This is the first complete history of the Irish Post Office, an institution which has been at the heart of Irish life for over 300 years. It tells the story of how a small letter office grew into one of the greatest departments of State, influencing developments in areas of life which ranged from transport and communications to economics, technology and national identity. From the early days of postboys and packet ships to the introduction of the telegraph and telephone, the Post Office has played a vital role in communications, delivering mail to all parts of the island, maintaining precious links between Ireland and its emigrants, and representing, through the friendly face of a local postman or postmistress, an approachable facet of Government. Always a commercial enterprise as well as a public service, the Post Office has had to deal with the tensions that arise in that relationship and which today pose particularly serious challenges. At the heart of the book are the men and women whose fascinating stories and sympathetic characters have moulded the shape of the department and ensured its survival in the face of personal turmoil, rebellion and political intrigue. Drawing on much unpublished material, The Post Office in Ireland: An Illustrated History reveals an organisation that has been quietly influential in the development of Irish society and pays tribute to those who have faithfully served it. From letters and telegrams, to railways, radio and the GPO itself – this history of the Irish Post Office tells the story of our nation and its people in a unique and accessible way.

The Atlas of the Irish Revolution is a definitive resource that brings to life this pivotal moment in Irish history and nation-building. Published to coincide with the centenary of the Easter Rising, this comprehensive and visually compelling volume brings together all of the current research on the revolutionary period, with contributions from leading scholars from around the world and from many disciplines. A chronological and thematically organized treatment of the period serves as the core of the Atlas, enhanced by over 400 color illustrations, maps and photographs. This academic tour de force illuminates the effects of the Revolution on Irish culture and politics, both past and present, and animates the period for anyone with a connection to or interest in Irish history.

A compelling and authoritative exploration of the 1916 Easter Rising through photographs, sketches, posters, cartoons, eyewitness accounts, manuscripts, and personal notebooks and letters.

Discover the pivotal political, military, and cultural events that shaped British and Irish history, from Stone Age Britain to the present day, in this revised and updated ebook. Combining over 700 photographs, maps, and artworks with accessible text, the History of Britain and Ireland is an invaluable resource for families, students, and anyone seeking to learn more about the fascinating story of the England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland. Spanning six distinct periods of British and Irish history, this ebook is the best way to find out how Britain transformed with the Norman rule, fought two world wars in the 20th century, and faced new economic challenges in the 21st century. DK's visual guide places key figures - from Alfred the Great to Winston Churchill - and major events - from Roman invasion to the Battle of Britain - in their wider context, making it easier than ever before to learn how they influenced Britain and Ireland's development through the age of empire into the modern era.

The English invasions of Ireland were never accepted. Each generation of Irish rebels resisted and, in doing so, faced certain death. They became martyrs and left behind speeches and watchwords to spark the flames of nationalism and idealism. Using eyewitness accounts, speeches and illustrative material, Helen Litton describes these most important Irish rebellions, from the United Irishmen of 1798 to the IRA of the War of Independence. The Irish rebellions through the years of Irish history beginning with the 1798 rebellion told through illustration and word. These engaging illustrations will bring to life some of the most pivotal events in Irish history. This illustrated history book will examine the rebellions of Ireland with a focus on the principal figures involved. Rebellions begun by Irish people who were not afraid to take on a powerful Establishment and claim their right to self-determination. This book covers six major rebellions in Irish History: The Rebellion of 1798 The Rebellion of 1803 The Rebellion of 1848 The Fenian Campaigns Easter Rising, 1916 The War of Independence

Edited by well-respected historian Roy Foster, this authoritative work provides a lively and challenging synthesis of Irish history from pre-Christian times to the present-day troubles. Written by an expert team of scholars, all known for their innovative work, it is lavishly illustrated with over 200 pictures in colour and black and white.

This is the first comprehensive single volume history of County Kildare during the Irish Revolution of 1912-23. A noted garrison county, the concentration of British military personnel in Kildare was the highest in Ireland, and the Curragh was the most extensive military camp in the country. A military presence continued after the British withdrawal in 1922 when the network of military barracks passed to the National army. Based on rigorous research of British and Irish archives, this study charts the fortunes of home rule in Kildare during which the county was at the centre of the significant Curragh incident in 1914. It explains the slow development of the Irish Volunteers and the position of the local unionist community vis-a-vis home rule. Attention is drawn to the key role played by British army units from Kildare in suppressing the 1916 Rising, as well as the post-Rising development of Sinn Fein and concomitant decline of the Irish Parliamentary Party. This study challenges the depiction of Kildare as a 'quiet county' during the War of Independence by highlighting the pivotal role it played in the intelligence war and the county's strategic communications importance for both Crown forces and republicans. During the Civil War period Kildare was to the forefront of national events with the evacuation of the British army, which had a major negative impact on the local economy, and the utilization of military barracks as prisons by the Irish government. Politically, the Irish Revolution in Kildare did not see an ultimate triumph for republicanism in any form. While the emergence of Labour was notable during the Irish Revolution, nevertheless after 1923 Kildare returned to its Redmondite roots, though under a pro-Treaty label.

Using a wide variety of sources in Ireland and Britain, Patrick McGarty has produced an absorbing, comprehensive and insightful exploration of County Leitrim during the Irish Revolution. This wide-ranging study details social, political, cultural and military developments from the introduction of the ill-fated third home rule in 1912 through the First World War, Irish War of Independence and Civil War. The decade witnessed extraordinary upheaval and unrest at both a national and a local level. In Leitrim there was a decisive political transformation with the collapse of the Irish Parliamentary Party and the unprecedented rise of Sinn Fein. McGarty pays close attention to how various modes of resistance were deployed first against British rule and after the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921 against the pro-Treaty Irish government. These included political violence and widespread campaigns of boycott and intimidation and this study provides new insights on the nature and implications of both republican and state violence. McGarty offers a novel and compelling account of the Irish Revolution in a so-called 'quiet' county.

An Irish Times Best Book of the Year Longlisted for the Bread and Roses Award for Radical Publishing "Sets Ireland's post-1916 history in its global and human context, to brilliant effect." —Neil Hegarty, Irish Times Books of the Year 2015 The Irish Revolution has long been mythologized in American culture but seldom understood. Too often, the story of Irish independence and its grinding aftermath in the early part of the twentieth century has been told only within a parochial Anglo-Irish context. Now, in the critically acclaimed Bitter Freedom, Maurice Walsh, with "a novelist's eye for detailing lives in extremis" (Feargal Keane, Prospect), places revolutionary Ireland within the panorama of nationalist movements born out of World War I. Beginning with the Easter Rising of 1916, Bitter Freedom follows through from the War of Independence to the end of the post-partition civil war in 1924. Walsh renders a history of insurrection, treaty, partition, and civil war in a way that is both compelling and original. Breaking out this history from reductionist, uplifting narratives shrouded in misguided sentiment and romantic falsification, the author provides a gritty, blow-by-blow account of the conflict, from ambushes of soldiers and the swaggering brutality of the Black and Tan militias to city streets raked by sniper fire, police assassinations, and their terrible reprisals; Bitter Freedom provides a kaleidoscopic portrait of the human face of the conflict. Walsh also weaves surprising threads into the story of Irish independence such as jazz, American movies, and psychoanalysis, examining the broader cultural environment of emerging modernity in the early twentieth century, and he shows how Irish nationalism was shaped by a world brimming with revolutionary potential defined by the twin poles of Woodrow Wilson in America and Vladimir Lenin in Russia. In this “invigorating account” (Spectator), Walsh demonstrates how this national revolution, which captured worldwide attention from India to Argentina, was itself profoundly shaped by international events. Bitter Freedom is "the most vivid and dramatic account of this epoch to date" (Literary Review).