Fake News and the Irish War of Independence

by Michael B. Barry

As the War of Independence began to rage in Ireland in 1920, the British established press offices in Dublin to promote their version of events. Staffed by veterans of propaganda during the ‘Great War’, they began to issue falsehoods and full-on Fake News during 1920-21. As their untruths became known, fewer people began to believe the British reports. By contrast, Sinn Féin generally stuck to the truth. Their news-sheet, the ‘Irish Bulletin’, with its measured tone, soon gained a reputation for accuracy. In this fascinating book Michael B. Barry tells the story of fakery and dissimulation that emanated from Dublin Castle, including the so-called ‘Battle of Tralee’ staged at Vico Road, Killiney, the forged editions of the ‘Irish Bulletin’ and attempts after the Kilmichael ambush to paint the IRA as axe-wielding fiends.

Also covered are the later careers of the practitioners of false news, which ranged from helping General Francisco Franco fly to Morocco to start the Spanish Civil War, to being ennobled and taking a seat in the British House of Lords.

This highly readable book, with many colourful illustrations, casts light on a remarkable but little-known facet of the War of Independence.

144 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 2021

About the author

Author and historian Michael B. Barry studied in Trinity College, Dublin. He has worked on transportation projects both in Ireland and around the world. With a strong interest in history and heritage, Michael has written several books including 'Victorian Dublin Revealed' and 'The Green Divide, an Illustrated History of the Irish Civil War'. His recent book 'Courage Boys, We are Winning, an Illustrated History of the 1916 Rising' is a best seller. It has been described in the press as the best illustrated book on the 1916 Rising, and has gone into reprint.

Michael is an accomplished photographer and, in the years leading up to 2008, traveled to Spain, Jordan and Morocco to take a large selection of images for 'Homage to al-Andalus, the Rise and Fall of Islamic Spain'. His research also took him to Syria in 2008. His photographs of Syria’s heritage taken then form a valuable archive which enabled him to create the book 'Beyond the Chaos, the Remarkable Heritage of Syria' in 2014.

Reviews

[Clare O'Beara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Informative and impressive, this journalistic book goes to the primary sources - the materials themselves. The author looks at and presents photos, posters, news cuttings and propaganda. These were used during the Great War to try to get Irish soldiers to enlist 'to fight for Catholic Belgium' but in the north of Ireland 'to fight against Catholic' nations, which seems a stretch. Then the revolutionary movement produced news sheets with the general truth compared to the false stories and propaganda issues by the Crown. The author has found instances of atrocities on both sides.

Extraordinary photos are included, such as De Valera wearing Chippewa feather head-dress during a visit to a reservation. Also, a plane which secretly 'transported Franco from the Canaries to Spanish Morocco.' Interesting facts include that if a woman was found to be 'doing petty spy work' by the IRA, she was to be advised to leave the country in seven days. Hard as this seems, many women did in fact go to Britain for work and advancement at this time.

I recommend reading this along with 'Irish Women And The Great War' by Fionnuala Fletcher, an academic read bringing together many reports and studies.

I read this book from the RDS Library. This is an unbiased review.