Leitrim’s Republican story of the past 100 years is outlined

“Leitrim’s Republican Story 1900-2000”, regarded as the biggest and most important book ever written on Leitrim, has been reprinted in an enlarged and revised edition.

The most significant addition to the new edition is a listing of over 3,000 Leitrim men who joined the IRA during the War of Independence, many of whom belonged to Sligo Companies in the Glencar and Ballintogher areas.

The book is a monument to all of those men and women who were involved and is a keepsake for family members.

There are many incidents in the book with strong Sligo connections.

The killing of “Sligo’s Noble Six” in September 1922 is generally believed to have been done on the instructions of Ballinamore man, Charlie Eddie McGoohan, than a commandant in the Free State Army. Batty Cryan from Bunninaden, who subsequently lived in Ballinamore, was involved in two of the most significant ambushes against British forces in Mayo during the War of Independence.

The story of Packie Connolly from Leclasser, Co Sligo, who was sentenced to seven years for partaking in the Bombing Campaign in England in 1939, is also recounted. Mullaghmore and the killing of Lord Mountbatten is one of the major stories in the book due to the trial and subsequent acquittal of Leitrim man, Francis McGirl.

The deaths of Sligo men, Kevin Coen and Joe MacManus during the Troubles are also recalled in the book.

The book is now available in local bookshops at €34.99.