The IRA in the Twilight Years
Published on 2nd August 2017
Listen back to Dr Brian Hanley discussing the IRA and Nazi Germany during the 1930s and 1940s. Brian details the growth of the IRA during this era, looks at key IRA figures, and cites examples of conflict with 1932 Fianna Fáil government, the Blue Shirts and the Gardaí. He discusses IRA contact with Germany in the hope of gaining support and arms to attack Britain. Brian also looks at how an escalating campaign of IRA violence led to politicians fearing it would cause problems for Irish neutrality during the Emergency.
Brian Hanley is a historian and author. He has written widely on Irish republicanism and radicalism, including The IRA: A documentary history, 1916-2005, The IRA, 1926-36 and (with Scott Millar The Lost Revolution: the Story of the Official IRA and the Workers Party. He is currently Historian in Residence at Dublin City Library and Archives, 2017. His areas of expertise include society, politics and culture of 19th and 20th century Ireland, on the Irish Revolution and Civil War, on the IRA from 1923-2005.
Listen back to The IRA in the Twilight Years
The title of the talk comes from 'The IRA in the Twilight Years', written by Uinseann Mac Eoin, this book charts the history of the IRA from 1923 -1948 and contains many eye-witness accounts.
Recorded at Raheny Library on 3 April 2017 as part of Dublin: One City, One Book programme.
Dublin: One City, One Book is an award-winning Dublin City Council initiative, led by Dublin City Libraries, which encourages everyone to read a book connected with the capital city during the month of April every year. The chosen book for 2017 was Echoland by Joe Joyce.
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