The Soldier's Farewell

Dublin, 1921. As the Irish War of Independence comes to a head, Republican leader Éamon de Valera is arrested but quickly released in order to facilitate peace talks with the British. Stephen Ryan, an Irishman who fought for the British in the trenches, is sent to London where negotiations are beginning, as part of the Irish delegation. He leaves behind his brother, Joe, who has been jailed for his actions in the IRA. There are those on both sides who would see… (more)

Dublin, 1921. As the Irish War of Independence comes to a head, Republican leader Éamon de Valera is arrested but quickly released in order to facilitate peace talks with the British. Stephen Ryan, an Irishman who fought for the British in the trenches, is sent to London where negotiations are beginning, as part of the Irish delegation. He leaves behind his brother, Joe, who has been jailed for his actions in the IRA. There are those on both sides who would see the Treaty fail; Stephen soon finds himself beset by problems - a legal dispute, a blackmail attempt, even a plot to assassinate Winston Churchill. When his fiancée Lillian is threatened by a man who is violent, ruthless, and has a grudge again him, matters become not only urgent, but personal. This is a story about two brothers, played out against the political and military upheavals that racked Ireland in the 1920s. The Anglo-Irish Treaty brings the war with the British to a close, and Joe too is released from jail - free, but changed. However, a new war is emerging and Stephen finds himself once more called upon as a soldier. Assassinations and guerrilla warfare are the backdrop to the call to arms, as both sides attempt to force a new order, in a conflict that will pit Irishman against Irishman, brother against brother . . .