RTÉ Documentaries

Hawks & Doves: The Crown and Ireland’s War of Independence (2020x3)

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The sequel to The Enemy Files: Easter 1916, this is the story of a guerrilla war as told in the testimonies of those who tried to suppress it. Presented by Michael Portillo, Hawks and Doves: The Crown and Ireland’s War of Independence draws on 'the enemy files’ to explore the point of view of the British politicians, officials, and generals tasked with suppressing the republican insurrection of 1919-21. From the earliest memoirs by Volunteer leaders such as Tom Barry – which depicted a heroic struggle in which guerrilla fighters prevailed against overwhelming odds – to the more even-handed histories of recent years, our understanding of the War of Independence is largely shaped by Irish perspectives. New sources, such as the Military Service Pension records, have reinforced the centrality of republican agency to our understanding of the conflict, with study after study reconstructing the IRA’s campaign in almost every Irish county. But what happens if we reverse this perspective?