IRELAND’S FORGOTTEN LEGACY In 1914-1918, two hundred thousand Irishmen from all religions and backgrounds went to war. At least thirty-five thousand never came home. Those that did were scarred for the rest of their lives. Many of these survivors found themselves abandoned and ostracised by their countrymen, their voices seldom heard.

The book includes:

• The first Victoria Cross
• Leading the way at Gallipoli and the Somme
• North and South fighting side by side at Messines Ridge
• Ireland’s flying aces
• Brothers-in-arms – heart-rending stories of family sacrifice
• The lucky escapes of some; the tragic end of others
• The homecoming – why there was no hero’s welcome

Includes over 300 photographs and items of memorabelia from the lives of these brave men and their families.

An important book that opened up the conversation in Ireland about our role in World War I. Updated, and with a new introduction.

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Some 200,000 Irishmen participated in the first World War, between 35,000 and 50,000 died, tens of thousands more were wounded and countless more suffered for the rest of their lives. Yet for generations such a cataclysm impacted little on the national consciousness. This fine book recovers veterans’ memories of their experiences thus “giving a more personal edge to the famous battles and events of the war”. These are the stories of the ordinary private soldiers, as told to their children and grandchildren, and through the latter to the author. An extraordinarily representative picture emerges of men of all backgrounds and political opinions: their motives for going, their terrible experiences at the front and what became of them afterwards. Illustrations and photographs add greatly to the insights