On the morning of 15th May, 1922, over 1,000 recruits of the newly established Civic Guard suddenly broke ranks during Commissioner Michael Staines' TD address at Morning Parade in the training depot at Kildare Barracks. The recruits immediately set about raiding the armoury while Staines and his senior officers withdrew under armed protection and evacuated the barracks much to the annoyance of Michael Collins, the Chairman of the fledgling Provisional Government. For almost seven weeks, Collins and the mutineers struggled to reconcile their differences in the midst of the Irish Civil War. Both sides were unaware that their efforts to resolve the dispute were thwarted by a group of anti-Treaty Civic Guards intent on destroying the new force. This book investigates the reasons why the earliest recruits of the Civic Guard took up arms against their own masters and brought about a significant security risk that had direct implications for both the civil war and the future structure of the its successor, An Garda Síochána.
Tadhg Barry was the last high-profile victim of the crown forces during the Irish War of Independence. A veteran republican, trade unionist, journalist, poet, GAA official and alderman on Cork Corporation, he was shot dead in Ballykinlar internment camp on 15 November 1921. Barry's tragic death was a huge, but subsequently largely forgotten, event in Ireland. Dublin came to a standstill as a quarter of a million people lined the streets and the IRA had its last full mobilisation before the Treaty split. The funeral in Cork echoed those of Barry's comrades, the martyred lord mayors Tomás MacCurtain and Terence MacSwiney. The Anglo-Irish Treaty was signed three weeks later, all internees were released and the movement that elevated him to hero/martyr status was ripped asunder in the ensuing civil war. The name of Tadhg Barry became lost in the smoke. This is the first biography of a fascinating activist described by his British enemies as an 'Utter disloyalist' and by a comrade as 'a characteristic product of Rebel Cork – courageous, kindly, generous to a fault, bold and daring, and independent in speech and action'. It offers fascinating new perspectives on the dynamics of Ireland's long revolution, including glimpses of the roads not taken.
Originally from west Kerry, Thomas Ashe was a schoolteacher in north County Dublin and a founding member of the Irish Volunteers. During the 1916 Rising he commanded the Fingal Battalion of the Volunteers, who were tasked with destroying the communications network of the British establishment north of Dublin city. This culminated in the Battle of Ashbourne, where the tactics used were a precursor of the guerrilla warfare techniques that were to be so effective in the War of Independence. Ashe was sentenced to death alongside Éamon de Valera, but their sentences were commuted to life imprisonment. He led a hunger strike in Lewes Prison in May 1917 and was released under a general amnesty in June. Ashe was re-arrested in August for a speech he made in Co. Longford. He was imprisoned in Mountjoy, where he went on hunger strike in September for prisoner-of-war status. He died on 25 September, having been force-fed by the prison authorities. Michael Collins delivered the oration at his funeral and the circumstances of his death and funeral became one of the key factors in tipping public opinion towards supporting the cause of the 1916 rebels.
Focus is natural. We are born with an instinct to focus on exactly what we want and a very strong pair of lungs to help us to get it. Then, somewhere along the way, we begin to lose that focus. In the digital age we are bombarded with information from all angles and live our lives at such a breakneck pace that it sometimes seems that our lives are completely out of our control. In three easy steps this book teaches the reader how to regain control through the art of clear thinking: 1) FOCUS eliminate information overload 2) TRANSFORM negative thinking into positive action 3) THINK CLEARLY in the moment The author shows how you can use this strategy to achieve your goals in work and in life.
In 2011 George Mordaunt wrote a book called Shepherd's Pie, which detailed with excruciating honesty his personal story of coping with recession and recovery. Its release generated an incredible response from people all over Ireland who were struggling to cope financially and emotionally. Utterly humbled by the thousands of people who contacted him Mordaunt recognised their desire for help, their desire for guidance and their desire to recover. Compelled to act, Mordaunt now delivers a guide to recovery sharing for the first time confidential details of the steps that he took and the unpopular decisions that he had to make to ensure the survival of his family business, while clearly demonstrating that now more than ever people must decide on and execute their end game. This is a story of continued survival, self education, creative thinking and ruthless execution. It's a story of hope and inspiration and of finally realising that the time to act is now so that you can enjoy the path to recovery.
Born in Boyle, Co. Roscommon, Patrick Moran lived most of his adult life in Dublin where he took an active part in the GAA, the Gaelic League, the Trade Unions and the Irish Volunteers. He was an active participant in the 1916 Rising and was deported to England after the surrender. On his return in August 1916 he renewed his interest in football and hurling, became a founder member of the Grocers, Vintners and Allied Trades Assistants and he helped to reorganise the Volunteers in Dublin and in his native Roscommon. He was arrested following the assassinations of British Intelligence Officers in Dublin on Bloody Sunday, 21 November 1920, and was finally charged and convicted by a court martial for the murder of Lieutenants Ames and Bennett. He was executed by hanging in March 1921 amid calls from civil and religious leaders for the King of England to exercise the Prerogative of Mercy in an upsurge of overwhelming belief that he was innocent. But was he?
A musical play dealing with emigration and the lack of jobs at home that forced people to leave their native Ireland for England. It describes the emigrants 'longing for home' - 'Everyone is lonesome leaving home' - their annual homecomings and their return to jobs and places they disliked - 'back to their night shifts, an' filthy digs ... with their long faces leanin' out o' the carriage windows with the thoughts of what's waitin' over'.
A very timely analysis of the Garda Síochána, the Irish police force, as it navigates one of the most difficult years since its foundation. It is a story marked by success and failure, by attempted reform and resistance to change, by outstanding individual performance and deplorable lapses in discipline. More than an account of policing and politics, this is the story of the Republic's troubled coming of age. In this excellent history of the Garda Síochána, the Irish police force, Conor Brady, the most authoritative historian of Irish policing, explores its successes, its failures and the biggest challenges it has faced from 1960 to 2014, and looks at the recent spate of crises around the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (GSOC), leading to the resignation of Justice Minister Alan Shatter and Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan, that have rocked the force to its very core. Beginning with one of the Gardaí's greatest tests – maintaining the security of the Irish State during the Northern crisis and the Troubles – Brady goes on to chronicle the emergence of guns in Irish criminal life and the rapid expansion of the domestic drug trade and related gangland warfare, focussing on the interactions of the Gardaí and major Irish crime kingpins including Martin 'the General' Cahill, Gerard 'the Monk' Hutch and John Gilligan, alleged killer of Veronica Guerin. Acknowledged as one of the successes of the independent Irish State, the Garda Síochána has not been without its flaws and its failings, and the author does not shy away from exploring these. The Guarding of Ireland comprehensively covers the recent crisis surrounding the alleged bugging of the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (GSOC), privacy concerns in relation to the recording of Garda phone calls, and the penalty points/whistle-blower controversy that led to the resignation of Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan and Justice Minister Alan Shatter. Other fascinating subjects explored are how the supposed operational independence of the organisation has led to clashes with those in political authority, from Charlie Haughey to Desmond O'Malley, the difficulties surrounding structural reform and the author's thesis that there is a distinct correlation between the political health of the State and the way its police discharge their functions. 'The Guarding of Ireland focuses on Irish policing from 1969, which saw both the publication of the Conroy report and the commencement of the Troubles, up to the current and ongoing scandals that this year have led to the resignation of both a commissioner and a minister for justice ... [The Guarding of Ireland] is &hellip as much an analysis of the politics of policing as it is of the policing itself. The Troubles, the modernisation of the force, and the rise in crime, drugs and organised crime are all documented in a style that is detailed but still engaging. Vicky Conway, The Irish Times Weekend Review '[The Guarding of Ireland] traces the history of An Garda Síochána from 1960 to the present day. It is a fascinating narrative that should be compulsory reading for anybody associated with the current attempts to reform the force, and how it is governed ... For every vignette of personal heroism, like that of Garda [Michael] Reynolds, for every case of dedicated public service from individual members, there are also examples of a culture that leaves much to be desired. What emerges from these pages is that the culture within the force is attributable, to a great extent, to attitudes and oversight from its political masters. In this regard, nothing looms as large as the darkest days of the Troubles. Mick Clifford, Irish Examiner
This book illuminates the neglected history of the Dublin Metropolitan Police – a history that has been long overshadowed by existing historiography, which has traditionally been preoccupied with the more radical aspects of Irish history. It explores the origins of the institution and highlights the Dublin Metropolitan Police’s profound influence on the colonial forces, as its legacy reached some of the furthest outposts of the British Empire. In doing so Anastasia Dukova provides much needed nuance and complexity to our understanding of Ireland as a whole, and Dublin in particular, demonstrating that it was far more than a lawless place ravaged by political and sectarian violence. Simultaneously, the book tells the story of the bobby on the beat, the policeman who made the organisation; his work and day, the conditions of service and how they affected or bettered his lot at home and abroad.
The greatest achievement in GAA history finally gets its due: Adrian Russell's The Double is a singular triumph. - Michael Moynihan On 16 September 1990, Cork's footballers ran out on the Croke Park pitch chasing immortality. The Rebel County hurlers, watching on from the Hogan Stand in suits, had won an unlikely All-Ireland a fortnight earlier; their thrilling final victory over Galway capped a hugely fun come-from-nowhere season. Now, if Billy Morgan's footballers could overcome their rivals in Meath, they'd secure sporting history for the county; a Senior All-Ireland double. After hitting a historically low ebb the previous year, the hurlers arrived with a bang led by a hurling fanatic priest. Fr Michael O'Brien built his by plucking players from relative obscurity, coaxing old stars back into action and trusting young guns to make a name for themselves. Billy Morgan's footballers, meanwhile, were a tight-knit, well-travelled side by the summer of 1990. A cast of strong characters, including Larry Tompkins, Niall Cahalane and Dave Barry, who trained hard and partied just as hard, they ended Kerry football's hopes, before running into the Meath machine. Cork were defending champions but questions remained: could they back it up when the pressure was piled on by the hurlers' success? In a long summer that saw the nation celebrate Ireland's Italia '90 success, Cork made its own sporting history. The Double is the story of how they pulled it off.
