62
REVIEWS
A History of the Irish Naval Service
The Irish Navy: A Story of Courage
and Tenacity
The Irish Navy: A full Life?
Author: Aiden McIvor
Where to buy: www.irishacademicpress.ie
Pages: 256
Price: PB €24.95 HB €49.50
Author: Tom MacGinty
Publisher: Kerryman
ISBN: 978-0946277223
Published: 1995
Price: £7.82
Available on www.amazon.co.uk
Author:Jim Brady
Publisher: Anchor Books
ISBN: 9780952844716
Pages: 224
Price: £7.00 (used)
Available on www.amazon.co.uk
BOOKS
This book chronicles the important role of Ireland's
seabourne military forces in the Civil War and in the
Emergency and explains the rebirth of the Irish Naval
Service in the past two decades. Ever since the Boreal
Seas rose sufficiently to form the islands of Ireland
and Britain some 8000 years ago, both have been
dependant on water transport for their being. Their
history has been formed by the sea from the days
of the later Stone Age cultures to the present. In this
century there have been so many changes to the
approach of the Irish to the sea that Aidan McIvor's
book is both timely and necessary. Much has been
written about the manifold problems of Ireland and
many books deal with her extraordinary history. But this
is a book in a different category. Based on a great deal
of research, it is the tale of the maritime country which,
since the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921, has consistently
turned her back to the sea unless unusual events have
caused a temporary change of heart.
Table of Contents
Introduction
• Irish Maritime Traditions
• Early Beginnings, 1921-39
• The Emergency, 1939-45
• The Naval Service, 1945-70
• The Naval Service, 1970-90
• The Irish Naval Service Today
• The 1990s and Beyond
Ship List
About the Author
Aidan McIvor was born in Enniskillen, Co. Fermanagh,
in 1962. He attended St. Malachy's College, Belfast,
and is a graduate of the University College of Wales,
Aberystwth and the London School of Economics.
Since the early 1980s he has worked and travelled
widely throughout Eastern Europe and the Middle East.
