A TALK on the Irish Civil War by renowned Dublin historian Liz Gillis at Sarsfields GAC has been hailed a great success.
The talk was well attended as people gathered to listen to Liz explain some of the events from the war which tore Ireland apart from 1922-1923. Liz Gillis has published numerous books on the Irish revolution, the role of women in the revolution and recently appeared on RTÉ's series on the Civil War.
HISTORY: The crowd enjoyed the talk and some arranged to go on one of Liz's tours of Dublin
After being invited by Tim Smith of Cuman Cultúrtha Léana an Dúin (Lenadoon Culture Group), Liz provided a lucid chronology of the events leading up to the Civil War, the many attempts to avert conflict and the awful scale of atrocities particularly on the part of the Provisional Government e.g., The Red Cow murders, the tragedies in Kerry such as the horrors at Ballyseedy and Countess Bridge.
Liz described how families were torn apart with brothers on opposing sides and the role the British establishment played in supplying the weaponry which was used by pro-Treaty forces to bombard anti-Treaty soldiers in the Four Courts in Dublin.
The audience thoroughly enjoyed the talk and there were a lot of questions asked by those in the audience, many particularly interested in the circumstances of the killing of Michael Collins.
Pádraic Mac Coitir ,who chaired the talk, thanked Liz for her insightful, informative and enjoyable talk. Many in the crowd were so impressed that some members of the audience arranged to attend one of Liz's tours of Dublin with her.
