Books on The War of Independance and the civil war period?

Crann na Beatha

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mickmackey1

The Civil War by Eoin Neeson (1968) in my view. Concise yet thoroughgoing.

Historybluff

I think the following books are indispensable:

Joost Augusteijn, From Public Defiance to Guerrilla Warfare: The Experience of Ordinary Volunteers in the Irish War of Independence 1916-1921 (Irish Academic Press, 1996)

Michael Hopkinson, Green against Green: The Irish Civil War (Gill & Macmillan, 1988)

Michael Hopkinson, The Irish War of Independence (Gill & Macmillan, 2002)

Arthur Mitchell, Revolutionary Government in Ireland: Dáil Éireann, 1919-1921 (Gill & Macmillan, 1995)

Charles Townshend, The British Campaign in Ireland, 1919-1921: The Development of Political and Military Policies (Oxford University Press, 1975)

Qualitymark

Tim Pat Coogan has a couple of great books on the period.

patsman07

Tom Barry Guerilla Days in Ireland would be my advice. Excellent book. Reads like a novel

DarkyHughes

patsman07 wrote: »

Tom Barry Guerilla Days in Ireland would be my advice. Excellent book. Reads like a novel

Yeah great read especially if you want to know about the war in West Cork. I wish he did a follow up book on the civil war, his activities there are a bit misty. Did he try escaping the Four Courts dressed as a nurse or try to enter it dressed as a nurse?

Arsemageddon

DarkyHughes wrote: »

Yeah great read especially if you want to know about the war in West Cork. I wish he did a follow up book on the civil war, his activities there are a bit misty. Did he try escaping the Four Courts dressed as a nurse or try to enter it dressed as a nurse?

Meda Ryans book on Tom Barry is excellent, much of it is a rebuttal of Peter Harts writing about Barry and the Kilmichael ambush (Harts books should be avoided due to his use of very questionable sources). The portion of the book dealing with the civil war period is quite short though which tends to indicate that relative to the W of I period he was relatively less active.

As for other books on the period I'd recommend 'On Another Mans Wound' and 'The Singing Flame' by Ernie O'Malley. Both are superbly written and give a very unique insight into what life was like during the period.

DarkyHughes

Arsemageddon wrote: »

Meda Ryans book on Tom Barry is excellent, much of it is a rebuttal of Peter Harts writing about Barry and the Kilmichael ambush (Harts books should be avoided due to his use of very questionable sources). The portion of the book dealing with the civil war period is quite short though which tends to indicate that relative to the W of I period he was relatively less active.

As for other books on the period I'd recommend 'On Another Mans Wound' and 'The Singing Flame' by Ernie O'Malley. Both are superbly written and give a very unique insight into what life was like during the period.

I remember watching a TG4 documentary on his life a few years back. It showed how he escaped from the Free State Army while doing prison work & he captured a few towns & villages in West Cork with his flying column but never held them for to long.

I always wondered if by the time the FSA was at full strength rejoined with the IRA & turned their guns on the British along with a general uprising would they be strong enough to win a full Republic

Arsemageddon

The escaping dressed as a nurse story is really annoying me at the minute.

I think it was Tom Barry escaping from the Curragh but I'm not certain. I'll look it up tomorrow when I'm be back home..

patsman07

DarkyHughes wrote: »

I remember watching a TG4 documentary on his life a few years back. It showed how he escaped from the Free State Army while doing prison work & he captured a few towns & villages in West Cork with his flying column but never held them for to long.

I always wondered if by the time the FSA was at full strength rejoined with the IRA & turned their guns on the British along with a general uprising would they be strong enough to win a full Republic

That's an interesting question. I especially think with Collins at the head of a peaceful and united 26 counties he certainly would have turned his attention towards the North and the remaining constitutional issues. Pity the way things turned out.

Arsemageddon

Tom Barry had to sneak into the Four Courts dressed as a nurse, he later escaped from the prison camp at Gormanstown within 24 hours of being interned by wandering over to the lads building the fence around the camp, picking up a plank, putting it over his shoulder and walking off.

Santa Cruz

Phoenix wrote: »

What books are an absolute read regarding this period in Irish history? Additionally any good reads about the war in west cork?

Sean Moylan by Aideen Caroll
The Real Chief, Liam Lynch by Meda Ryan
Survivors.

Any statement on the Bureau of Military History website

Pcos100

Naturally enough accounts by senior commanders, or later historians, tend to provide the broadest coverage of events in the Munster region along with their context within the war.

"No Other Law" and "Tomas MacCurtain" (which is rare) by Florence O'Donoghue are about the two most senior officers in Cork and events to each of their deaths. O'Donoghue was himself a key senior Cork officer, and gives a good overview of the period. As a military historian O'Donoghue was later involved in the setup of the Bureau of Military History. These are out of print so try your local antiquarian book seller, Amazon, ebay.

Ernie O'Malley's books were mentioned and are also classics, though he had less first hand knowledge about Cork.

Kevin Girvin's book "Sean O'Hegarty" is a good one. O'Hegarty who was Cork IRB leader and Commandant of Cork No1 Brigade. Would also recommend books by John Borgonovo. Borgonovo is a historian based in UCC and writes with a focus on Cork (and very well).

In the last few years quite a few of the books written by Cork Volunteers have been republished.

- Rebel Corks Fighting Story (Mercer Press)
Accounts of some of the major events in Cork, edited by Florence O'Donoghue.

- Florence & Josephine O'Donoghues War of Independence (Irish Academic Press)
Florence O'Donoghue (1st Southern Division Adjutant and Intelligence officer) and his wife's accounts, originally written for their (adult) children.

- Guerilla Days in Ireland
Tom Barry. West Cork Brigade Flying Column Commander.

- Towards Ireland Free (Mercer Press)
Liam Deasy. West Cork Brigade Adjutant.

- Where Mountainy Men have Sown (Mercer Press)
Micheal O Suilleabhain. Baile Mhuirne area operations.

- The Story of the 7th (7th Batt. Cork No1 Brigade)
Charlie Browne, 7th Batt. Adjutant. Macroom area

Qualitymark

There must have been some plain-faced nurses in 1921!

mikepajero182

Dan breen's my fight for Irish freedom is a great read
Dan breen fired the first shot of the war of independence

DarkyHughes

There's a great "Photographic Record" book called - Revolutionary Ireland by George Morrison. Basically it starts from the Young Irelander movement but & the IRB beginnings but quickly moving to the UVF of 1912 & Irish Volunteers of 1913 & ending with the end of the Civil & the start of that scumbag first government. Stand out things very rare pictures of IRA men & woman in Dail courts & stuff like that & after battles & stuff like that it has a humorous side to. For instances there was a IRA man acting the so he had to wear a sign on him say "Drummed Out - I.R.A" to discipline him.

Another great read because I consider it a war of independence for the North whether people agree with that or not. It's called "From Insurrection to Parliament - Provisional IRA" by former hunger striker who was hours away from death Tommy McKearney, for people who don't know Tommy he lost 3 brothers in the troubles, 2 out of the 3 were in the IRA, the first to go was killed by his own bomb, the second was apart of the Loughgall team (RIP lads) & his other brother was just shot randomly by the UVF.
Like I said whether you agree with the morality it's a fascinating & brilliant read.