Old wars and battles of long ago continue to be fought in the pages of books. This year, no doubt, the bicentenary of the rising of 1798 will be commemorated in new works by historians, commentators and academics. Several studies have already appeared, the first in what may become a veritable deluge. Two of those are to hand.
The Sites of the 1798 Rising in Antrim and Down, by Bill Wilsdon (Blackstaff Press, £7.99 in UK), is a pocket-sized guidebook to the historical sites in Counties Antrim and Down associated with the United Irish rising of 1798. The sites include not only battlefields but also graves, monuments and houses - even museums and artefacts connected with the rising. The descriptions of battles, arrests, executions and jailings are succinctly and lucidly written, accompanied by Ordnance Survey references. Some of the hand-drawn maps, however, could have been improved through printed inscriptions.
This is an attractive and informative guide and should be in every household in the two counties mentioned. Though what the present-day descendants of the United Irish Presbyterians of 1798 make of it is a matter for speculation.
For Michael Dwyer and his men the 1798 rising did not end in that year as it had in Antrim, Down, Wexford and Mayo. His guerrilla campaign went on until 1804 and included participation in Emmet's ill-fated rising in 1803. The Tellicherry Five: The Transportation of Michael Dwyer and the Wicklow Rebels, by Kieran Sheedy (Woodfield Press in association with RTE and Wicklow County Council, £9.99), tells the story of what happened to Dwyer, Hugh Vesty Byrne, Martin Burke, Arthur Devlin and John Mernagh after their surrender.
Their transportation to New South Wales on the convict ship Tellicherry (hence the book's title) was to bring them into open conflict with the unpredictable governor William Bligh (of Bounty illfame). Their struggles for civil rights and economic independence for themselves and their families (fourteen children in the case of Hugh and Sarah Byrne) are vividly described in this gripping tale. The author combines historical research with stylish narrative skills to make this one of the better books about this troubled period.
The religious divisions which the United Irishmen sought to heal were widening in the last decade of the 17th century when King James and King William fought out their conflict on Irish soil. In The Boyne and Aughrim: The War of the Two Kings, by John Kinross (Windrush Press, £10.99), the author deals not only with the two battles of the title but also with the two sieges of Limerick in 1690 and 1691, and those of Athlone and Kinsale. He also provides valuable information on the background to the war, the commanders and their tactics and details and names of members of the Jacobite Army. Probably one of the most colourful of these was "Dean Alexis Stafford of Wexford, an undaunted zealot and most pious churchman who fell in front of the Royal Regiment as he was encouraging them on the first charge" at Aughrim.
Kinross plays down Sarsfield's role at the Boyne and is almost dismissive of the Irish cavalry at the same battle, in contrast with the verdicts of Irish military historians such as G.A. Hayes-McCoy. Overall, however, this is another fine addition to the "Great Battles" series published by Windrush Press.
Still on matters military, The Barracks: A History of Victoria/ Collins Barracks, Cork, by Dan Harvey and Gerry White (Mercier Press, £25), is arguably the most comprehensive history of this storied complex that one could wish for. Enhanced by many illustrations (including numerous previously unpublished photo graphs), this excellently produced book tells the story of Collins Barracks largely through the words of soldiers associated with it since 1801. These included such diverse characters as Brigade Major Bernard Law Montgomery, General Sir Peter Strickland, Michael Collins, Emmet Dalton and Michael J. Costello.
Detailed appendices include Montgomery's secret instructions to the 17th Infantry Brigade in 1921 (e.g. "enforcement of civilian labour to fill in trenches, repair bridges", and "punishment" when a military or police barracks was attacked), Collins's letter to the British GOC in 1922 setting out procedures for the taking over of barracks by Irish forces, and Emmet Dalton's report in September 1922 to his commander-in-chief about his mopping-up operations in the southern area (five hundred "good men" would help him to "finish up" in about six weeks). This fine history is brought up to date by two committed military historians who were themselves associated with Collins Barracks.
Finally, in this category of history, Atlas of Irish History, general editor Sean Duffy (Gill & Macmillan, £12.99/ £9.99) claims to be the first full-colour atlas of Ireland's history from earliest times to the present, and undoubtedly this method of presenting history is appealing and enlightening. The contributing historians, Sean Duffy himself, Gabriel Doherty, Raymond Gillespie, James Kelly, Colm Lennon and Brendan Smith, are all experts in their own fields and make the assimilation of historical fact appear easy. The numerous maps, tables, diagrams and other illustrations complement the brief but comprehensive chapters of text. As an overview of Ireland's history this is most attractive.
Richard Roche is a writer and historian