Guerrilla Days in Ireland
Kilmichael and Crossbarry, as well as numerous other less known attacks made by the Brigade against the British Army, Black and Tans, Auxiliary Division and the Royal Irish Constabulary. The text was originally serialised in The Irish Press in 1948 before being published as a book.[2]
The authorTom Barry, born in Home Rule or any political motives.[3] Reading about the 1916 Easter Rising while in serving in Iraq was a transformational moment,[3] although he continued to serve until the end of World War I and was initially proud of this service upon his return to Ireland.[4]
Guerilla Days In Ireland describes his activity during Ireland's War of Independence but waited a quarter of a century before committing these memoirs to print and publication. In the intervening years he had disappointing and frustrating experiences in Ireland's Civil War,[5] its aftermath, and "The Emergency". In particular, the events leading up to World War II and complications associated with Irish neutrality saw him taking the risk of engaging with German officials only to have these agreements overridden by the IRA Army Convention.[6] In 1946, Barry ran unsuccessfully as an Independent candidate in the Cork Borough by-election, receiving the lowest number of first preference votes. His next project, a memoir about the underdog story of his involvement in the guerrilla campaign against the Black and Tans in the War of Independence, would be an attempt to repair his reputation.
The Text
In Guerilla Days in Ireland Tom Barry describes the evolution of his own thinking (from a British soldier to an Irish revolutionary) to the setting up of the West Cork Flying Column (a volunteer force never exceeding 310 fighters), its training, and its plan of campaign.[7] ReceptionGuerilla Days in Ireland was serialised in The Irish Press prior to publication and was already generating discussion in the letters pages of Irish newspapers before the release of the book.[8] The book was a commercial success and favourably reviewed, with the Examiner writing "if other leaders of the period make equal contributions to the story of the time in which they were engaged in militant or political activities, writers of the future when history can be written with more detachment than at present.- will have an amount of valuable material written by " men on the spot." A story by a man on the spot is always more valuable than second evidence".[9] The Tuam Herald's review stated that it "deserves a prominent place on every Irish bookshelf".[10] In other mediaThe book was adapted into a play of the same in 2012.[11] References
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