Download or read book The Irish War of Independence written by Michael Hopkinson and published by McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP. This book was released on 2002-11-20 with total page 313 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The war was prosecuted ruthlessly by the Irish Republican Army which, paralleling the political efforts of Sinn Féin, hoped to break Britain's will to rule Ireland and create an independent Irish republic. The British retaliated by introducing two new irregular forces into Ireland, the Black and Tans and the Auxiliaries. Fighting took place principally in counties Cork, Limerick, Tipperary, Monaghan, Armagh, Clare, Kerry, and Longford. It was sporadic but vicious, with fewer than 2,000 IRA volunteers facing over 50,000 crown forces. The IRA depended upon energetic local leaders -- where there were none, there was little fighting.