No Middle Path: The Civil War in Kerry

The violence and divisions caused by the Civil War in County Kerry in 1922-23 were more vicious, bitter, and protracted than anywhere else in Ireland. For generations, the fratricide, murder, and executions in Kerry have been synonymous with the worst excesses of the brutality and mayhem which followed the split over the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921. In this new analysis of the conflict in his native county, Owen O'Shea offers new insights into the misery and mayhem, from the perspectives of combatants as well as their families and the wider civilian population. Based on newly researched archive accounts and testimonies, the immense trauma, hardship, poverty, ill health, and psychological scars of the families of those killed and injured is explored for the first time. Also presented is a catalogue of the intimidation, destruction, crime, and lawlessness which severely affected civilians who had no involvement in the war but suffered greatly, sometimes losing their lives. No Middle Path offers an engrossing account of the terrible events in Kerry and of some of the darkest days in Irish history as well as their shocking and enduring legacy.

Owen O'Shea, from Milltown, Co. Kerry, is Communications Officer with Kerry County Council. A former Labour Party press officer and election candidate, he was journalist with Kerry's Eye and Radio Kerry. He is the author of Heirs to the Kingdom: Kerry's Political Dynasties (O'Brien Press, 2011), A Century of Politics in the Kingdom: A County Kerry Compendium (Merrion Press, 2018), and Ballymacandy: The Story of a Kerry Ambush (Merrion Press, 2021).