During the Civil War, when Ernie OMalley lay under sentence of death in Mountjoy prison hospital, some of his notes were smuggled out. Most of all, he wrote, I would have liked to talk about the rank and file where I found solace. Raids and Rallies, an account of various offensives against the British in 1920 21, is his tribute to that rank and file. It was a peoples war. That is why we fought so well from November 1920.What helps to make these memoirs notable is that OMalley writes more than a documentary in his constant awareness of nature in the background. Sunday Press;Entrancing reading for those who seek an insight into the mentality of the men who took on the might of the British Empire. Sunday Independent;Where OMalley differs from virtually all others who have published their recollections of those years is that he was a writer and an intellectual who was constantly weighing and analysing all that was happening. The Irish Post
With the IRA in the Fight for Freedom offers eyewitness and first hand accounts of Irelands struggle for independence in various parts of the country. It presents a representative picture of the fight by the IRA for independence and of the reign of terror endured by the civilian population. Only idealism and courage on the part of the freedom fighters and the steadfast support of the Irish people could have carried such an unequal struggle through to the end.With barracks attacks, ambushes and shootings, it brings to life a conflict that is fading from the collective memory of county and country and offers a fascinating perspective on the struggle for independence, directly from the men who took part in the actions themselves.