The 1916 Diaries of an Irish Rebel and a British Soldier


Book Description

This book contains the unpublished diaries of two men writing under fire on the streets of Dublin in April 1916. In Jacob's factory, Volunteer Seosamh de Brún wrote in his tiny diary about guard duties and a bicycle sortie to help de Valera, during which a sniper killed one of the cyclists. Meanwhile, across the Liffey, British soldier Samuel Lomas wrote in his own diary of building barricades across Moore Street and participating in the executions of Pearse, Clarke and MacDonagh, giving new insights into the rebellion's grim closing days. Mick O'Farrell brilliantly juxtaposes these two accounts, including fascimilies that show through deteriorating handwriting the increasing pressure the diarists were under, to give a dramatic account of how ordinary participants experienced the events of Easter week.




Shakespeare at War


Book Description

The first material history of how Shakespeare has been 'recruited' in wartime.




Our History of the 20th Century


Book Description

In Travis Elborough's expertly curated collection of diaries, letters and journals, the great and the good rub shoulders with the obscure, the unsung and the everyday to bring us a unique top down and bottom up history of Britain during the twentieth century.




Those of Us Who Must Die


Book Description

The 1916 Rising is one of the most documented and analysed episodes in Ireland's turbulent history. Often overlooked, however, is its immediate aftermath. This significant window in the narrative of Irish revolutionary history, which saw the rebirth of the Volunteers and laid the foundations for the War of Independence, is usually covered as a footnote, or from the biographical standpoints of the leaders. Picking up where the authors' acclaimed account of the Rising, When the Clock Struck in 1916, left off, we join the men and women of the Rising in the dark abyss of defeat. The leaders' poignant final hours and violent ends are laid bare, but the perspective of those with the unpalatable task of carrying out the executions is also revealed, rectifying a historic disservice to those who reluctantly formed the firing squads. While the prisoners in Dublin awaited their grisly fates, others were deported in stinking cattle boats to camps in England and Wales. When they returned, it was to a jubilant welcome in a radically changed country. The gruesome death of Thomas Ashe in September 1917, after being force-fed in Mountjoy Prison, became a marshalling point for the republican movement, as his funeral saw Volunteers once again assembled in uniform on Dublin's streets. The next phase of the struggle was born, under new leaders who had 'graduated' from the internment camps known as 'Republican Universities', ready and eager to fill the void left by the executed visionaries. The authors sifted through thousands of first-hand accounts of the suffering endured when ordinary people set out to change history. Their stirring account will transport readers into life as it looked, sounded and even smelt to those taking part in this crucial juncture of our history.




As We Were


Book Description

Fought between 1914 and 1918, World War One - The Great War - was the most titanic and devastating conflict the world had yet seen. Detailing the course of the war week-by-week and the intimate accounts and experiences of soldiers and civilians alike, As We Were offers insight like no other into a war that impacted generations the world over.




Children of the Rising


Book Description

Children of the Rising is the first ever account of the young lives violently lost during the week of the 1916 Rising: long-forgotten and never commemorated, until now. Boys, girls, rich, poor, Catholic, Protestant - no child was guaranteed immunity from the bullet and bomb that week, in a place where teeming tenement life existed side by side with immense wealth. Drawing on extensive original research, along with interviews with relatives, Joe Duffy creates a compelling picture of these forty lives, along with one of the cut and thrust of city life between the two canals a century ago. This gripping story of Dublin and its people in 1916 will add immeasurably to our understanding of the Easter Rising. Above all, it honours the forgotten lives, largely buried in unmarked graves, of those young people who once called Dublin their home.




Revolutionary Dublin, 1912–1923


Book Description

Step back in time with this accessible walking guide to the revolutionary history of Dublin. John Gibney and Donal Fallon have spent years leading historical walking tours through the city, and now guide readers at their own pace through this radical period, bringing it to life in a novel way, from the perspective of the streets and buildings in which it took place. Beginning in 1912, when Dublin was a city of the British Empire, and finishing in the aftermath of the Civil War in 1923, en route it covers the 1913 Lockout, the impact of the First World War, the 1916 Rising and the War of Independence. These groundbreaking events are set against the backdrop of the city's multifaceted development. Each walk covers a different area, setting the scene with a rich overview of its social, cultural and architectural context during this era, then taking in well-known landmarks and hidden corners where key events unfolded, from Kilmainham Gaol in the west, through Liberty Hall and Jacob's biscuit factory in the inner city, to Croke Park in the north. Along the way, readers will get to know the diverse cast who shaped Ireland's revolution, from lesser-known figures like Rosie Hackett, to iconic leaders like Patrick Pearse. Each route follows on from the last, allowing readers to extend their explorations through the city. Whether you're a first-time visitor or a born-and-bred Dubliner, follow in the footsteps of the men and women who shaped and witnessed the Irish revolution and see the city as they did.




The Easter Rising 1916 - Molly's Diary


Book Description

Easter 1916. The Great War rages in Europe with two hundred thousand Irishmen fighting in the British Army. But a small group of Irish nationalists refuse to fight for Britain and strike a blow for Irish freedom. Caught up in the action in Dublin, is twelve-year-old Molly O’Donovan. Her own family is plunged into danger on both sides of the conflict. Her father, a technical officer with the Post Office dodges the crossfire as he tries to restore the telegraph lines while her wayward brother runs messages for the rebels. Molly a trained First Aider, risks her own safety to help the wounded on both sides. As violence and looting erupts in the streets of Dublin alongside heroism and high ideals, Molly records it all. The Proclamation at the GPO, the battle of Mount Street, the arrival of the British Troops. But will Molly’s own family survive and will she be able to save her brother? This is her diary.




The Easter Rising 1916 - Molly's Diary


Book Description

Easter 1916. The Great War rages in Europe with two hundred thousand Irishmen fighting in the British Army. But a small group of Irish nationalists refuse to fight for Britain and strike a blow for Irish freedom. Caught up in the action in Dublin, is twelve-year-old Molly O’Donovan. Her own family is plunged into danger on both sides of the conflict. Her father, a technical officer with the Post Office dodges the crossfire as he tries to restore the telegraph lines while her wayward brother runs messages for the rebels. Molly a trained First Aider, risks her own safety to help the wounded on both sides. As violence and looting erupts in the streets of Dublin alongside heroism and high ideals, Molly records it all. The Proclamation at the GPO, the battle of Mount Street, the arrival of the British Troops. But will Molly’s own family survive and will she be able to save her brother? This is her diary.




Pledged as a Rebel


Book Description

A history and analysis of the rising that covers the principal players, the strategy and execution of the plan. This new history shows the Uprising from initiation to its aftermath. The uprising came during the tough times of World War I and was viewed by some as heroic and by others as treachery.




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