Aristocrats and itinerants, unionists and nationalists, Catholics and Protestants - the Great War united thousands of Clare men and women to a cause for which many of them would go out to fight and die. Their motives varied from a sense of duty to 'king and country' to concern about the fate of 'poor Catholic Belgium'; from mercenary motives, fuelled by poverty, to the moral duty to fight for civilization against the 'savage Huns'. Some followed 'Redmond's call' to secure Home Rule, while others enlisted for sheer adventure. The work attempts, for the first time, to understand what really happened in County Clare during the Great War, how its economic and political life was radically transformed during this terrible conflict, and how the contribution of those who gave their lives was largely written out of history.'

Autorentext

Dr Joe Power is an award-winning author and historian, whose PhD these was awarded in 2004 by NUI Galway for his history of Clare. He has published numerous books on aspects of Clare history, lectured in the Merriam Summer School and was a contributor to the RTE Radio documentary on 19th Century Clare.