Table of Contents

Formation of Free State national army · Civil War 1922-23 · The diminished force of the 1930s · The political background to the volunteer Territorial Force · The Treaty Ports & Forts handed back in 1938 · World War II: the difficulties of neutrality - the Emergency Army & Local Defence Force - the eight invasion scares · Post-war reorganisation · Peace-keeping missions · Border security & counter-terrorism since 1968 · The controversial EU commitment

About the Author

Donal MacCarron is an established military and aviation historian. Educated at CBS, he studied civil engineering and architecture at University College, Dublin. He has had a number of books and articles published, including ‘Wings over Ireland: the Story of the Irish Air Corps’, and ‘Step Together, the story of Ireland’s Emergency Army’. This is his first book for Osprey. Bill Younghusband was born in 1936. He has been interested in all things military since childhood, an interest compounded through the reading of authors such as G. A. Henty. Bill is a respected military illustrator of many years’ experience, and has illustrated numerous Osprey books on 18th and 19th century subjects. He is married, and lives in Ireland.