Publisher's Synopsis
This reissued classic - edited by historian F.X. Martin in 1963 and originally published by James Duffy & Co - contains unique documents and essays that were written by leading members of Irish nationalism during a period when the Irish people witnessed social and cultural changes that were as radical as anything seen in Irish history. This 50th anniversary commemorative edition coincides with the 2013 centenary of the foundation of the Irish Volunteers, a military organization. The Volunteers - encompassing a new generation of Irish men and women - oversaw the development of a new and re-energized movement, free from much of the party/political machinations and interference that had hindered Irish Nationalist attempts at self-determination in previous decades. As described in the book's essays, the Volunteers were a 'broad church' encompassing members of the Gaelic League, the Ancient Order of Hibernians, and Sinn Fein. Secretly, they also included many thousands of members of the Irish Republican Brotherhood and a not-insignificant number of supporters from both the civil and ecclesiastical realms. With the Irish Citizen Army, Cumann na mBan, and Fianna Eireann included in this unified coalition, something new and unprecedented occurred in Irish history - a movement which we are only now beginning to understand in terms of its great and distinctive legacy a full century later. This new edition is edited by Ruan O'Donnell and Micheal O hAodha, with a new Foreword by Eamon O Cuiv. It is a unique historical record of the Volunteer movement, and it includes original letters, reports, speeches, editorials, military and administrative instructions, members' lists, and tables.
