Description
Book SynopsisFocusing on the people and the decisons they made, 'The Fall of Dublin' examines the attack on the Four Courts and the subsequent fighting in Dublin in June and July 1922 which signalled the beginning of the Irish Civil War. With the use of new sources the book challenges many of the pre-conceived thoughts on the fighting in Dublin – the role of the leadership on both sides, the personalities of those involved and even the destruction of the Four Courts. These sources not only shed new light on the conflict itself, but more importantly they are invaluable in telling the stories of the ordinary men and women on both sides of the divide who for many years have been forgotten. They include memoirs from people on the ground, military history bureau witness statements, a complete garrison list of people in the Four Courts, a copy of the army constitution and the proposed Free State constitution, and a copy of the republican proclamation.
Trade Review'Books on the Irish Civil War are often marred by partisanship. Even now, family loyalty and ideology make accounts of the conflict prone to bitter invective. Gillis is, however, well balanced and dispassionate.' * The Irish Story *
'The remarkably non-partisan ‘The Fall of Dublin’, though short in length, is packed with information, some little known, some surprising, making Liz Gillis a historian worth watching in the future. Like the other books already published in Mercier’s Civil War series it adds greatly to our understanding of this crucial and divisive period in our nation’s history and will perhaps encourage others to re-examine the divisions in Irish politics between Republicanism and Nationalism. Divisions, that like the Civil War itself, still manifest themselves to the present day.' * An Sionnach Fionn *
