This is a major, collaborative study of organised military activity and its broad impact on Ireland over the last thousand years or so, from the middle of the first millennium AD to modern times. It integrates the best recent scholarship in military history into its social and political context to provide a comprehensive treatment of the Irish military experience. The eighteen chronologically-organised chapters are written by leading scholars each of whom is an authority on the period in question. Drawing the whole work together is a wide-ranging introductory essay on the 'Irish military tradition' which explores the relationship of Irish society and politics with militarism and military affairs. The text is illustrated throughout by over 120 pictures and maps.

Irish troops have served 40,000 individual tours of duty over four decades in Lebanon. All over Ireland, in almost every family, there is a father, a brother, a sister, son, daughter or cousin who has come under fire in South Lebanon. Forty-seven Irish troops died in Lebanon and thousands more have returned with physical and psychological injuries. Blood, Sweat and Tears tells the true story of the Irish at war. Clonan brings the reader on a tour of duty in Lebanon from 1995 to 1996. His vivid account brings you from a rain-swept Dublin Airport on a dark October night to the massacre of 118 innocent men, women and children in the village of Qana, South Lebanon in April 1996. The reader is taken on patrol with the Irish army and shares in their black humour, their fears, frustration and pain. It is through this odyssey that the heartbreaking nature of peacekeeping operations as seen through Irish eyes is laid bare like never before. Blood, Sweat and Tears is above all a story of personal loss, loneliness and the psychological trauma of military service in a time of war. As the narrator comes to terms with the slaughter of innocents around him, he will ultimately be confronted with the loss of those closest to him at home in Ireland. 'Tom Clonan brings to life the sights, sounds, smells and characters of southern Lebanon. His beautifully written book is in turns funny, gripping and heart-breaking.' - Lara Marlowe

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 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.

This is the first-ever biography of Emmet Dalton, an American-born Dubliner, Home Ruler and later Republican, whose extraordinary military career as a British officer, IRA leader and General in the Free State army brought him from Flanders to Beal na Bláth. A decorated hero of the Battle of the Somme, he returned from the war with the rank of Captain and transferred his military expertise to the now rampant IRA, serving as Director of Training, and greatly impressing Michael Collins with his extraordinary daring and nerve. Soon befriending Collins and becoming his close confidante, he accompanied him to the Treaty talks in London in 1921, and in the Civil War that followed Dalton oversaw the bombardment of the Four Courts, personally manning an 18-pounder artillery gun. He then masterminded and led the audacious seaborne landings and successful recapture of Cork City and Munster Republic from Anti-Treaty forces, but was ultimately traumatised when Collins died in his arms at Beal na Bláith. In his expansive biography, Sean Boyne vividly portrays Dalton's experiences and the vital role he played in the politics and wars that created the independent Irish state. Dalton was the first Senate Clerk and he became a pioneer of the Irish film world, founding Ardmore film studios and establishing the Irish Film industry. An attractive and high-achieving figure in Irish life in war and peace, Dalton's heroism allowed him to live his many lives to the full, and this compelling biography does justice to a figure who will captivate all those interested in modern Irish history and the birth of the state.

The English troops serving in Ireland were vital source of experienced and possibly war-winning manpower sought after by both King and Parliament in the Civil War. The "cessation" or truce which King Charles reached with the Irish Confederates in September 1643 enabled him to begin shipping over troops fro Ireland to reinforce the Royalist armies. During the following year the "Irish", as they were frequently if inaccurately known by both sides were an important factor in the war. The Nantwich campaign (December 1643-January 1644), the consolidation of Royalist control in the Welsh Marches during the spring of 1644, the Marston Moor campaign, and the Battle of Montgomery (September 1644) all received major contributions from the troops from Ireland. Other troops from Ireland, mainly from the province of Munster, provided important reinforcements for the Western and Oxford Royalist armies during the 1644 campaigns in western and southern England. The "Irish" were still a significant part of the Royalist army during the Naseby campaign of 1645, and elements remained in action until the end of the war. The book will look at the Irish campaign and its influence on the experience and behaviour of the troops when they reached England. It will examine their equipment, logistical care, and experience following their return. It will look at the performance of some of the troops, such as the "firelocks" who changed sides and became valuable additions to the Parliamentarian forces. Also examined is the controversial topic of "native Irish" troops who were involved, and a number of prominent indiduals who also srved in the war. Full use is made of extensive contemporary primary sources and also later research.