Tom Burnell: Irishmen in the Great War

Twenty-seven Irish newspapers for the period covering the Great War have been trawled through to deliver the amazing stories of those years which changed the world for ever. These are the accounts of local men at the front; of torpedoed ships; drunken wives; final letters and requests from the trenches. Also eyewitness accounts of the slaughter as it was happening; battle reports from officers serving in Irish regiments; quirky snippets; chaplains' sympathetic letters; P.o.W reports of conditions and war poetry. Here are the tales of the Leinster's, Munster's, Connaught's and Dublin Fusiliers serving in the Ulster Division, 10th and 16th Irish Divisions. We read of medical breakthroughs, paranormal occurrences and miraculous escapes from death. After the Irish Rebellion of April, 1916, these type of articles and casualty lists dwindled to very few as Irish hearts became divided.