

Combatants and Civilians in Revolutionary Ireland, 1918-1923

Combatants and Civilians in Revolutionary Ireland, 1918-1923 PDF

Author: Thomas Earls FitzGerald

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2021-03-31

Total Pages: 286

ISBN-13: 1000370461

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This book is based on original research into intimidation and violence directed at civilians by combatants during the revolutionary period in Ireland, considering this from the perspectives of the British, the Free State and the IRA. The book combines qualitative and quantitative approaches, and focusses on County Kerry, which saw high levels of violence. It demonstrates that violence and intimidation against civilians was more common than clashes between combatants and that the upsurge in violence in 1920 was a result of the deployment of the Black and Tans and Auxiliaries, particularly in the autumn and winter of that year. Despite the limited threat posed by the IRA, the British forces engaged in unprecedented and unprovoked violence against civilians. This study stresses the increasing brutality of the subsequent violence by both sides. The book shows how the British had similar methods and views as contemporary counter-revolutionary groups in Europe. IRA violence, however, was, in part, an attempt to impose homogeneity as, beneath the Irish republican narrative of popular approval, there lay a recognition that universal backing was never in fact present. The book is important reading for students and scholars of the Irish revolution, the social history of Ireland and inter-war European violence.

Truce:

Truce: PDF

Author: Pádraig Óg Ó Ruairc

Publisher: Mercier Press Ltd

Published: 2016-01-22

Total Pages: 217

ISBN-13: 1781173869

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On 8 July 1921 a Truce between the IRA and British forces in Ireland was announced, to begin three days later. However, in those three days at least sixty people from both sides of the conflict were killed. In 'Truce', Pádraig Óg Ó Ruairc goes back to the facts to reveal what actually happened in those three bloody days, and why. •What sparked Belfast's 'Bloody Sunday' in 1921, the worst bout of sectarian violence in Northern Ireland's troubled history? • Why were four unarmed British soldiers kidnapped and killed by the IRA in Cork just hours before the ceasefire began? •Who murdered Margaret Keogh, a young Dublin rebel, in cold blood on her own doorstep? •Were the last spies shot by the IRA really working for British intelligence or just the victims of anti-Protestant bigotry? This book answers these questions for the first time and separates fact from fiction to find out what really happened in the final battles between the IRA and the British forces.