William Sears, TD for Mayo South, spoke these words during the Treaty debates, referring to the people of Mayo, who had endured so much violence, and the need for lasting peace.
This is the story of Mayo men and women active during the War of Independence and the Civil War, a story largely untold. Eyewitness accounts of Black and Tan atrocities give real insight into the lives of participants in the events. Security within the IRA is examined, with reproductions of letters and statements by spies and informers. The Civil War revealed some shocking indiscipline within the National Army in contrast to the competent leadership of the Republican forces. The establishment and acceptance of the Garda Síochána and how Mayo adapted to peace while hundreds of Mayo men and women were still imprisoned is explored.
The myth that little or nothing happened in Mayo during these troubled times is dispelled forever.