sources and bibliography
A handful of I.R.A. memoirs cover this period, from Jack McNally, Turlach Ó hUid, Vincent McDowell, Harry White and Joe Cahill as well as Ray Quinn’s invaluable A Rebel Voice, A History of Belfast Republicanism 1925-72 (published in 1999) which was largely put together from oral histories collected by Quinn from a number of key figures from that period. Others, like Uinseann MacEoin, Ronnie Munck and Bill Rolston, also gathered and published oral histories from I.R.A. volunteers covering the 1920s through to the 1940s. There is also a brief account of the Belfast Brigade by Jim Lane which was published by the Cork Workers Club in 1972. All of these works are cited throughout the text. There are some fragmentary archival records from the I.R.A. itself, its own publications, in newspapers like An Síol, Republican News and Resurgent Ulster, and a handful of memoirs written by, or at least with the assistance of, former activists. I have detailed as many of these as possible in the bibliography, even where not specifically referred to. There are also a number of historical treatments that are presented as fiction but are deeply rooted in actual events and provide rich contextual material (e.g. Ulster Idyll by Vincent McDowell and Laurie Green’s Odd Man Out). In terms of official records, the I.R.A., even though a clandestine organisation, did keep minutes and reports, send communications and memos and publish statements and newspapers. Surviving records are more abundant for the 1920s and 1930s (in the likes of the Moss Twomey archive in U.C.D.) and have been picked apart by Brian Hanley. For other periods there are small groups of documents dispersed among collections in the N.L.I. and P.R.O.N.I. (among others). Similarly, the Military Archives in Dublin hold a range of useful documents, particularly for the 1920s. As well as the mainstream I.R.A. publications like An Phoblacht, War News, Republican News and The United Irishman the Belfast I.R.A. issued a series of its own publications or Belfast/northern version of the Dublin edition. This included An Síol, War News, Republican News, Resurgent Ulster, Glór Uladh, Resistance and Tírghrá. Some of these survive in partial runs in N.L.I. but there is still a bit of work to be done to collate them. Archival sources: National Library of Ireland, Public Records Office Northern Ireland, Eileen Hickey Republican History Museum Conway Mill, Military Archives, Bureau of Military History, Moss Twomey Archive (UCD), Hansard (Stormont), CAIN. 237
