Book launch: One Man's Ireland - Memoirs of Dan Mulvihill by Owen O'Shea

Hundreds of people gathered in Milltown, County Kerry recently to celebrate the life and times of local man who made a major contribution to the campaign for Irish independence a century ago and who is honoured in a new book by local historian, Dr Owen O’Shea.

IRA commander and lifelong republican, Dan Mulvihill, wrote his 20,000 autobiography a few years before his death in 1985 but never fulfilled his ambition to have it published. The memoir, which has been edited by O’Shea and published by Merrion Press, charts Mulvihill’s central role in many of the most important events in twentieth-century Ireland.

Guest speaker at the book launch on Saturday was the former Group Editor-in-Chief of Independent News and Media, Stephen Rae, a native of Castlemaine. Stephen and his father, David, recorded an interview with Mulvihill in 1984, a year before he died. In that interview, Mulvihill confides that he tried but never succeeded in publishing his story, an ambition which has now been fulfilled.

Many of those who knew Mulvihill as well as descendants of those who fought with him in the Old IRA and Cumann na mBan were present at the launch, which featured music, songs, poetry and stories which were relevant to Mulvihill’s life and times.

“This is one of several books I have published on this period,” said Owen, “but this one is extremely special in that it tells the story of such an important figure from my home parish. But he was more than that. Mulvihill was a delegate to IRA national conventions, a loyal ally of Éamon de Valera, a vehement opponent of the Anglo-Irish Treaty, a member of Liam Lynch’s staff in the anti-Treaty IRA, a prisoner and hunger striker, a spy and intelligence officer. He was a pivotal figure in the revolution in Kerry and nationally,” he said.

Recounting his interview with Mulvihill in 1984, Stephen Rae, who was 17 at the time, said: “My dad, David was very conscious of the importance of securing the memories of the last surviving generation of War of Independence figures. He arranged to interview several of the men, including Dan Mulvihill. As a teenager at the time, I was a reluctant interviewer but it’s something that I look back on now with pride in that we helped commit those rich memories of that turbulent period in Kerry to tape,” he said.

One Man’s Ireland: Memoirs of Dan Mulvihill, Maverick Republican is published by Merrion Press and is now available in bookshops across Kerry or online from owenoshea.ie