An Introduction to the Irish Civil War

By John O'Donovan

During the Irish Civil War, events of late 1922 and early 1923 together with waves of ‘dishonourable’ killings created poisoned relations between Republicans and ‘Free Staters’ which would last for several generations. The most enduring of these controversies, a policy of summary executions carried out by the Provisional Government from November 1922, continues to surround the argument.


This book offers a fresh perspective on the causes, development and consequences of the Irish Civil War. Triggered by the signing of the Anglo-Treaty, there were those that would accept nothing less than complete Irish independence. Very few IRA commanders active in the field supported the Treaty and, as happens often in the dissection of civil wars, controversy over the conduct of both sides figures heavily within the text, where, at a local and national level, it left bitter legacies.


This book offers an overview of the war in all regions of Ireland.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Mercier Press
• Release date: Apr 12, 2022
• ISBN: 9781781178072

John O'Donovan

John O'Donovan is a London-based playwright from Co. Clare, Ireland. His plays include Flights (Clapham Omnibus, 2020), Sink (Dublin Fringe Festival, 2019) and If We Got Some More Cocaine I Could Show You How I Love You (Old Red Lion, London, 2016).