Like most members of the IRA Headquarters staff, Dalton accepted the Treaty of 1921, but the bulk of the active service units around the country did not do so.ĭalton was involved in taking over many of the British military facilities, but the Provisional Government led by Michael Collins was unable to prevent many of them being occupied by anti Treaty forces.īoyne gives a gripping account of the build up to the beginning of the Civil War. For example, he covers Dalton’s efforts during the Truce to help families locate the remains of young members of the RIC who had been “disappeared” by the IRA during the “Truce”, including a constable Joseph Daly of Enfield. Sean Boyne describes Dalton’s role in this conflict in detail and conveys a sense of the fraught atmosphere of the times in Dublin. He was involved in a daring attempt to spring Sean McEoin out of Mountjoy Jail. In early 1920, He was asked to join the IRA’s GHQ Intelligence Unit, which brought him into close contact with Michael Collins. He returned to Dublin and became a temporary clerk in the Board of Works and became a member of Bohemians FC, near his home in Phibsboro. When the war ended, he served in the army of occupation in the Rhineland. He also took part, in 1917, in the long forgotten battles with the Ottoman forces in Gaza, and in the eventual capture of Jerusalem. Dalton himself was awarded the Military Cross for his part in the battle. Later in 1916, he was at the front at Ginchy when Tom Kettle was killed, in a battle in which many other members of the Dublin Fusiliers also died. He was posted in Ireland at the time of the 1916 Rising and believed then, and subsequently, that it was a mistake.
It was probably because of the family connection with Redmond and the Home Rule cause, that young Emmet Dalton lied about his age, in order to join the Royal Dublin Fusiliers in 1915 as a Lieutenant. He has an accessible writing style, but is also meticulous in his research.Įmmet Dalton’s father, James, was active in the Home Rule movement, and was one of John Redmond’s nominees to serve on the Executive of the Irish Volunteers in June 1914. Sean Boyne worked as a political journalist and is deeply interested in military history.
Through the life of one man, this book gives a deep insight into Irish history from 1911 to 1960. I greatly enjoyed reading “Emmet Dalton, Somme soldier, Irish General, and Film Pioneer” by Sean Boyne published by Merrion Press.
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