The years of the Irish revolution were the crucible of modern Ireland. Richard Killeen's authoritative survey of the period is an ideal introduction to this tumultuous time. The Irish revolution began with the Ulster crisis of 1912 followed by the Irish Nationalist Party securing the passage of the Home Rule Act in 1914. By then, however, the Great War had broken out: the Act was suspended for the duration of the war, with the violent Ulster opposition to it still unresolved. But the war changed everything. Over thirty thousand Irish troops died. A radical nationalist minority rebelled against British rule at Easter 1916, an event that established itself as the foundation date of a new, more assertive nationalism. In 1918 Sinn Féin supplanted the old Nationalist party and formed its own assembly in Dublin. At the same time the IRA began an armed campaign against British Rule. By 1922, Britain had withdrawn from twenty-six of the thirty-two counties of Ireland which now constituted the Irish Free State. The Ulster problem had, however, never been resolved. The result was partition and the establishment of two states on the island — something unthinkable fifteen years earlier. A Short History of the Irish Revolution, 1912 to 1927: Table of Contents - Ulster Crisis - Nationalism Before 1916> - The Rising and the War - From the Rising to Partition - Partition and the Treaty - Two States

Drawing on an impressive array of sources, author Pat McCarthy has produced the first comprehensive history of County Waterford during the turbulent and extraordinary years of the Irish Revolution. He reveals what life was like for the ordinary men, women, and children of city and county during a period that witnessed world war and domestic political and social strife. As the home constituency of John Redmond, leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party, Waterford city shared in his apparent triumph between 1912 and 1914 when he was on the cusp of achieving home rule. The city faithfully supported his wartime policies and benefited from the consequent economic boom. On Redmond's death, that loyalty was transferred to his son amid bitter political violence. After the general election of 1918, Captain William Redmond described his Waterford city constituency, the only one outside Ulster to return an Irish Party MP, as 'an oasis in the political desert that is Ireland.' Waterford city's allegiance to the Redmonds, its support for the British war effort, and a strong labor movement combined to make the city a social and political battleground. By contrast, County Waterford reflected the nationwide trend and was swept along by the rising Sinn Fein tide. It also participated actively in the War of Independence. In 1922 and 1923, both city and county were convulsed by the Civil War and bitter labor disputes. This wide-ranging study offers fascinating new perspectives on Waterford during the Irish Revolution. (Series: Irish Revolution, 1912-23) [Subject: History, Irish Studies, Politics]

A generously illustrated popular history of Ireland's Easter Rising and Revolution.

This is the first comprehensive account of County Louth's experience of the revolutionary period (1912-23), revealing a county with a strong industrial and agricultural base that faced serious challenges stemming from declining population, large-scale unemployment and extensive poverty. Although overwhelmingly nationalist, Louth's political activists were bitterly divided until the foundation of the Irish Volunteers in 1913. The First World War split the Volunteers. The majority sided with Redmond and, in late summer 1914, these volunteers, with bands playing and flags flying, saw off many of their comrades to fight in the First World War. The Irish Volunteers, which opposed the war, remained few in number but took part in the 1916 Rising. As the militancy of 1916 faded, the IRA in Louth was widely criticized for its relative inactivity during the War of Independence while Sinn Fein struggled to gain political control in the face of strong nationalist opposition. By 1922, the county was central to the Provisional government's campaign to destabilize Northern Ireland, which witnessed many atrocities. During the Civil War, Louth experienced extensive violence, including streetfighting, ambushes, assassinations, executions and house burnings. When peace was restored, Louth emerged from a decade of instability more divided than ever, cut off by partition from its natural hinterland in Ulster, and facing an uncertain future.

An engaging history of the Irish revolutionary period, now in paperback for the first time.