An Cosantóir

38 The deaths of over 3,700 people killed by both paramilitaries and state forces as part of the bloody and traumatic events of the modern Troubles in Northern Ireland were commemorated in the monumental work Lost Lives. It was researched and written over several years by David McKittrick, Seamus Kelters, Brian Feeney, Chris Thornton and David McVea and was last re-printed 12 years ago. Not long after Lost Lives was first published in 1999 it was reported to be the most stolen book in Belfast. Seamus Kelters, the second named author mostly understood that this was a sign of the book's egalitarian appeal; that Lost Lives' goal, which was simply to record every death caused by the Troubles, was recognised, and appreciated as much by thieves as it was by professors!! Lost Lives: The Stories of the Men, Women and Children who Died as a Result of the Northern Ireland Troubles is still seen as a "non-contentious" and objective record of the life and circumstances of the death of each of the victims of the Troubles. The Irish Government in conjunction with the Northern Ireland Executive is considering buying the rights to the out-of-print Lost Lives and making it available online as a cross-community memorial. It remains one of the absolute key references used by authors, academics, and students in examining the tragedy of the Troubles as it unfolded. In "The Dead of the Irish Revolution," Eunan O'Halpin and Daithí Ó Corráin have published a highly significant work that is in effect the War of Independence equivalent of Lost Lives, and they have succeeded admirably. Preeminent historians of the Revolutionary period (1916-1921) have acknowledged the significant contribution that this work makes in advancing our understanding of this era. Diarmaid Ferriter calling The Dead of the Irish Revolution "an indispensable reference work" while Gearóid Ó Tuathaigh in his view posits this work as "a remarkable feat of close scholarship and calm exposition, based on an exhaustive mining of a wealth of primary sources." The publication of this work is particularly timely given the series of commemorations, often contentious, coalescing around the centenary of this period, the aborted The Dead of The Irish Revolution Author: Eunan O'Halpin & Daithí Ó Corráin Publisher: Yale University Press ISBN: 9780300123821 Pages: 720 Price: €50.00 BOOKS BOOKS commemoration of the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) at Dublin Castle in 2020 being a case in point. So even at this remove, the foundation of our own modern state (and indeed the establishment of the Northern Ireland state) amidst the crucible of violence and counter-violence perpetrated by both sides, remains highly contentious and much debated. How many died? We know now it as being enumerated at 2,850, the first half of 1921 being the bloodiest, with nine people being killed alone on New Year's Day that year and approximately a thousand dying up until the Truce of 11 July 1921. But the real strength of this work, is in documentation the individual tragedies of all the deaths encompassed within this Revolutionary period; for this reviewer two separate incidents had a particular resonance. From my own hometown of Navan was the killing of Thomas Hodgett, Navan's postmaster, taken from his house in Academy Street on the night of Thursday 17th February 1921. He was shot in the chest and his body was thrown from Pollboy Bridge, where the river Boyne meets the Blackwater, no one was ever charged with his killing, allegedly by rogue members of the RIC. Today a plaque on the bridge records his death. Equally on being posted to Murphy Barracks, Ballincollig, County Cork following commissioning in April 1984 I knew nothing of the story of three 'Boy' members of the Band of the 1st Battalion Manchester Regiment, who absconded from Ballincollig Barracks, were abducted shortly afterwards, and shot by member of the 3rd Battalion, Cork No. 1 Brigade. Matthew Carson was 18, Charles Chapman was 17 and John Cooper a mere 16 years of age. Unlike Thomas Hodgett, no plaque in Ballincollig records these 'Boy' bandsmen. Equally, Ferriter has pointed out that this was a conflict that witnessed what we today refer to as "Collateral Damage," the deaths of non-combatants; for between January 1917 and December 1921 of the 2,344 who died due to the raging political violence, 919 or 39 per cent were civilians. Some of the violence was intertwined with deep seated grievances and resentments that coalesced around issues of land, economic and social privilege, that often in turn led to a potent mix of sectarianism and intimidation. Back in 2017, the Church of Ireland Bishop of Cork, Dr Paul Colton called for sensitivity and honesty when commemorating the centenaries of both the War of Independence and the Civil War period. He was no doubt reflecting on the deaths of 13 Protestants killed in April 1922 after the Truce in his Diocese of Cork, Cloyne and Ross including the Bandon Valley of West Cork, where these killings took place. Both sides in the conflict also had extremely uncomfortable questions to answer in numerous well-documented incidents of gratuitous violence including sexual that was meted out to women. This work has made a significant contribution in giving the perspective of hindsight on the key yet vexed question of justification for all the individual deaths encompassed within this work; and in turn allows the reader to try and come to terms with the much- contested age-old rubric of who was right and who was wrong? Review by Dr Rory Finegan (Comdt. Retd.)

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