author
Dan Breen
1894–1969
A central figure in Ireland’s revolutionary years, this memoirist is remembered for his part in the struggle for independence and for the vivid first-hand account he later wrote about it. His life moved from guerrilla warfare to a long career in parliamentary politics.
1 Audiobook
My fight for Irish freedom
by Dan Breen
About the author
Born in County Tipperary in 1894, Dan Breen became one of the best-known Irish republicans of his generation. He joined the Irish republican movement as a young man and is especially associated with the Soloheadbeg ambush in January 1919, an event widely seen as the opening clash of the Irish War of Independence.
During the independence struggle and the Civil War that followed, he was repeatedly wounded and became a famous, controversial public figure. He later wrote about those years in My Fight for Irish Freedom, a memoir that helped shape how many readers came to picture the period.
In later life, Breen moved into elected politics and served for many years as a Fianna Fáil TD. He died in 1969, leaving behind a life story tied closely to some of the most dramatic chapters in modern Irish history.