What happened in Kerry during the War of Independence and the Civil War has been the subject of controversy. Although Eoin O'Duffy - chief of staff of the Free State army - said that 'Kerry's entire record in the Black and Tan struggle consisted in shooting an unfortunate soldier the day of the Truce', some of the earliest operations of the War of Independence took place there or involved Kerrymen. The guns for the planned national uprising of 1916 were supposed to be landed in Kerry, and Roger Casement was arrested there on Good Friday 1916. Moreover, although Eamon de Valera is usually described as the last commandant to have surrendered during the Easter Rising and the only one not to have been executed afterwards, a Kerryman, Thomas Ashe, also survived and was, in fact, the last commandant to lay down his arms - and the only one to achieve his military objective. For nine days in November 1920, Tralee was shut down by the Crown forces. Shops, factories and schools were closed, the two local newspapers ceased operating, and those who ventured out risked being killed in the streets. A visiting French journalist described Tralee as being more terrorised than any town he had seen in France during the First World War. Kerry was also the scene of terrible atrocities during the Civil War. This may explain why the county's experience of the conflict is still so little known: the survivors were more interested in getting on with their lives than in perpetuating the memories of the horrors that had been committed. Since Kerry's Fighting Story was published by the Kerryman in 1947, no attempt has been made to cover the period of the War of Independence and the subsequent Troubles in the county. Unfortunately, that book was a rushed production and did not touch on the events of the Civil War. Tans, Terror and Troubles, told in a fast-paced and readable style, gives the full story of events in Kerry during those dark days.
