The Battle for Liverpool and New York: The Irish Revolution in the Atlantic World

Liverpool and New York haunt the story of Irish independence in a way few other places do. Though separated by more than 5,000 kilometres of ocean, both ports were part of a wider Atlantic world in which Ireland occupied a central place.

By the 1920s Liverpool and New York were among the most Irish cities on the planet. Both had been transformed by generations of Irish migration and in both cities Irish politics shaped everyday life.

During the War of Independence, these communities became crucial to the republican movement. Money, weapons, propaganda and people moved through the ports, while IRA networks operated on both sides of the Atlantic. But this was not simply a story of support for Irish independence. In Liverpool and New York, Irish politics were fiercely contested.

Supporters of the Republic organised, fundraised and agitated, while opponents of independence also made their voices heard. Anti-Irish politics, loyalism, class tensions and divisions within the diaspora all shaped how the conflict was understood abroad.

In this episode of Brothers in Pain, Dr Brian Hanley explores the role of Liverpool and New York in the Irish War of Independence, revealing how two great port cities helped shape the revolution, and how Ireland’s struggle in turn reshaped politics across the Atlantic world.

This is the second last episode of Brothers in Pain a groundbreaking Global history of the Irish War of Independence by Dr Brian Hanley

Written, Researched & Narrated by Dr Brian Hanley. Check out Brian's publications here https://www.tcd.ie/history/staff/brian-hanley.php

Producer: Fin Dwyer

Sound: Kate Dunlea

Note from Brian :

In researching these episodes I have been indebted to the work of the following scholars;

Anna Lively, Sam McGrath, Bruce Nelson, John Belchem, Terry Dunne, David Brundage, Niamh Coffey, Gerard Shannon, Maurice Casey, Kelly Anne Reynolds, Chris McNickle, Joe Doyle, Liz Gillis, FM Carroll, Patrick Mannion, Jimmy Yann, Niall Cullen, Pádraig Óg Ó Ruairc, Keith Jeffrey, Arthur Mitchell, John Borgonovo, Kate O’Malley, Michael Doorley, Robin Adams, Kevin Kenny, Fearghal McGarry, Catherine M. Burns, Síobhra Aiken, Patrick J. Mahony, Darragh Gannon, Matthew Pratt Guterl and James R. Barrett.

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