Free Tom Barry by Meda Ryan

Praise for
Tom Barry: IRA Freedom Fighter
    â€˜Meda Ryan’s fascinating biography Tom Barry: IRA Freedom Fighter, demonstrates her considerable and detailed knowledge concerning the famous Cork republican … She refers to Barry’s “greatness” and his “genius as a commander”, and in chronicling his intriguing life she produces many valuable details for the reader. She also takes issue on numerous occasions with Prof Peter Hart …’
    Richard English, Irish Times
    â€˜Even the most hardened “revisionist” historian will find Ryan’s book a source of interesting and valuable material. Ryan had access to Tom Barry’s papers, and conducted extensive interviews with him and others from the early 1970s onwards. This work is important because it is the first substantial nationalist/republican account of that period which tries to directly challenge this “new revolutionary history”.’
    Liam Ó Ruairc, History Ireland
    â€˜Meda Ryan crosses swords convincingly with Peter Hart on the authenticity of the “false surrender” at Kilmichael, which precipitated a fight to the finish with the Auxiliaries … If the War of Independence showed Tom Barry at his most effective, the biography is also interesting on his subsequent career … Meda Ryan has done an excellent job, and no doubt stirred further debate.’
    Martin Mansergh, Irish Independent
    â€˜This book on General Tom Barry and his contribution to the struggle for Irish freedom is one that I would recommend for every household and educational institution in this country … Meda Ryan has given us a true and authentic account of historical events, and a leader of extraordinary talent, that will be of benefit not only to people of this generation but to future ones as well.’
    Seán Ó Ceilleacháir, Southern Star
    â€˜The author’s collection of testimony from old IRA veterans, richly varied archival sources, and interest in being as accurate as possible in her retelling of the many colourful incidents which dominated his life combine to give the reader a comprehensive picture of Tom Barry.’
    Frank Bouchier-Hayes, The Limerick Leader
    â€˜At last a biography fit for a national hero … Meda Ryan has produced an excellent and well-documented biography of Barry ... [her] biography is an absolute must for anyone who is interested in the War of Independence as well as in Barry’s role in it.’
    Peter Beresford Ellis, Irish Democrat
    â€˜If there’s one man who epitomises that zealous virtue of ‘fighting the good fight’ in Ireland during the last century, it has to be Tom Barry … his prowess as a guerrilla leader made him the subject of song and story for subsequent generations …This biography of Barry is certainly a significant work, both in terms of its scholarly use of voluminous source material and its unique interpretation of such a colourful and contentious figure in Irish history.’
    Michael Hall, Irish Post
    â€˜The book is thoroughly researched … Incident after incident is related with unstinting conviction as the author takes on the mindset of her hero in recounting the many daredevil exploits of the West Cork flying column. Barry’s involvement on the fringes of the Treaty negotiation is dealt with as is the engagement with the ceasefire/dump arms deal of 1923 and his term as IRA chief of staff.’
    Colette Olney, Bandon Opinion

Tom Barry
    IRA Freedom Fighter

    Meda Ryan

    â€˜In war, it is not the men who count, it is the man’
    Napoleon

MERCIER PRESS
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    Â©Meda Ryan, 2003
    ISBN: 978 1 85635 480 6
    Epub ISBN: 978 1 85635 732 6
    Mobi ISBN: 978 1 85635 769 2
    This eBook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred,