Irish Voices from the Great War

Irish Voices from the Great War PDF

Author: Myles Dungan

Publisher: Merrion Press

Published: 2014-07-07

Total Pages: 320

ISBN-13: 1908928832

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This pioneering study, first published in 1995, retains its rank as one of the most powerful histories ever written about Irish involvement in World War 1. This year, the centenary of the war, sees its timely re-publication as the Irishmen who fought in that war re-enter the national memory after decades of indifference and hostility. The gradual softening of attitudes over the last twenty years amid great historic change on the island of Ireland, is due in no small part to the efforts of historians, such as Myles Dungan, to tell thousands of forgotten stories. Drawing on the diaries, letters, literary works and oral accounts of soldiers, Myles Dungan tells some of the personal stories of what Irishmen, unionist and nationalist, went through during the Great War and how many of them drew closer together during that horror than at any time since. This volume deals with a selection of the most important battles and campaigns in which the three Irish Divisions participated.

There’s A Devil In The Drum [Illustrated Edition]

There’s A Devil In The Drum [Illustrated Edition] PDF

Author: Lt.-Colonel John Frederick Lucy

Publisher: Pickle Partners Publishing

Published: 2015-11-06

Total Pages: 544

ISBN-13: 1786255839

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Includes the First World War Illustrations Pack – 73 battle plans and diagrams and 198 photos “A classic. Lucy enlisted, with his brother in the RIR 1912, 2nd Bn. in France & gives a very fine account of the 1914-1915 campaign. His brother was killed at the Aisne & Lucy was eventually sent home for a rest: “My leave... was a nightmare. My sleep was broken & full of voices & the noises of war. The voices were those of officers & men who were dead... One morning was discovered standing up in bed facing a wall ready to repel an imaginary dawn attack.” Lucy was commissioned, returned to his bn. and fought at 3rd Ypres & Cambrai until wounded. John Lucy, an Irishman from Cork, enlisted in an Ulster regiment, The Royal Irish Rifles, with his younger brother in January 1912, and after six months at the Depot they joined the 2nd Bn in Dover. Subsequently they moved to Tidworth where the battalion was on 4 August 1914, in 7th Bde 3rd Division; ten days later they were in France. There follow brilliant accounts of Mons, Le Cateau and the retreat to the Marne, the turn of the tide and the Battle of the Aisne where his brother was killed. The battalion was involved in desperate fighting in front of Neuve Chapelle in October 1914, losing 181 killed in four days and virtually ceasing to exist, reduced to two officers and 46 men. Brought up to strength it suffered the same fate at First Ypres. This is a superb book, one of the best written by a ‘ranker’, all the better for being one of the very few to describe those early battles of 1914. As a critic wrote in 1938, ‘it is easily the best [war book] written by an Irishman’ - arguably still true. A great bonus is the description of life in the ranks in that long long ago just before the Great War.”-Print ed.

Ireland's Unknown Soldiers

Ireland's Unknown Soldiers PDF

Author: Terence Denman

Publisher:

Published: 2017-03-21

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9780716532583

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This pioneering study, originally published in 1992, remains the definitive history of the 16th (Irish) Division in the First World War. This year, the centenary of the outbreak of the war, sees its timely re-issue as the Irishmen who fought in that war re-enter the national memory after decades of indifference and hostility. Nearly 135,000 Irishmen volunteered and no less than three Irish divisions - the 10th (Irish), 16th (Irish) and 36th (Ulster) - were formed from Irishmen, Catholic and Protestant, who responded to Lord Kitchener's call to arms. An estimated 35,000 Irish-born soldiers were killed before the armistice came in November 1918. Over 4,000 of those died with the 16th (Irish) Division. In Ireland's Unknown Soldiers Terence Denman tells the powerful story of the Irish Division whose largely Catholic, nationalist composition encapsulated the complexities that surrounded Irish involvement in First World War. Denman recalls the sombre, compelling story of the lesser-known 16th (Irish) Division on the Western Front: gassed at Hulluch, victorious at Ginchy and Guillemont, the Division suffered heavy casualties in the carnage at the Somme, Messines Ridge and Passchendaele, before its final destruction in March 1918. Denman brings to life the extraordinary resilience and camaraderie of the men in the trenches and the tragedy of the thousands who made the ultimate sacrifice. This was the last chapter in the long history of the Catholic Irish soldier's contribution to the British army.

Fighting Irish

Fighting Irish PDF

Author: Gavin Hughes

Publisher: Merrion Press

Published: 2015-10-05

Total Pages: 270

ISBN-13: 1785370499

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Fighting Irish is a meticulous and engaging account of the First World War from the perspective of the men of the Irish Regiments of the British Army, revealing the extent of the Irish military commitment to the Great War effort from 1914-1918. Startling and sympathetic matters, from campaign strategy to the soldiers’ intimate war experiences, are addressed with fascinating documentary evidence and poignant eye-witness accounts. Persisting humour and unexpected trials; mounting reputations and the mundane drudgery of routine military life – all is touched upon in the lives of these men, and undercut by the pervasive loss of life. Whether fighting at Ypres, the Somme, Gallipoli, Kostorino or Nablus, the story of the Irish Regiments is compelling and evocative, with reasons for enlistment as varied as the men themselves. Though entrenched in warfare, many minds were set on the increasing unrest at home, swaying their interests and shaping the communications they left to posterity. Fighting Irish defines the diverse backgrounds of all those who served with the Irish regiments in these years, recounting their deeds through exacting historical research within a gripping and affecting narrative.

Irish Aces of the RFC and the RAF in the First World War

Irish Aces of the RFC and the RAF in the First World War PDF

Author: Joe Gleeson

Publisher: Fonthill Media

Published: 2017-05-17

Total Pages:

ISBN-13:

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The First World War had an enormous impact on Ireland. Over 240,000 Irish men and women volunteered to serve with the Allied forces, suffering almost 40,000 casualties. The Irish contribution to the air war remains overlooked, not just in Ireland, but also by historians generally. Although just 6,000 Irish served with the Allied flying services at a cost of 500 casualties, their impact was out of all proportion to their numbers. The contribution of Irish aces of the RFC and RAF to the Allied cause was enormous, just over thirty of whom accounted for 400 enemy aircraft. Irishmen such as Mannock, McElroy and Hazell were among the highest-scoring pilots of the war. Some were revered by their men, others were controversial figures – reckless with their own lives and those under their command – but many of their stories remain untold. This book seeks to restore all those who were written out of Irish history, while also providing for their achievements to be considered in the overall context of the first air war. Illustrations: 24 black-and-white photographs

A Coward If I Return, a Hero If I Fall

A Coward If I Return, a Hero If I Fall PDF

Author: Neil Richardson

Publisher: O'Brien Press

Published: 2020-04-06

Total Pages: 368

ISBN-13: 9781788491730

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IRELAND'S FORGOTTEN LEGACY In 1914-1918, two hundred thousand Irishmen from all religions and backgrounds went to war. At least thirty-five thousand never came home. An award-winning collection of veterans' stories as told by the families, with military records, surviving documents and letters.

Ireland’s Call

Ireland’s Call PDF

Author: Stephen Walker

Publisher: Merrion Press

Published: 2015-09-07

Total Pages: 256

ISBN-13: 1785370219

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In Ireland's Call BBC journalist Stephen Walker charts the fascinating stories of 40 Irishmen who swapped the sports field for the battlefield - household names who gave up their blossoming careers to volunteer for the Great War. Using rare archive letters, memoirs and newspaper reports, this compelling book features the stories of sportsmen whose lives were tragically cut short in the mud of the Somme, the despair of Ypres and the heat of Gallipoli. It chronicles the remarkable achievements of Irish international footballers and rugby players, athletes, GAA stars, cricketers, hockey players and a record-breaking Irish champion golfer. A century on, their sacrifices and those of a generation of Irish sporting heroes, are finally and faithfully recorded in this unique and evocative account.

Dublin's Great Wars

Dublin's Great Wars PDF

Author: Richard S. Grayson

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2018-08-23

Total Pages: 487

ISBN-13: 1108684688

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For the first time, Richard S. Grayson tells the story of the Dubliners who served in the British military and in republican forces during the First World War and the Irish Revolution as a series of interconnected 'Great Wars'. He charts the full scope of Dubliners' military service, far beyond the well-known Dublin 'Pals', with as many as 35,000 serving and over 6,500 dead, from the Irish Sea to the Middle East and beyond. Linking two conflicts usually narrated as separate stories, he shows how Irish nationalist support for Britain going to war in 1914 can only be understood in the context of the political fight for Home Rule and why so many Dubliners were hostile to the Easter Rising. He examines Dublin loyalism and how the War of Independence and the Civil War would be shaped by the militarisation of Irish society and the earlier experiences of veterans of the British army.

Ireland and the Great War

Ireland and the Great War PDF

Author: Niamh Gallagher

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2021-11-04

Total Pages: 277

ISBN-13: 1350246697

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On 4 August 1914 following the outbreak of European hostilities, large sections of Irish Protestants and Catholics rallied to support the British and Allied war efforts. Yet less than two years later, the Easter Rising of 1916 allegedly put a stop to the Catholic commitment in exchange for a re-emphasis on the national question. In Ireland and the Great War Niamh Gallagher draws upon a formidable array of original research to offer a radical new reading of Irish involvement in the world's first total war. Exploring the 'home front' and Irish diasporic communities in Canada, Australia, and Britain, Gallagher reveals that substantial support for the Allied war effort continued largely unabated not only until November 1918, but afterwards as well. Rich in social texture and with fascinating new case studies of Irish participation in the conflict, this book has the makings of a major rethinking of Ireland's twentieth century.