The Outrages 1920–1922

Book excerpt: 'The Outrages' gives an account of the major incidents, now slipping from local memory, as the War of Independence escalated from attacks on RIC barracks into internecine atrocities. The many lives lost in each border county are chronicled with factual accounts of attacks and reprisals, the impact these events had in Westminster and how Churchill, Craig and Collins reacted. Included are the events leading to the creation of the Ulster Special Constabulary and an in-depth account of the shooting of Specials at Clones railway station, the slaughter of eight unionists in a single night in south Armagh, the cover-up after Specials left three innocent nationalists dead and two wounded in Cushendall, and the litany of reprisal killings from Camlough to Desertmartin. Details of attacks on the Great Northern Railway and other networks, not previously published, provide a unique insight into the problems faced by railwaymen and by the government. A must read for anyone interested in this period of Irish history and a treasury for genealogists.