The Men Will Talk to Me

For the first time in published from, The Men Will Talk to Me - Clare Interviews records the experiences of five Clare-based survivors of Ireland's War of Independence and Civil War. Many IRA activists who lived through those times were reluctant to speak of their experiences even to their own families. However, in the 1940s and early 1950s they sat through long interviews with Ernie O'Malley, formerly a senior Republican military commander, who travelled around Ireland recording participants' memories of the period. The resulting O'Malley notebooks provide unique and very personal insights into this critical time in Irish history. These interviews record what life was like in the Mid and East Clare Brigades of the IRA, and offer compelling descriptions of the men's activities, including the Rineen ambush and the reprisals that followed, the attack on Ruan RIC Barracks and the shooting of alleged British spies and informers. Book jacket.