Nenagh, 1914-21 ─ Years of Crises

This book looks at life in Nenagh during the tumultuous years from 1914 to 1921. It looks at the sudden rise of the National Volunteers in Nenagh - and their equally sudden collapse - and it explores the evolution of the organization which arose from the ashes of the National Volunteers to become the IRA. Issues of dissention, disunity, and deception amongst the IRA are analyzed as a counterpoint to the more 'textbook' narrative of Flying Columns and ambushes. The transformation of the RIC from a force languid for want of action and disenchanted for want of pay to a dangerous hybrid of gendarmerie, civil police, and demobilized Great War Veterans is also considered. Aside from the people who took up arms, either at home or abroad, the book also looks at those left behind, those who struggled to cope, those who faced the brunt of RIC reprisals, those who nearly perished due to crop failure, and those who were afflicted with Spanish Flu. In particular, the book will look at the often overlooked social problems faced by the ordinary poor during the years of the Great War.