An Cosantóir

book review | 33 BOOK REVIEW ALLEGIANCES COMPROMISED: FAITH, HONOUR AND ALLEGIANCE Ex British Soldiers in the Irish Army 1913-1924 Author: Michael J. Whelan MA Publisher: South Dublin Libraries ISBN: 978-0-955379-88-8 Price: €5.00 Allegiances Compromised explores the stories of Irish men who fought in the British Army in World War I, and then returned home and joined the effort to fight for Ireland’s independence. Their military expertise and war experience were invaluable to the Volunteers and the Irish Army, yet they were treated with suspicion and, in some cases, contempt by their fellow Irishmen for their perceived disloyalty. The book details the treatment of Boer War and Great War Veterans who returned to a hostile Ireland after those conflicts in how they impacted on the Irish Volunteers, IRA and National Army during Ireland’s revolutionary period and the establishment of the Irish Defence Forces at the ending of the Civil War. With great personal insights, stories and quotes from that period in the Defence Forces history, for example: “The Free State Army, unlike the armies of other British Commonwealth countries was not made up of lightly renamed versions of the old British regiments. On the contrary those regiments were proudly disbanded. The new Irish Army was actually a strange hybrid organisation of IRA veterans, British Army veterans and young, inexperienced and apolitical mercenaries from garrison towns who traditionally would have joined the British Army. In many areas it was organised virtually on IRA or public Band principals during the emergency period of the Civil War but rapidly showed signs of becoming a non- territorial, barrack based regular force of full time professional soldiers.” Tom Garvin, 1922: The Birth of Irish Democracy (2nd Ed., Dublin, 2005) Author Michael Whelan has been a serving member of the Irish Air Corps for twenty-one years. He has served with the UN Peacekeeping forces in Lebanon and with the Peace Enforcement forces in Kosovo. He holds a Master of Arts Degree in Modern History from NUI Maynooth, and has been the curator of the Air Corps Museum and Heritage Project based in Casement Aerodrome for many years. He is also the author of The Battle of Jadotville: Irish Soldiers in Combat in the Congo, 1961 also published by South Dublin Libraries in 2006 and is a regular contributor to An Cosantóir. The book is available from South Dublin Libraries or by contacting Síle Coleman or Colette Carpenter at 01 4620073 or localstudies@ sdublincoco.ie. It will shortly be available in ebook format from South Dublin Libraries Download Zone = digitallibrary.southdublin.ie. THE FALL OF DUBLIN Author: Liz Gillis Publisher: Mercier Press (www. mercierpress.ie) ISBN: 978-1-856356-80-0 Price: €12.99 Author Michael Whelan has been a serving mIn 1922, speaking during the Dáil debates on the Treaty with Britain, Piaras Beaslai said: “One would think…That we were solemnly asked to choose between an independent republic and an associated Free State. What we are asked is to choose between the Treaty on one hand, and, on the other hand, bloodshed, political and social chaos, and the frustration of all our hopes of a national regeneration.” Within six months of these words being spoken, Ireland was plunged in to Civil War. In her latest book The Fall of Dublin, historian Liz Gillis examines the attack on the Four Courts and the subsequent street fighting in Dublin city between June and July 1922. This compact history examines the military actions in Dublin city from the occupation of the Four Courts to the bitter struggle in and around O’Connell Street. It was these military actions that signalled the beginning of the Civil War that rapidly spread throughout the country. Using privately held memoirs from people who participated and also Military History Bureau Statements, the author brings to life the actions that took place in the nations capital. Beginning in January 1922, the author explains in simple terminology the complications of the split that occurred in the republican camp after the Treaty was signed. The book then moves onto the occupation of the Four Courts and the standoff that took place between April and June of 1922. The newly established Irish Free State army finally took action on 28 June 1922. The destruction of the Four Courts and the bitter street fighting that followed is described in horrific detail. More importantly however is that Liz Gillis has opened up new avenues of thought about the fighting in Dublin and the effects of the fighting on the men and women who participated on both sides. The author has included a list of those that occupied the Four Courts, a copy of the Army Constitution and also the Republican Proclamation. Excellent photographs of the actions also contribute to bringing the scene of the battle to life. For those interested in the military background of the Irish Civil War in Dublin, this book is highly recommended. Told with verve and analytical vigour, Gillis’s book is a compelling and authoritative study of one of Ireland’s most tragic episodes. Printed by Mercier Press as part of its Military History of the Irish Civil War series, The Fall of Dublin is a must read for those interested in the period. Review by: Paul O’Brien M.A. THE DEFENCE FORCES MAGAZINE

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