Books published by Irish Academic Press Ltd

Thomas Meagher: Forgotten Father of Thomas Francis Meagher is a biography of the father of one of Ireland's most famous patriots. He emerges from his son's shadow as a man of deeply held political and religious principles. Born in Newfoundland, Canada, he was to be heavily influenced by his experiences on that rugged island. He settled in Waterford in 1819 and quickly established himself as a champion of political and religious equality. In 1842 he was elected Mayor of Waterford, the first Catholic to hold this office since the seventeenth century. Meagher served as an MP for the city from 1847 to 1857, and was a determined supporter of an independent Irish party to defend Irish interests at Westminster. A staunch follower of Daniel O'Connell, the age-old conflict between constitutional and revolutionary nationalism in Ireland was played out between him and his son, who was a leader of the 1848 Young Ireland rising. The fascinating and complex relationship between him and Thomas Francis is explored, presenting a very human story against the backdrop of political turbulence.

Reconciling Ireland is a unique guide to the history of the last half-century, compiling as it does all the texts of the key British-Irish agreements relating to Northern Ireland for the first time.

Eloquent collection of essays by Belfast-born poet, written over four decades, exploring Northern Irish Protestant identity.

Covering the years 1920-1925, Without a Dog's Chance is the first major study of Northern nationalists' role in the Boundary Commission that they, and their allies in the Irish Free State, had hoped to use to end partition and destroy the new Northern state. For Northern nationalists, the partition of Ireland was an intensely traumatic event, not only because it consigned almost half a million nationalists to a government that was not of their choosing, but also because they regarded partition as the mutilation of their Irish citizenship and nationhood. Without a Dog's Chance fills an important gap in the history of this period by focusing on the complex relationship between partition-era Northern and Southern nationalism, and the subordinate role Northern nationalists had in Ireland's post-partition political landscape. Feeling under-valued, abandoned and exploited by their peers in the South, Northern nationalists were also radically marginalised within the new Northern Irish state, which regarded them with fear and suspicion. With December 2020 marking one hundred years since partition, this timely book is essential reading.

This landmark study of the life of republican leader Liam Mellows brings together letters, speeches, political writings and captured IRA documents to explore his short but dramatic life. Mellows was at the forefront of the republican movement in Ireland from its inception. Following the Easter Rising, he spent four years as the IRA's representative in New York, attempted to import arms into Ireland, was jailed, and - worst of all - branded an informer by the Mayor of New York. Arriving back in Ireland in 1920, Mellows was responsible for the importation of arms for the republican forces during the Independence struggle. Bitterly opposed to the Anglo-Irish Treaty, he became an implacable opponent of Michael Collins, and his role in helping form the anti-Treaty IRA in 1922 contributed to the outbreak of the Civil War. Mellows' execution in December 1922 was among the most divisive acts of the new Irish state, and he remains an enigmatic icon for Irish republicans. Liam Mellows, Soldier of the Irish Republic, examines his beliefs, his fraught personal relationships and political betrayals, and sheds new light on his struggle in the face of seemingly overwhelming odds.