BARRY, Commandant General Tom. Guerilla Days in Ireland (Signed first edition by Tom Barry in rare dust-jacket)

Dublin: Irish Press Limited, 1949. First edition. Octavo. pp. 228. Blue cloth, titled in gilt on spine, in the original pictorial dust jacket. Illustrated with sixteen photographic plates and two folding maps.

A particularly desirable association copy, inscribed by Tom Barry on the front free endpaper: “Cork. 11.9.1954. On the occasion of the visit of the New Ross Battalion of the F.C.A. to the West Cork I.R.A. Brigade area to Capt. A. Minihan with regards. Tom Barry.” The inscription records a specific commemorative visit by the New Ross F.C.A. Battalion to the historic operational area of Barry’s celebrated West Cork Brigade, adding significant historical context and provenance.

Barry’s classic memoir of the Irish War of Independence remains one of the most influential first-hand accounts of guerrilla warfare ever published. Drawing upon his experiences as Commandant of the Third West Cork Brigade, he recounts the campaigns that included the ambushes at Kilmichael and Crossbarry, offering an enduring primary source for the revolutionary period. Originally serialised in The Irish Press, the work first appeared in book form in 1949 and has since become one of the cornerstone texts of modern Irish history.

The binding is lightly marked with minor wear to the extremities. The dust jacket is complete but shows chipping, creasing and closed tears, particularly at the head of the spine and lower panel, without significant loss. Internally clean and bright. A very good copy in the scarce original dust jacket.

[L1 8D]