Meda Ryan

With the aid of Liam Lynch's personal letters, private documents and historical records, The Real Chief traces the turbulent career of one of Ireland's greatest guerilla commanders from his birth in 1893 until his death twenty-nine years later in the civil war when he was killed in action on the Knockmealdown mountains.This book demonstrates Liam Lynch's importance in Irish history, including his efforts with Michael Collins, Richard Mulcahy and others to avoid a civil war, and his unwavering efforts to achieve a thirty-two county republic, rather than a partitioned state.Meda Ryan is a native of Bandon in West Cork and now lives in Ennis, Co. Clare. Her published books include: Michael Collins and the Women who Spied for Ireland, The Day Michael Collins was Shot, and the controversial biography, Tom Barry, IRA Freedom Fighter.