In the aftermath of the 1916 Rising, the ensuing guerrilla war reached its peak in August 1920, in the garrison town of Templemore, when a series of extraordinary events occurred. 16-year-old farm labourer Jimmy Walsh claimed that he was experiencing Marian apparitions, and that religious statues owned by him were moving and bleeding. Miraculous cures were claimed and the religious fervour that gripped Ireland led to an influx of thousands of pilgrims. The phenomenon of the ' Templemore miracles' or 'bleeding statues' lasted for several weeks and an informal ceasefire arose while the rebels, the police, military and civilian population struggled to comprehend the surreal situation. With the logistics of conducting the war disrupted by the flood of pilgrims, the IRA stepped in. They interrogated Walsh and, with the direct involvement of Michael Collins, planned to deter further pilgrimages to Templemore. In due course, Walsh had left Ireland, never to return, and the war resumed with an even greater degree of ferocity. Here, John Reynolds charts the bizarre goings-on that intersected the spiritual, social and martial fixations of early twentieth-century Ireland based around a small town and a boy with visions.

Most of the stories in this book are outside the scope of our everyday experience, many unbelievable, yet many have been validated by observers as being authentic. There are stories of weeping and mobile statues, incorruptible flesh of the dead, and spontaneous combustion of human bodies. Other stories concern ecstasy, levitation, visions, healing, and other mysterious events. The concept of miracles have been attacked by rationalist philosophers who argue that they would be a violation of the common course of nature, thus the events could not happen. Saint Augustine answered such critics by defining miracles as being events that are unknown in nature, not as something opposed to it. This book contains a collection of wondrous events that have been reported at have occurred at different times, in diverse places, and among all peoples of the world. These wonderful events may be called miracles, frauds, coincidences, or what ever you may choose. Many have been investigated and determined to have been fraud. The intent is to present the information, and to let you decide if they are real miracles or not.

In this vivid account of nearly 100 years of passionate life, Shivaun Gannon takes us through eras, countries, and changing fortunes with her enchanted storytelling. Born into a large, spirited Irish nationalist family, Shivaun spent her childhood in "the garden of Ireland," speaking Gaelic, cycling in the Wicklow Mountains and swimming in the Irish sea, as electricity, motorcars and wireless radios made their first appearances. A young woman when WWII broke out, she describes with heartbreaking and powerful clarity the parties, near misses and losses wrought on Ireland through the personal lens of her deeply involved family of doctors, nurses, motorcycle dispatchers, aeronautical engineers, and her own marriage and early family life in the midst of war. Post WWII, the Gannons made the difficult decision to emigrate, sight unseen, to Canada - leaving behind deep, proud Irish family roots to begin life anew with six children in Winnipeg. There, harsh winters, poverty, as well as opportunity, incredible resilience and family bonds take the Gannons on a rollicking journey full of music, invention, faith and strength.

IN JANUARY 1919, AT SOLOHEADBEG IN TIPPERARY, two members of the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) were killed by the IRA. In the four bloody years that followed, nearly 500 RIC men were killed and hundreds more wounded. In Tipperary alone, 46 policemen were killed, making it one of most violent counties in Ireland. The popular image of the RIC is that they were the 'eyes and ears of Dublin Castle', an oppressive colonial force policing its fellow countrymen. But the truth is closer to home: many were Irishmen who joined because it was a secure job with prospects and a pension at the end of service. When confronted with a volunteer army of young and dedicated guerrilla fighters, it was unable to cope. When the conflict ended, the RIC was disbanded, not at the insistence of the Provisional Government, but of its own members. 46 Men Dead is a thought-provoking look at the grim reality of the conflict in Tipperary, a microcosm of the wider battle that was the War of Independence.

The story of the man who fired the first shot of the Irish War of Independence: one of the toughest and most able soldiers of the revolution.