 First edition (publ. Irish Press Limited) | |
| Author | Tom Barry |
|---|---|
| Original title | Guerilla Days in Ireland |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Memoir |
| Set in | County Cork, 1919–21 |
| Publisher | The Irish Press |
Publication date | 1949 |
| Publication place | Ireland |
| Media type | Print: hardback |
| Pages | 228 |
| OCLC | 745575 |
| 941.5 | |
| LC Class | DA962 .B3 |
Guerrilla Days in Ireland (in some editions spelled "Guerilla") is a book published byIrish Republican Army leaderTom Barry in 1949.[1] The book describes the actions of Barry'sThird West Cork Brigade during theAnglo-Irish War, such as the ambushes atKilmichael andCrossbarry, as well as numerous other less known attacks made by the Brigade against theBritish Army,Black and Tans,Auxiliary Division and theRoyal Irish Constabulary. The text was originally serialised inThe Irish Press in 1948 before being published as a book.[2]
Tom Barry, born inCounty Kerry whileIreland was still part of theUnited Kingdom, joined theRoyal Field Artillery as a teenager in search of adventure. In his memoirs he states that he had, at this point, no interest inHome Rule or any political motives.[3] Reading about the1916 Easter Rising while in serving inIraq was a transformational moment,[3] although he continued to serve until the end ofWorld War I and was initially proud of this service upon his return to Ireland.[4]
Guerilla Days In Ireland describes his activity during Ireland'sWar of Independence but waited a quarter of a century before committing these memoirs to print and publication. In the intervening years he had disappointing and frustrating experiences in Ireland'sCivil War,[5] its aftermath, and "The Emergency". In particular, the events leading up toWorld War II and complications associated with Irish neutrality saw him taking the risk of engaging with German officials only to have these agreements overridden by the IRA Army Convention.[6]
In 1946, Barry ran unsuccessfully as an Independent candidate in theCork Borough by-election, receiving the lowest number of first preference votes. His next project, a memoir about the underdog story of his involvement in theguerrilla campaign against theBlack and Tans in the War of Independence, would be an attempt to repair his reputation.
"FOR me it began in far-off Mesopotamia, now called Iraq, that land of Biblical names and history, of vast deserts and date groves, scorching suns and hot winds, the land of Babylon, Baghdad and the Garden of Eden, where the rushing Euphrates and the mighty Tigris converge and flow down to the Persian Gulf.It was there, in that land of the Arabs, then a battleground for the two contending imperialistic armies of Britain and Turkey, that I awoke to the echoes of guns being fired in the capital of my own country, Ireland. It was a rude awakening, guns being fired at the people of my own race by soldiers of the same army with which I was serving. The echo of these guns in Dublin was to drown into insignificance the clamour of all other guns during the remaining two and a half years of war".[3]
InGuerilla Days in Ireland Tom Barry describes the evolution of his own thinking (from a British soldier to an Irish revolutionary) to the setting up of the West Cork Flying Column (a volunteer force never exceeding 310 fighters), its training, and its plan of campaign.[7]
Guerilla Days in Ireland was serialised inThe Irish Press prior to publication and was already generating discussion in the letters pages of Irish newspapers before the release of the book.[8] The book was a commercial success and favourably reviewed, with theExaminer writing "if other leaders of the period make equal contributions to the story of the time in which they were engaged in militant or political activities, writers of the future when history can be written with more detachment than at present.- will have an amount of valuable material written by " men on the spot." A story by a man on the spot is always more valuable than second evidence".[9]The Tuam Herald's review stated that it "deserves a prominent place on every Irish bookshelf".[10]
The book was adapted into a play of the same in 2012.[11]
