James Durney

In a Time of War: Kildare 1914-1918 James Durney

In 1914, Ireland's Kildare County was a garrison county home to Kildare Barracks, the Curragh Camp, and the Royal Dublin Fusiliers Depot in Naas, which ensured that Kildare's recruitment exceeded the national average. This fascinating study reveals the true extent that the military, political, social, and economic impact of World War I had on Kildare. The book demonstrates that, for the local community in Kildare, the Great War was remote only in geographic terms; its ravages being painfully felt in every aspect of Kildare life - food prices, the farming economy, Belgian refugees, the role of women, soldier Ë?suicide, and shell-shock. In a Time of War: Kildare 1914-1918 expertly recounts Kildare's unique experience with a war that had raged out of control. The book details the inept handling of recruitment and the later conscription crisis, and it tells the stark human story of Kildare's men leaving their towns and villages, humble cottages, and Big Houses for the carnage of the Western Front and Gallipoli. Sadly, over 700 never returned.