Divided into two parts, most of the first part of this expanded who’s who, “The War of Independence”, was originally published in 1980 under the title of Who’s Who in The Irish War of Independence 1916‐1921. The new part two, “The Civil War 1922‐1923”, would appear to non‐Irish readers as a natural corollary, although there are differences of opinion in the Republic of Ireland regarding this matter which need not detain us here. It is sufficient to note that Padraig O’Farrell adroitly gathers together the salient points in his introduction, accepting the impossibility of arriving at a general consensus on most aspects of the two wars, noting that from both there emerged a corpus of fact, fiction, and anecdote, acknowledging also the difficulties of achieving a balance between political accomplishment and minor injuries in numberless inconspicuous incidents, or of judging between vicious or gallant acts, in deciding who merited inclusion in this biographical dictionary.
His solution to these conundrums is well thought out. He “attempts to solve the problem by including names associated with a variety of typical incidents, facts and subjects from the two conflicts. Entries appear roughly in proportion to activity in particular regions, but it does not necessarily follow that places not represented were completely inactive; their exclusion may be the result of insufficient documentation”. What documentation survives is extensively quarried as is evident from the primary sources held in Irish archive offices listed in his four‐page bibliography along with personal letters and documents and secondary material in books, journals, and contemporary newspapers. But some indispensable source material “came from reliable verbal sources, including names not mentioned in any previous well‐known works. These are cited ... to represent the vast numbers who gave service but who, intentionally or otherwise, escaped public recognition”. Or public condemnation we might reasonably suppose. “Not everybody was proud of their own or their relatives’ participation and so involvement was often concealed or presented inaccurately. Fear existed in an environment that accommodated reports of empty coffins, unmarked graves, removal of corpses, false names, and the like. Families split and friends parted. Accounts were exaggerated or softened, depending on the allegiance of the narrator”.
These are not ideal conditions for any researcher desperately wanting to present a factual and impartial account. But O’Farrell, a retired senior Irish Army officer, strenuously sorts the fact from the fiction, the anecdote from the historical record. His biographical entries are complemented by lists of Irish Republican personnel killed in action and non‐combatant fatalities, giving the home addresses and dates of death for each, and a similar list of the Crown dead, with rank, unit, place of action leading to death, and the date. The second part provides similar information for the fatal casualties of the Civil War. Additionally, there is a ten‐page chronology of immense reference value and a map indicating the site of engagements and related events. There can be no doubt that this extended who’s who will remain the standard quick reference biographical reference source for years to come.
