The War for Ireland

The War for Ireland

“We hereby proclaim the Irish Republic as a Sovereign Independent State, and we pledge our lives and the lives of our comrades-in-arms to the cause of its freedom” declared the provisional government of Ireland from the steps of the General Post Office in Dublin on Easter Monday, April 24, 1916. What followed was a violent struggle for Irish independence. Now The War For Ireland tells the whole story of the turbulent and bloody years between 1913 and 1923 that saw the Irish fight the British and then themselves over the future of their nation.

In 1912, Britain had passed a law that would bring “Home Rule” to Ireland. But when the onset of World War I delayed Irish self-determination, a faction of Irish nationalists took direct action. Their Easter Proclamation led to the deadly battle in the streets of Dublin known as the Easter Rising. But the Rising turned out to be short-lived: the British drove the rebels back and they surrendered just over a month later.

Yet out of this defeat came a new beginning. The heavy-handed nature of the British response to the Rising turned much of the Irish population against Britain, and membership in and support for Irish nationalist groups such as the Irish Republican Army and Sinn Fein swelled. By 1919 Sinn Fein and the IRA had taken political power in Ireland with a manifesto to claim their nation back from the English government by whatever means they could.

The War for Ireland tells how the Anglo-Irish War that followed made heroes of men like revolutionary leader Michael Collins and politician Eamon de Valera, who were cast as freedom fighters against colonial oppression. In an attempt to end the violence, the Government of Ireland Act of 1920 effectively partitioned the island between north and south, and a 1921 truce finally ended the combat. But as the treaty was negotiated that would end the war for good, conflicts emerged between contending Irish factions, and when the Irish Free State was created in 1922, a full-blown Irish Civil War was the result, fought between those like Collins who accepted the compromise and those like de Valera who opposed the treaty and who wanted full independence. The War for Ireland describes the terror and counterterror operations of the Irish Civil War, a period of numerous short, bloody battles that resulted in more deaths than all the preceding years of struggle.

Fully illustrated with rare photography, contemporary paintings and digital maps, The War for Ireland is an engaging, absorbing account of the intriguing blend of iconic revolts and hard-fought warfare that in the space of a decade created martyrs, heroes and a long legacy of bitterness that still resonates in Ireland today.

Hardcover: 248 pages

Publisher: Osprey Publishing, Ltd. ( November 17, 2009 )

Item #: 56-8205

ISBN: 9781846039966

Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 9.5 x 0.62 inches

Product Weight: 37.0 ounces