Seán Lemass enjoys unrivalled acclaim as the 'Architect of Modern Ireland'. Yet there remain great gaps in our knowledge of this mythic figure and his golden age. Up to now Lemass, a colossus of twentieth-century Irish history, was airbrushed to fit a narrative of national progress. Today, this narrative is undergoing an agonising reappraisal. This groundbreaking study reveals the man behind the myth and asks questions previously skirted around. What emerges is an authoritarian, cunning, workaholic patriot; a shrewd political tactician whose impatience lay not just with the old Ireland, but with democracy itself. This is the untold story of a great man and his lasting impact on a nation's imagination.

POLITICS, WORLD AFFAIRS / IRISH / HISTORY

"This is the first biographical work of one of the chief policymakers to have served the independent Irish state. It is the only scholarly biography (apart from Sean Lemass) of a senior Fianna Fail minister prominent in every de Valera administration." "Sean MacEntee was in many ways a unique political personality. He was the most senior politician in the independent Irish state to have been born in what became Northern Ireland. Moreover, he was a fiercely independent thinker whose written contribution to the public life of the state was considerable, reflecting his insatiable interest in all aspects of government policy, not merely those for which he bore ultimate responsibility. An assessment of MacEntee's life offers a unique opportunity to convey the full force of ministerial thought over a period of four decades in government and provides a comprehensive record of the main aspects of public policymaking since the foundation of the state." --Book Jacket.

Now available in paperback! In 1961, Irish UN peacekeepers went into combat in the Congolese province of Katanga. It was the Irish Defense Forces' first experience of active service since 1923. Irish diplomat Conor Cruise O'Brien headed the UN mission in Katanga. Former chief of staff of the defense forces, Lt.Gen. Sean MacEoin, was in overall command of UN troops in the Congo. When Irish units suffered casualties and men were taken prisoner as the fighting in Katanga continued, the crisis facing Taoiseach Sean Lemass became the most delicate and dangerous chapter in Ireland's foreign relations since 1945. Based on a first-hand account of the fighting by an Irish cavalry officer, previously unseen UN archives, and the papers of UN Secretary General Dag Hammarskjold, this book covers 18 critical months, from July 1960 to December 1961, which almost tore the UN apart and which brought the realities of UN membership to Ireland. This book is an Irish diplomatic and military perspective on a defining moment in the history of the United Nations, the Cold War, and modern Africa. Author Commandant (ret.) Art Magennis served with the Irish Defence Forces from 1940 to 1979. He undertook two tours of duty in Congo and was second-in-command of the 35th Battalion's Armoured Car Group in Elisabethville, Katanga, in 1961. [Subject: History, Military History, United Nations, Irish Studies, African Studies]

Noel Whelan, the distinguished political commentator and columnist, traces the party's fortunes from its foundation by Eamon deValera and Sean Lemass in the 1920s right up to the present day.

Assessing the relative importance of British influence and of indigenous impulses in shaping an independent Ireland, this book identifies the relationship between personality and process in determining Irish history.

A portrayal of the Irish Republican Army includes coverage of its associations with Qaddafi's regime, Margaret Thatcher's secret diplomacy with Gerry Adams, and the Catholic Church's negotiations with Republican leadership.