• Gerard Shannon - Liam Lynch : To Declare a Republic & Rory O'Connor - To Defend the Republic - 2 x PB - BRAND NEW
  • Gerard Shannon - Liam Lynch : To Declare a Republic & Rory O'Connor - To Defend the Republic - 2 x PB - BRAND NEW
  • Gerard Shannon - Liam Lynch : To Declare a Republic & Rory O'Connor - To Defend the Republic - 2 x PB - BRAND NEW

    • Gerard Shannon - Liam Lynch : To Declare a Republic & Rory O'Connor - To Defend the Republic - 2 x PB - BRAND NEW

    Merrion Press

    €36.00
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    UPC:
    9781788558211
    Condition:
    New
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    Remember, you get FREE Delivery on orders of €20 or more!
    Weight:
    0.65 KGS

    Expected release date is 13th Feb 2026

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    Product Description

    2 books on revolutionary era figures from historian Gerard Shannon. ( both also available singly) 

    This order will be shipped ( BOTH BOOKS TOGETHER) when the book on Rory O'Connor is published in February 2026. 

    Book 1- Liam Lynch - To Declare a Republic - PB - BRAND NEW

    The first major academic study on a pivotal figure in Ireland's revolutionary era, Liam Lynch. 

    General Liam Lynch was a key figure in the Irish Revolution and remains one of the most celebrated IRA leaders of his era. His republicanism was shaped both by his upbringing in Limerick and by the aftermath of the Easter Rising. By the time of the War of Independence, Lynch was in command of the IRA’s Cork No. 2 Brigade and masterminded some of the most important actions against British forces, such as the Fermoy arms raid and the daring kidnapping of British General Cuthbert Lucas.

    Adamantly opposed to the Anglo-Irish Treaty, regarding it a betrayal of the Irish Republic, Lynch became chief of staff to the IRA men who opposed the settlement. Yet he remained determined to find a compromise with former comrades, which left him little prepared for the outbreak of the Irish Civil War.

    Lynch would not live to see the end of the bitter conflict – he was mortally wounded following a dramatic pursuit by Free State forces across a mountain in south Tipperary – yet his controversial leadership of the IRA during the eleven-month Civil War continues to shape his legacy today.

    In this long-awaited and fascinating new biography, the first in nearly forty years, historian Gerard Shannon delves deep into a wide array of archival material to create a detailed, nuanced portrait of a hugely significant and influential figure in Irish history.

    Publishes March 2023, from Irish Academic Press, in time for the centenary of his death on 10th April 2023. 

    352 PAGES

    Liam Lynch ( Liam Ó Loingsigh)  20 November 1892 – 10 April 1923) was a key officer and commander in the Irish Republican Army during the War of Independence 1919-1921. During much of the following Civil War, he was chief of staff of the anti treaty IRA. On 10 April 1923, Lynch was killed whilst trying to escape an encirclement by Free State troops in south Tipperary. 

    Contents
    Prologue
    1. ‘Quiet and gentle and you didn’t notice him much’ (1892–1916)
    2. ‘We have declared for an Irish Republic’ (1917–18)
    3. ‘I have started something that will shake up these fellows’ (1919)
    4. ‘I would not wish to be born in any other generation but this’ (1920)
    5. ‘That bloody shop assistant has been here’ (January–July 1921)
    6. ‘Thank God I am left alive to still help in shattering the damned British Empire’ (August 1921–March 1922)
    7. ‘Would we could even get back all our glorious dead’ (April–June 1922)
    8. ‘How could all our dreams have been so blighted’ (June – October 1922)
    9. ‘Fight on to the last man’ (November 1922–March 1923)
    10. ‘I’m glad now I’m going from it all’ (Late March–Early April 1923)
    Epilogue

    Book 2 - Rory O'Connor - To Defend the Republic - PB BRAND NEW February 2026.

    The execution of IRA leader Rory O’Connor on 8 December 1922, along with Liam Mellows, Dick Barrett and Joe McKelvey, marked a bitter turning point in the Irish Civil War and remains one of the most infamous episodes in modern Irish history.

    An unlikely revolutionary, in his early years, O’Connor qualified as an engineer and worked on the Canadian railroad. Returning to Ireland in 1915, he joined the ranks of militant Irish republicanism and became devoted to the violent overthrow of British rule. After playing his part with the rebel forces during the Easter Rising, in its aftermath he became a key figure in rebuilding the revolutionary movement.

    By the outset of the Irish War of Independence, O’Connor was the IRA’s Director of Engineering, plotting operations in Britain and the prison escapes of leading republican figures. He also worked in the Dáil’s Local Government department, where he began a close friendship with Kevin O’Higgins, who would later sit on the government cabinet that approved O’Connor’s execution.

    On the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty, O’Connor became the public face of IRA opposition to the settlement. Captured several days into the Civil War, his execution in an illegal reprisal propelled him into the pantheon of Irish republican martyrs. In this first biography of O’Connor’s life, historian Gerard Shannon brings together various archival sources and accounts to help understand this important and often enigmatic IRA figure and what led him to the fateful moment of his death.

     

    About the Author

    Gerard Shannon is a historian from Skerries in north county Dublin, with an MA in History from the DCU School of History and Geography. Gerard has written numerous articles and done talks on key figures of the Irish revolutionary period. He works as a civil servant in Dublin city.

    Tracked delivery within Ireland is included in the cost. 

     

    Other Details

    9781788558211, LIAM LYNCH

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