From Pogrom to Civil War: Tom Glennon and the Belfast IRA

When the attacks against Catholics known as the Belfast pogrom erupted in July 1920, Tom Glennon was a 20-year old officer in the IRA. The next three years took him from brutal street fighting in Belfast to organising a flying column in the Glens of Antrim, to a daring escape from captivity in the Curragh and then the viciousness of civil war in Donegal. Scarred by his experiences, he sought to create a new life in Australia, only to find further tragedy awaiting him. His silence about his past was so complete that almost eighty years passed before his son learned the truth about his own mother's death. Now, using contemporary documents and the accounts of comrades and enemies, his grandson not only tells the story of Tom Glennon's life, but also re-examines the mythology of the pogrom and questions Michael Collins' northern policy, asking: were the northern IRA the victims of a monstrous betrayal?

Kieran Glennon is the grandson of Tom Glennon. He has spent a year and a half researching his grandfather's life and his involvement in the War of Independence and the Civil War. He was born in London to Irish parents, who later returned to Belfast and then moved to Dublin in 1973. He lives in Cherry Orchard, Dublin.