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The Northern IRA and the Early Years of Partition 1920-1922

24.99

Robert Lynch

‘Robert Lynch’s study of the Northern IRA is timely and incisive. It refocuses the study of revolutionary violence away from the much celebrated ambushes of the south and west of Ireland and confronts the often neglected sectarian war in the north-east. It is an impressive first book and makes a significant contribution to its field.’
Dr John Regan, University of Dundee

‘This is an extremely important book. Robert Lynch combines fine scholarship with considerable ability as a writer of a gripping narrative.’ Professor Michael Hopkinson, University of Stirling

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Description

The years 1920-22 constituted a period of unprecedented conflict and political change in Ireland.  It began with the onset of the most brutal phase of the War of Independence and culminated in the effective military defeat of the Republican IRA in the Civil War.  Occurring alongside these dramatic changes in the south and west of Ireland was a far more fundamental conflict in the north-east, a period of brutal sectarian violence which marked the early years of partition and the establishment of Northern Ireland.  Almost uniquely the IRA in the six counties were involved in every one of these conflicts and yet, it can be argued, was on the fringe of all of them.  The period 1920-22 saw the evolution of the organisation from peripheral curiosity during the War of independence to an idealistic symbol for those wishing to resolve the fundamental divisions within the Sinn Fein movement which developed in the first six months of 1922.  The story of the Northern IRA’s collapse in the autumn of that year demonstrated dramatically the true nature of the organisation and how it was their relationship to the various protagonists in these conflicts, rather than their unceasing but fruitless war against partition, that defined its contribution to the Irish revolution.