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Bloody Sunday: How Michael Collins's Agents Assassinated Britain's Secret Service in Dublin on November 21, 1920 by James Gleeson
This is the story of one of the most terrifying operations ever carried out by one secret army against another. Sunday, November 21, 1920, was a decisive day in the Irish nation's long, bloody struggle for independence from Great Britain. It was on that day that fourteen British secret agents in Dublin were assassinated, an act that shattered the British intelligence system in Ireland and made it possible for a small, ill-equipped force of irregulars to impose its will on its centuries-old oppressor. The operation was carefully and secretly organized, and it was the crucial culmination of a decades-long undercover struggle.Bloody Sunday tells the exciting behind-the-scenes story of the events that led up to the operation and gives a completely new appraisal of "the troubles." It shows Michael Collins as the brilliant leader that he was, and it disperses the fables and fiction that have grown up around Ireland's War of Independence.Author James Gleeson saw the "Black and Tans" and "Shinners" in action. He spoke to men who had taken part in the operation-not only the leaders but also the rank and file-as well as men from the British side. His unbiased, factual account is an extraordinary resource for anyone interested in Irish history.
Mass Market Paperback
First published March 1, 2004
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
December 21, 2024
Excellent book exposing the brutality behind Ireland's fight for independence and the oppression suffered by the Irish people.
March 4, 2016
Bloody Sunday: How Michael Collins's Agents Assassinated Britain's Secret Service in Dublin on November 21, 1920 is a brief survey of the coordinated assassinations of British agents by Irish republicans in Dublin in 1920. Journalistic rather than academic, Gleeson's book provides good background for the covert operation which contributed significantly to the British starting negotiations to end their centuries-old occupation of Ireland. These incidents were depicted in Neil Jordan's film Michael Collins starring Liam Neeson -- a pretty good historical drama despite an execrable performance by Julia Roberts.
December 7, 2018
On November 21, 1920, Michael Collins sent a team of hand-picked assassins to destroy the brains behind Britain’s war against an Irish Republic first declared in 1916 and resurrected in January 1919. Opinions vary as to exactly how serious a blow was struck against British forces that day, but by the following July a British truce offer ended the Irish War of Independence.
Like many of his countrymen, journalist and author James Gleeson has a personal connection to this conflict through his father, then a member of the Royal Irish Constabulary. His father was Head Constable at Lanesborough, County Longford, as the conflict broke into the open in 1919. Struggling to maintain a balance in performing his duties, his revulsion at the excesses of the Auxiliaries and the Black and Tans soon led him to resign.
The opening chapter presents the sad truth that Ireland has actually seen three “Bloody Sundays.” The first came in 1913 when the Dublin Metropolitan Police broke up a meeting of the then-striking Transport Workers Union; the 1971 incident when British soldiers fired on demonstrators in Derry; and the November 21, 1920 incident when the IRA killed fourteen British intelligence agents in Dublin and the Black and Tans retaliated by firing on spectators and players at a football match in Dublin’s Croke Park, killing 14. This lattermost incident is the subject of James Gleeson’s book.
However, Gleeson doesn’t limit his 13 chapters to just one day in Ireland’s often tragic story. He opens with a discussion of the creation by the Crown of the police force that would become the Royal Irish Constabulary. He then carries the story forward through the events of 1916 and the war of liberation beginning in 1919 and spreads across Ireland. Much of this book is more memoir than history as the author presents the recollections and anecdotes of actual participants to tell the story. While the use of such anecdotes might weaken this as a work of history, it greatly enhances it as an account of the 1919-1921 conflict.
Having set the stage in the first half of the book, the author uses the remaining half to traces the events immediately leading up to, surrounding, and following, Collins’s blow against the heart of Britain’s war in Ireland – the destruction of its central intelligence cell in Dublin. The latter part of the book traces the planning, execution, and aftermath of Collins’s’ assault on the British intelligence agents. Most of the attacks are covered in detail, as is the retaliatory Black and Tan assault on the football crowd. The final chapter assesses the impact of the attack and its influence upon the conclusion of the Irish war of liberation, as well as the question of whether Collins was right or wrong in carrying out his brutal war against the British forces in Ireland.
(I found it interesting to learn that this episode would ultimately lead to a meeting between a U.S. President and a “terrorist.” In 1963, President John F. Kennedy met Irish Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Sean Lemass who had been one of Michael Collins’s gunmen on Bloody Sunday. Israeli Prime Minister Menachim Begin, who participated in the bombing of Jerusalem’s King David Hotel in 1948, was the other. And depending upon how you feel about Joseph Stalin, the count might conceivably rise to three.)
This edition is a 2004 reprint of the original and long out of print 1962 publication by the author. It includes a foreword by historian WR Rodgers and an introduction by author Dermot McEvoy. This represents an excellent supplement to more general histories and memoirs of the Irish struggle for independence.
Like many of his countrymen, journalist and author James Gleeson has a personal connection to this conflict through his father, then a member of the Royal Irish Constabulary. His father was Head Constable at Lanesborough, County Longford, as the conflict broke into the open in 1919. Struggling to maintain a balance in performing his duties, his revulsion at the excesses of the Auxiliaries and the Black and Tans soon led him to resign.
The opening chapter presents the sad truth that Ireland has actually seen three “Bloody Sundays.” The first came in 1913 when the Dublin Metropolitan Police broke up a meeting of the then-striking Transport Workers Union; the 1971 incident when British soldiers fired on demonstrators in Derry; and the November 21, 1920 incident when the IRA killed fourteen British intelligence agents in Dublin and the Black and Tans retaliated by firing on spectators and players at a football match in Dublin’s Croke Park, killing 14. This lattermost incident is the subject of James Gleeson’s book.
However, Gleeson doesn’t limit his 13 chapters to just one day in Ireland’s often tragic story. He opens with a discussion of the creation by the Crown of the police force that would become the Royal Irish Constabulary. He then carries the story forward through the events of 1916 and the war of liberation beginning in 1919 and spreads across Ireland. Much of this book is more memoir than history as the author presents the recollections and anecdotes of actual participants to tell the story. While the use of such anecdotes might weaken this as a work of history, it greatly enhances it as an account of the 1919-1921 conflict.
Having set the stage in the first half of the book, the author uses the remaining half to traces the events immediately leading up to, surrounding, and following, Collins’s blow against the heart of Britain’s war in Ireland – the destruction of its central intelligence cell in Dublin. The latter part of the book traces the planning, execution, and aftermath of Collins’s’ assault on the British intelligence agents. Most of the attacks are covered in detail, as is the retaliatory Black and Tan assault on the football crowd. The final chapter assesses the impact of the attack and its influence upon the conclusion of the Irish war of liberation, as well as the question of whether Collins was right or wrong in carrying out his brutal war against the British forces in Ireland.
(I found it interesting to learn that this episode would ultimately lead to a meeting between a U.S. President and a “terrorist.” In 1963, President John F. Kennedy met Irish Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Sean Lemass who had been one of Michael Collins’s gunmen on Bloody Sunday. Israeli Prime Minister Menachim Begin, who participated in the bombing of Jerusalem’s King David Hotel in 1948, was the other. And depending upon how you feel about Joseph Stalin, the count might conceivably rise to three.)
This edition is a 2004 reprint of the original and long out of print 1962 publication by the author. It includes a foreword by historian WR Rodgers and an introduction by author Dermot McEvoy. This represents an excellent supplement to more general histories and memoirs of the Irish struggle for independence.
May 3, 2019
The author makes pro forma allowances for decent people within the ranks of the B&Ts and the Auxiliaries, so maybe that's the justification for the back cover describing the book as objective. There is no shortage of barbarity in the English oppression in Ireland, but I would prefer histories to let the events speak for themselves, rather than tell me one cold-blooded murder is committed by a good and decent man, and another committed by a monster. The events and the context show which is which, and an author adding his moral judgments (e.g., the Northern Irish loyalists are motivated exclusively by bigotry, not fealty to England.) leads me to question what he left out.
There are better, more recent books on this subject. I wish I'd picked one of them.
There are better, more recent books on this subject. I wish I'd picked one of them.
May 3, 2022
This one was like a gamey piece of meat. Really had to chew on it for a while.
January 29, 2014
On the back it said an "unbiased" account. I kind of doubt that, because some of the language and some of the details he brings to light seem to be decidedly pro-IRA. As someone who knows virtually nothing about the relations between Ireland and Britain and nothing about the IRA, it just seemed a little biased. But maybe I'm wrong.
Regardless, it was still an interesting read.
Regardless, it was still an interesting read.
March 2, 2009
A good account of the events (with some tidbits) leading up to and immediately following the events of Nov 21, 1920, from a mostly fair-minded Nationalist's perspective. Has some interesting personal accounts from varied sources on both sides. Keep in mind it was written about 1960.
March 26, 2012
After watching Downton Abbey and since I will be travelling to Ireland, I thought I would read something on this topic. Although this book was a little hard to follow, very detailed, it was interesting to learn about Ireland's struggle and the violence of this period.
Currently reading
October 14, 2008Still in the early stages.
October 19, 2009
This book helps shed light on an extremely complicated subject. You can sense that the author is trying to be objective but ultimately his bias shows. Still, it's a good book.
February 21, 2010
The daily actual account of how Irish nationalists defeated British elite intelligence MI6 officers to send PM Lloyd George to the bargaining table to free Ireland.
September 7, 2012
An overview of the Irish independence struggle from the 1916 Easter Uprising to Bloody Sunday, November 21, 1920. A blueprint for other 20th century 'colonial' struggles with the British Empire.
November 25, 2019
I great little book. Anyone interested in the Irish War Of Independence but not wanting to read a 500 page book should pick up a copy of this book.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews