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Blackpool is an old historic suburb of Cork and contributed to the 200,000 Irishmen who participated in the First World War. Hundreds from Blackpool fought as soldiers and sailors and over seventy died defending ‘the rights of small nations’. Their courage, suffering and sacrifice with brigades such as the Royal Irish Regiment and Royal Munster Fusiliers reflect the whole war and its impact on such a community. Blackpool men were involved in the very first battles of the war and it was reported the Germans heard the rallying cry ‘Blackpool to the Front!’ During the rest of the war, Blackpool men died in France, Flanders, Gallipoli, Palestine and on the high seas.
Blackpool was an industrialised area and the families of those at war supported the war effort through donations and by working in factories that supplied the war machine. Such sacrifice was previously unknown in an area that became closely associated with militant separatism in the post-war era. Blackpool was thus a microcosm of the transition in urban Ireland from moderate nationalism that supported the war to extreme nationalism that rejected the British connection. This book is a must for anyone interested in the First World War and its connection and impact on Ireland.
ISBN/EAN | 9781848891951 |
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Author | Mark Cronin |
Publisher | Gill Books |
Imprint | Collins Press |
Publication date | 18 Apr 2014 |
Format | Paperback |