The Secret Army: The IRA

by J. Bowyer Bell

The Secret Army is the definitive work on the Irish Republican Army. It is an absorbing account of a movement that has had a profound effect on the shaping of the modern Irish state. A culmination of twenty-five years of work, it reflects Bell's unique access to the leadership of the Republican movement. His contacts with all involved -- including British politicians, policemen, and arms smugglers -- explain why The Secret Army remains the fundamental book on the subject. This edition is a complete revision and includes vast quantities of new information.

Genres: History, Ireland, Nonfiction

722 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1970

Reviews

[Pinko Palest · Rating 5 out of 5]

surprisingly good, probably the very best book on the subject I have read. There is wealth of detail here, and one can become a little lost in it, but it really helps put things in perspective. It is far better in terms of the politics of it all than Tim Pat Coogan, and brings out the left-wing streak in republican thought very nicely

[Julio The Fox · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Take a look where you're living, you got the army on the street,
And the R.U.C. dog of repression is barking at your feet.
What we need---is an Alternative Ulster.
Grab it, change it, it's yours,
Get an Alternative Ulster, be an anti-security force". "Alternative Ulster", Stiff Little Fingers

Did any army in modern history wage war so successfully with so few soldiers and ammunition and "win the war after losing every battle" than the Irish Republican Army (IRA)? I need to insert a strong caveat here: Which edition of this majestic book you read makes an enormous difference in how both reader and author view the IRA. The original edition from 1970 came out just after the IRA split into an Official, pro-Marxist wing, never to be heard of again, and the Provisional IRA, or Provos, who eventually seized control of the Army after receiving the literal blessing of IRA veterans residing in the Republic of Ireland. The IRA seemed shattered and under the boot of the British occupation Army that had arrived in Northern Ireland in 1969. The next edition covers the IRA glory years, particularly 1972, when it mounted a military offensive against the British that one IRA Commander promised, "will be our 1968", meaning the Tet Offensive in Viet Nam. Alas, it was not to be, and the third , and thus far latest edition, published in 1998, covers both the years of renewed fighting, particularly 1981, Bobby Sands and the IRA hunger strikers, and finally the signing of the Good Friday Peace accords in 1998, resulting in a "Cold Peace" between Protestants and Catholics in the North and the IRA's political arm Sinn Fein ("Ourselves Alone") coming in first in elections to the Stormont or Northern Irish Parliament. Despite the glorious motto, Bell shows that the fortunes of the IRA have historically been tied to foreign affairs, from Germany to the Soviet Union to Libya under Qaddafi. The 1940s IRA reached out to Nazi Germany, just as their fathers had accepted aid from the Kaiser's Germany, but Hitler valued Irish neutrality too much to give aid and comfort to the enemies of the government in Dublin. After the war the IRA turned to the Soviet KGB, who were amused by their titles, from General of the IRA to infantryman, but saw little benefit in involving the U.S.S.R. in an Irish civil war. (Interestingly, by the 1960s these titles were all abolished, and the highest rank an IRA man could earn was Commander, just like Comandante in Fidel Castro's army in Cuba.) The late 1960s to early 1970s shook Ireland just like the rest of the world, from Viet Nam to Portuguese Africa. The British occupation of 1969, the Bloody Sunday Massacre, and the close collaboration between the U.K. Army and the police force of Northern Ireland, the Royal Ulster Constables (RUC), 98% Protestant, proved to most Catholics the IRA was their only hope of survival. However, the Provos took it as a mandate to go on to victory. Saith it one Commander: "We thought if we inflicted enough casualties on the British Army the British public would demand its withdrawal from Ireland. The opposite happened. We lacked the weapons to seriously harm the British and public opinion in Britain blamed the Irish for The Troubles". An even worse idea was carrying out bombings inside Great Britain, which only gave the government, Labour or Conservative, the chance to lock up more Irishmen in prison and abolish the Stormont in favor of direct (meaning military) rule from London. But, Catholic support now swung increasingly in favor of the IRA, if not their tactics at least their objective of de-colonizing Northern Ireland. By the 1980s Sinn Fein (and the IRA, if you believe the CIA and British intelligence) was headed by Gerry Adams, a former political prisoner who decided "the bullet and the ballot" went hand in hand. Like the North Vietnamese post-1968 the Irish Catholics could campaign on three fronts: military, political, and the court of world opinion. The objective was now peace in the North and peaceful reunification with the South at some indeterminate date. The IRA was officially abolished in 1998, and Sinn Fein convinced its loyal followers victory had been won; even the Protestants would learn that fact slowly as they lost their majority status in the North. THE SECRET ARMY is first-rate and I might even say exciting political and military history.

[Bryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Worth reading for sure, but the third edition which I read, had many errors in. Too many to recall them all, but calling Jim Lynagh who was killed in action at Loughgall Jim Lynch is pretty bad. He was one of the best known volunteers of his day. Even Loughgall was spelled wrongly as Loughall but I’ve come across that before. The bibliography was missing a few books I’d have expected to see, such as those by Eamonn McCann - War and an Irish Town, for instance.
Not least he describes Martina Anderson’s Derry accent as ‘grating’. As someone who is proud to have grown up in Derry I resent that!