THE year 1920 saw one biggest campaigns of civil resistance in the Irish War of Independence. For around seven months, railwaymen, dock workers and trade unionists stood shoulder to shoulder, refusing to transport armed troops or police, or war materials – which effectively brought the British war effort in Ireland to a standstill.
The story of the Irish Munitions Embargo and the role of the railways has not told in any great depth until now.
Author Peter Rigney explores this chapter of Irish railway history, setting the scene of a nation on the brink of partition (and division) before explaining how a Dublin & South Eastern Railway porter, together with a deep sea docker, stood firm and refused to handle or transport munitions. Word of their respective actions soon spread, and the strike escalated across the nation as Irish workers stood by their beliefs that what was happening in Ireland at the time was wrong; a fact acknowledged by Iarnród Éireann-Irish Rail chief executive Jim Meade in his foreword. Even the Londonderry & Lough Swilly and Tralee & Dingle railways were affected.