What kind of people joined the IRA? Did Michael Collins order the assassination of Sir Henry Wilson? Using new research and questioning old assumptions, these essays address these and other controversies to suggest new ways of looking at the history of the Irish Revolution of 1916-23.

What is it like to be in the IRA - or at their mercy? This study explores the lives and deaths of the enemies and victims of the County Cork IRA between 1916 and 1923.

The Irish Revolution, at the beginning of the 20th century, spawned the creation of the modern Irish state. This full-length analysis offers a comprehensive framework of that revolution in its totality, taking into account the broad range of social, economic, and political developments, as well as the Irish Republican Army's campaign of guerrilla warfare and the British response to it. Drawing on such previously unpublished sources as the Irish Department of Defense's Military History Bureau, author Francis Costello paints a broad picture of the people and the key events in the Irish struggle for independence. Described by Paul Bew as 'a revelation' and 'ground-breaking, ' this important book is now available in paperback

Veteran IRA leader Ernie O’Malley criticised County Kilkenny as being ‘slack’ during the War of Independence, but this fascinating new study of the period, by historian Eoin Swithin Walsh, challenges that view and reveals that Kilkenny was truly at the forefront of the struggle for Irish freedom. No Kilkenny citizen escaped the revolutionary era untouched, especially during the turmoil that followed the Easter Rising of 1916, the upheaval of the War of Independence and the tumultuous Civil War. Key personalities, revolutionary organisations and dramatic events in Kilkenny illuminate the country-wide struggle. Not to be forgotten, the lives of the ‘ordinary’ men and women of the county are explored, emphasising a life beyond politics and conflict. The listing of Kilkenny fatalities during the War of Independence is examined and, for the first time, combatants and civilians who died during the Truce and the Civil War are recorded, revealing an even more deadly conflict than previously believed. Presenting a complete history of the county in the opening decades of the twentieth century – including the use of previously unseen archival material – Kilkenny: In Times of Revolution, 1900–1923 is an indispensable contribution to the literature on the turbulent birth of the Irish nation.

This collection of essays illuminates the origins, forms and consequences of terror, whether perpetrated by republicans or government forces.

County Louth and the Irish Revolution, 1912–1923 explores the local activism of the IRA and how revolution was experienced by rural and urban labourers, RIC men, republican women, cultural activists, and Big House families. Events were increasingly shaped for all these groups by the developing reality of partition, transforming a marginal county into a borderland and creating a zone of new violence and banditry. The expert contributors to the first-ever local history of the county during this period bring to light a wealth of fascinating stories that will appeal to the general public and historians alike. Critically, these stories reveal new findings about the early military skirmishes in County Louth by republican figures such as Seán MacEntee and Frank Aiken; the controversial sectarian massacre at Altnaveigh; and how the Civil War made a fiery battlefield of Dundalk and Drogheda. County Louth and the Irish Revolution, 1912–1923 documents the complexity of the local experience as the national revolution merged with long-established antagonisms and traditions, the effects of which have shaped the county ever since.

The profoundly sad and bitter story of Irish resistance to Britain’s occupation and administration of the six counties of Northern Ireland extends over 800 years and encompasses suffering on both sides of the conflict. The Catholic Irish, the Protestant Irish, and the British armed forces have, until recently, seemed caught up in an unbreakable cycle of violence and tragedy. Susie Derkins untangles this long history of grievance and retribution, while carefully examining the latest and most promising efforts by all sides to find peace and reconciliation.

Tom Barry: IRA Freedom Fighter chronicles the action-packed life of the Commander of the Third West Cork Flying Column, including the decisive Kilmichael ambush and the controversy regarding sectarianism during the 1920–22 period. Author, Meda Ryan, details his involvement on the fringes of the Treaty negotiations; his Republican activities during the Civil War; his engagement in the cease-fire/dump-arms deal of 1923; his term as the IRA's Chief of Staff and his participation in IRA conflicts in the 1930s, 1940s, 1950s and right up to his death in 1980. Includes an extensive body of primary source material, including Tom Barry's papers,

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.

YouTube sensation John D. Ruddy brings history to life with clarity and hilarity in videos that have amassed millions of views around the world. Here, his viral online hit, Manny Man, turns Ireland's tumultuous millennia of history into a fun and easy-to-understand story. Why did the Celts love stealing cows? What was the Norman Invasion, and were they all called Norman? From the Ice Age up to the present day, through the Vikings and Tudors, British rule and the fight for independence, he covers it all - with his tongue in his cheek, of course. The succinct, lively text is complemented by comic, colorful illustrations. So if you want a quick fix of Irish history with lots of fun along the way, then Manny Man is your only man.