The Irish Revolution: Sligo 1912-23 - Michael Farry

Michael Farry's study is admirably sourced, a balanced and sober assessment of revolutionary politics and violence in his native county, Barry McLoughlin, Books Ireland (2013).

Farry makes good use of various sources from local papers to the Bureau of Military History archives as well as British sources to examine the conflict from both sides. The book is illustrated with rarely seen photographs of people and events in the country, Books Ireland (December 2012).

the editors could not have hoped for a better volume with which to launch the series. Farry’s extensive knowledge of his subject is impressive yet he manages to condense it well and the volume is handsomely presented with good maps, illustrations, end notes, bibliography and comprehensive index. Marie Coleman in Irish Economic and Social History (Volume XLI, 2014)

It is a concise, well-written and thoroughly researched history of the Irish Revolution in Sligo that carries the authority of both the professionally trained historian and the undisputed local expert . . . . It is also strikingly dispassionate. It doesn’t shy away from addressing those negative aspects of the republican campaign - such as the I.R.A.’s almost constant interference in local affairs during the truce period (chapter 10) or the executions of civilians as suspected informers (pp 68-9) — but neither does it moralise over such issues. Such even-handedness is both commendable and extremely refreshing. Matthew Lewis, Centre for War Studies, University College Dublin in Irish Historical Studies, (Vol 38 No 152 nov 2013).