O’CATHASAIGH [O’CASEY], P. [Sean]. The Story of the Irish Citizen Army.

Dublin: The Talbot Press, 1971. Limited edition facsimile of the 1919 first edition. Small octavo. pp. 71. Original cream faux-vellum boards, upper cover lettered in gilt within gilt border. A near fine copy. One of 750 numbered copies, this being No. 267.

A handsome limited edition reprint of Sean O’Casey’s celebrated account of the foundation and development of the Irish Citizen Army, originally published in the aftermath of the revolutionary period in 1919. Written by a participant-observer who served as Secretary of the Citizen Army and worked closely with James Connolly, the volume remains one of the most important contemporary narratives of the organisation that played a central role in the events leading to the Easter Rising of 1916.

O’Casey’s work combines memoir, political history and documentary record. He traces the origins of the Citizen Army during the Dublin Lockout of 1913, examines its leadership and ideals, and reproduces key documents, including the Constitution of the Irish Citizen Army and contemporary organisational material. Written before O’Casey achieved international fame as a dramatist, the book provides valuable insight into his political thought and his close association with the labour and republican movements of early twentieth-century Dublin.

The original 1919 Maunsel edition is a noted rarity and a cornerstone work in the literature of Irish revolutionary history. This finely produced Talbot Press facsimile made the text available to a new generation of readers while preserving the appearance of the scarce first edition. An attractive example of an increasingly sought-after Sean O’Casey item and an important primary source for collectors of Easter Rising, labour history and Irish revolutionary material.

[L4 10 D]