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Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences
In a new book Dr Colum Kenny, Professor Emeritus of DCU's School of Communications, calls for greater discussion of Ireland’s Civil War

New book by DCU professor emeritus Colum Kenny details Civil War's main moments

A Bitter Winter: The Irish Civil War 1922-23 is a companion volume to Kenny’s Midnight in London: The Anglo-Irish Treaty 1921.

In a new book, Dr Colum Kenny, Professor Emeritus of DCU's School of Communications, calls for greater discussion of Ireland’s Civil War. A Bitter Winter: The Irish Civil War of 1922-1923 and its Legacy highlights the main moments of a war fought between former friends. The book tells the story of Ireland’s Civil War in a direct, accessible way, and includes discussion of Michael Collins, Harry Boland, Mary MacSwiney and Éamon de Valera.

Reflecting on the lasting bitterness engendered by civil war, a bitterness that broke Arthur Griffith’s heart and contributed to his early death in August 1922, Kenny relates the Civil War to current tensions surrounding the future of Northern Ireland. A former council member of the Glencree Centre for Reconciliation, Kenny believes that all parties involved in the Belfast Agreement should now learn from the Civil War and should proceed with caution and generosity.

A Bitter Winter: The Irish Civil War 1922-23 (Eastwood Books, 2022) is a companion volume to Kenny’s Midnight in London: The Anglo-Irish Treaty 1921 (Eastwood Books, 20201). These short volumes are intended to be accessible to a general readership in order to foster informed discussion about the foundation of the Irish state.