The Antrim & Down branch of the Western Front Association (WFA) and the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) would like to invite you to an online presentation by Gerry White, Chair of the Cork Branch of the WFA.

Gerry will talk about IRA leader and former British Army serviceman, Tom Barry. Barry was one of the most significant and controversial figures on the republican side during the Irish War of Independence. As commander of the Flying Column of Cork No. 3 Brigade of the IRA, he conducted a number of operations against the forces of the Crown. However, Tom Barry was an unlikely rebel. The son of a member of the Royal Irish Constabulary, Barry joined the Royal Field Artillery in 1915 and fought in Mesopotamia. In his account of his guerrilla campaign publish in 1949, Barry stated that it was the reports of the 1916 Rising he read while in Mesopotamia that led him to join the IRA. However, the story is more complex than that. As Gerry will show, Barry’s service with the British Army and post-war experience had a major part to play in his transformation from a gunner to guerrilla.

This event is taking place on Zoom. Registration closes one hour before the event and an invite link will be sent to everyone registered one hour before the beginning of the event.