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The Civil War left a more violent mark on Kildare than the War of Independence had. As a garrison county with military barracks situated on the main Cork and Limerick roads in Naas, Newbridge, the Curragh and Kildare town, it had a low level of republican military activity. By the Truce of 1921, however, Kildare's two IRA battalions had evolved into quite efficient military units. Forty-three people in or from Co. Kildare died during 1922-3, while only fifteen people died in the 1916-21 period as a result of hostilities. Kildare had one of the highest numbers of IRA volunteers executed during the war - eight - and the largest single execution - in December 1922 when seven men from the Rathbride column were executed at the Curragh. Fifteen National Army soldiers were killed in ambushes in the county, yet only three RIC men died. Two internment camps - Tintown and Newbridge - housed nearly 3,000 prisoners in 1922-3, while the Rath Camp held 1,200. The internment camps were the scene of mass hunger strikes and mass jail-breaks and the escape from Newbridge is the biggest in republican prison folklore, with 112 prisoners getting away. Includes the full untold story of the Rathbride column when 7 out of 10 arrested were executed in 1922 while other prisoners in Kerry caught in the same circumstances were reprieved.¿

The Gifford sisters, Grace (later Plunkett), Muriel (later MacDonagh), Nellie (later Donnelly), and Sydney (later Czira) were key figures in the Republican struggle during the 1916 period. Grace Gifford is one of the tragic stories of the 1916 Easter Rising, but the poignancy of her brief marriage to the executed rebel leader Joseph Mary Plunkett has tended to overshadow her family's deep commitment to the cause of the Irish Republic. Grace was the second youngest of twelve children. Despite coming from a strongly unionist background and being raised in the Protestant faith, the Gifford sisters became heavily involved with the republican Irish movement and with the fight for Irish freedom. Both in Ireland and in America they supported the republican cause, despite the heartache and difficulties this caused them. This fascinating book tells the stories of the four sisters in the context of their time, with a light touch that belies the depth of detail involved.

Major Haig ordered them to 'prepare to fire', whereupon they the fired indiscriminately, point blank, at the people in the street. Four people were killed and thirty-seven wounded. All Ireland seethed with indignation . . . This new edition of Dublin's Fighting Story with an introduction by Diarmaid Ferriter features stories and reports from every aspect of the War of Independence, from the formation of the Fianna Éireann and the Volunteers, through the Great Dublin Strike and Lock-out in 1913 and the 1916 Rising to the death of Seán Treacy in a bloody street shoot-out, the triumph and tragedy of Bloody Sunday and the burning of the Customs House. Dublin's Fighting Story offers the perspective of the eye witnesses and fighting men themselves to the struggle for independence in Dublin.

One man's journey through alcoholism, and what helped him recover.During his drinking days Paul Campbell let down and hurt many people - his family and loved ones in particular. Alcoholism is known as the family illness and it truly is. Before alcoholism kills, it usually destroys the lives of loved ones, the ones ironically that care about the alcoholic the most. Much of this book is written with these people in mind. To Paul Campbell's mind, family members are usually the silent victims of alcoholism. This book is not written by an academic or a doctor. It doesn't have carefully drawn charts or squiggly diagrams describing a variety of personalities and behavior patterns. This book is written by someone who had everything, who lost everything, who went through the living hell of chronic alcoholism and the tough times of recovery. Ultimately though, he is proof that there is hope for everyone - even the most crazy, out-of-control, self-destructive alcoholic. Paul Campbell discovered that giving up drink was only half the battle. Living and enjoying life is the real challenge.Paul Campbell is an Addiction Counsellor living in Ireland. He writes regular columns on alcoholism for the Irish press.

Kerry was the scene of some of the bloodiest and most protracted fighting during the civil war. When Free State troops landed dramatically by sea, taking the anti-treaty forces by surprise, the initial fighting was intense. Soon resistance by large groups became rare and the sides settled into a prolonged period of guerrilla conflict.The Civil War in Kerry builds an insightful picture of the conflict and its principle participants. Looking at both sides and their motivations, their challenges and also their similarities, it draws a complete picture of the county during this troubled period.By following events to the general election in 1923 when a degree of normality returned, it also shines a light on how the noncombatants of Kerry judged the conflict and how the war shaped the future of politics in the county for decades to come.

The spellbinding story of the most famous abortionist of the 1940s and 1950s, Mamie Cadden. Mamie Cadden was born in the US of Co. Mayo parents who returned to Ireland soon after her birth. Mamie qualified as a midwife from the National Maternity Hospital in 1925 and started work in one of Dublin's many nursing homes. Soon after she established her own home, St. Maelruin's, in Rathmines. Mamie became famous in Dublin for her fast lifestyle, blonde hair, MG sportscar and friendship with students, bohemians and other independent women. However, it all came to a temporary end in 1939 when she was sentenced to jail for abandoning a child she had contracted to place in a home. When she emerged in 1940 she began to concentrate on the busy abortion services in Dublin, a service which would eventually land her in jail for the rest of her life...

Author David Ross's biography of Georoge Bernard Shaw is exceptionally readable and entertaining. The life, wit and prolific achievements of this Irish icon are conveyed with insight and understanding.

Author David Pritchard's highly readable, frank and sympathetic biography of Oscar Wilde, the cultural and literary legacy of one of the most paradoxical characters, and one of the most brilliant intellects, of the nineteenth century.

An up to date reassessment of the man whose name has always been synonymous with controversy. Over the last number of decades, Charles J. Haughey has been involved in major political scandals of Watergate proportions: the Arms Crisis, the telephone tapping scandal, the Beef Tribunal, the Ben Dunne payments, tax evasion, the Terry Keane revelations, the Moriarty Tribunal and the McCracken Tribunal, to name a few.In this up-to-date record of Haughey's controversial career, T. Ryle Dwyer delivers his conclusions on the Haughey Years.Lively, succinct, opinionated, drawing extensively on in depth research, Forty Years of Controversy is the indispensable handbook for anyone intrigued by Ireland's most inscrutable politicians.