Bombs Over Dublin

by Sean McMahon

In the early morning of Saturday May 31, 1941 German planes dropped bombs on central Dublin. Nearly all the victims were among the poorest of Dublin's citizens. In Bombs over Dublin, the first book on the subject, Sean McMahon looks at the background to the Ireland's neutrality in what the country called the `Emergency'; the Belfast Blitz of April and early May 1941 that was a forerunner of the Dublin bombing; why the bombing of neutral Eire happened; and the repercussions for de Valera's wartime administration and for relations between Ireland and the Allied and Axis powers. ""Concise and very readable, this book will appeal to readers interested in Irish history of the history of the Second World War.""--Book News

Genres: Ireland

127 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2009

Reviews

[Rob Kitchin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bombs Over Dublin sets out in general terms the basis of Irish neutrality and the extent to which Ireland was affected by what was happening elsewhere in Europe, in particular documenting its preparations for war (including how to respond to possible invasion from the South by the Germans as a prelude to invading Britain, and from the North by Britain seeking to protect its western flank), the handful of times bombs were dropped on what was then named the Free State or Eire (especially those in Dublin), and the instances where the Irish fire brigade headed north to help in tackling the much more severe bombings of Belfast. The book is generally well written and structured providing a sound, basic account of Ireland’s approach to the war and what preparations were made, before setting out the various instances of bombs being dropped onto Irish soil. Whilst short, the book is informative, but lacks the depth and breath of other texts on the period. My impression is that the book is probably best thought of as a kind of primer, providing a readable introduction to the material that is treated in more detail in other texts. Indeed, while the book claims to be the first to focus exclusively on the bombings, they are discussed in brief elsewhere, and McMahon’s coverage of the events is fairly rudimentary. My sense is that the primary sources of information were other texts and some newspaper research, rather than extensive archival research of Irish, British and German government and military sources concerning the bombings, or in-depth interviews with surviving eye-witnesses. As a result, the book lacks the depth of material and analysis that would satisfy scholars of The Emergency, although it does provide a nice, basic introduction for a generalist audience. Given that this is what I think the book aims to do, it adequately fulfils its brief.