Gerald Boland (Gearóid Ó Beoláin) Irish militant revolutionary, politician and statesman, has until now ranked amongst the forgotten figures of modern Irish history. This book addresses this historical imbalance. Boland’s life story offers readers an insight into the birth and subsequent development of the modern Ireland. From a humble working-class family, steeped in the Irish Republican tradition, Boland played an active role in the Irish Revolution and subsequently was at the forefront of political life in the nascent years of the Irish Free State, first as a Sinn Féin elected representative and thereafter within Fianna Fáil. Boland’s story thus offers readers a personal insight into many of the major military and political events which helped shape modern Ireland over the duration of his lifetime (1885-1973).

Importantly, this biographical study provides readers with a critical examination regarding Gerald Boland’s military adventures, political manoeuvres and significantly his forgotten role as one of Ireland’s eminent state builders. The picture that is painted is of a patriotic adolescent emerging to become a strong-willed militant young man turned politician and later respected (and sometimes feared) government minister. 

Harry BolandPaperback. 
The definitive story of Harry Boland, the ardent and prominent Republican, loyal confidant to de Valera and close friend and, later, love rival to Michael Collins for the heart of Kitty Kiernan. This is a detailed and dramatic account of the intricate part played by him in Ireland’s struggle towards independence. Covering Boland’s role in the 1916 Rising, his involvement with Sinn Féin and work in the 1918 general election, through his time in America during the War of Independence, when he came to national prominence campaigning for American support for Irish freedom, it also details Boland’s subsequent return to a broken homeland on the cusp of civil war and his ill-fated attempts to stop the worst from happening. A free Irish Republic meant everything to Harry Boland, and he was to give his all to try to make this reality.

Author

Stephen Kelly is Professor of Modern History and British Irish Relations at Liverpool Hope University.

 

His previous books include Margaret Thatcher, the Conservative Party and the Northern Ireland conflict (Bloomsbury, 2022), winner of the CHOICE Outstanding Academic Titles Award.