On Wednesday, 2 August 1922, Free State troops landed at Fenit pier in the first of a series of seaborne landings on the Cork and Kerry coast. This was a risky and ambitious strategy for the Free State government, whose aim was to surprise the staunchly anti-Treaty republicans in Kerry. By attacking them from an unexpected direction the government hoped to shorten the war, however, over the months of August and September, the republicans mounted a series of counterattacks against the Free State army. When Free State troops were all but surrounded in their barracks, the innovative invasion from the sea by Free State forces under Emmet Dalton caught the Republican forces almost completely by surprise. In this book Tom Doyle looks at the various successes and failures of both sides in Kerry during the Summer campaign of 1922 and how the superior forces of the Free State army and the lack of support from the people for the republicans allowed the Free State to build up a strong presence in a crucial part of the republicans' heartland.
Fresh look at the military aspect of the war in Kerry, examining the events of the Civil War in Kerry during the late Summer on 1922.
On Wednesday 2 August 1922, Free State troops landed at Fenit pier in the first of a series of seaborne landings on the Cork and Kerry coast. This was a risky and ambitious strategy for the Free State government, whose aim was to surprise the staunchly anti-Treaty republicans in Kerry. By attacking them from an unexpected direction, the government hoped to shorten the war and force the republican forces into a quick capitulation. However, despite the initial success of the landings, the republicans quickly recovered the initiative and over the months of August and September mounted a series of counter-attacks against the Free State army. In this book Tom Doyle looks at the various successes and failures of both sides in Kerry during the summer campaign of 1922, and how the superior resources of the Free State army and the lack of support from the people for the republicans allowed the Free State to build up a strong presence in a crucial part of the republicans' heartland.
* Part of Mercier's History of the Irish Civil War Series
