General Liam Lynch was a key figure in the Irish Revolution, and remains one of the most celebrated of his era. In this long-awaited new biography of Lynch, the first in nearly forty years, historian Gerard Shannon delves into a wide array of archival material to create a detailed, nuanced portrait of a hugely significant and influential figure in Irish history.
Liam Lynch’s republicanism was shaped both by his upbringing in Limerick and the aftermath of the Easter Rising when working as a shop assistant in Cork. By the time of the Irish War of Independence, Lynch was in the role of O/C of the IRA’s Cork No. 2 Brigade and planned several prominent guerilla actions against British forces. Adamantly opposed to the Anglo-Irish Treaty, regarding it a betrayal of the Irish Republic, Lynch became the Chief-of-Staff of those in the IRA against the settlement. Yet he remained determined to find a compromise with former comrades, which left him little prepared for the outbreak of the Irish Civil War in June 1922. Lynch would die before the end of the bitter conflict – mortally wounded following a dramatic pursuit by Free State forces across a mountain in south Tipperary – yet his controversial leadership of the IRA during the eleven-month civil war continues to shape his legacy today.