Write a comment
A new local history book about Newry, South Down, South Armagh and North Louth has just been published.
Cath Saoirse An Iuir - Newry’s Struggle written by Raymond Watson provides an in-depth political history of the area from 1798 to 1962 presenting a researched, chronological, evidence-based account of historical, political, and military events.
Watson explains; "In 1986, I wrote a slim book with the same name; it told a large portion of the republican history of Newry. This 2026 edition is greatly expanded in geographical scope, reporting events from Banbridge, Rostrevor, Warrenpoint, Corrags, Newry, Mullaghbawn, Camlough, Dundalk, Joneboro, Newtownhamilton and the rural hinterlands."
The book opens with an account of the local United Irishmen in the Newry area. It critically explores what we know about the two local men who were executed in 1798, George Cochron and Thomas 'Cloaky' Lowans. Over the years, their story has evolved and entered the realm of folklore. It is assumed that these men were hanged at a place known anecdotally as ‘Gallows Hill’. This book proposes new ideas about their story and the location of their arrest and executions.
The era of the revolutionary Young Irelanders and what is mistakenly called 'The Famine' is explored through an in-depth discussion of the local political figures John Mitchel and John Martin. Together, their writings and actions left a strong legacy in Irish politics. In 1854, Mitchell was the first person to define the tragedy called ‘the Irish famine’ as a British-imposed ‘Irish genocide.’
A large and fascinating portion of the book explores the gripping local details of the 1916 Easter Rising, as well as the many local political and military actions and important figures of the War of Independence and the Civil War.
Among the important research sources that help illustrate and bring this freedom struggle to life are numerous references to written accounts of 1920s Republican veterans. These veterans fought the battles and tell the details of what happened. Their written accounts were submitted to the Irish Military History Bureau in the late 1930s and 1940s.
The final chapter is an in-depth account of the nationalist struggle in the Newry area during the 1940s and the subsequent ‘Border Campaign’, officially called ‘Operation Harvest’, from 1956 to 1962. Newry was the most active resistance area in the north during the 1950s and 1960s.
Raymond Watson says of the book, "The local is the global. What occurred in this part of Ireland offers an intimate exploration of how anti-colonialism manifests into national liberation (revolutionary) struggles that consistently seek to break free from covetous colonial Empires. This local history also demonstrates the tactics of how colonialists respond to anti-colonialism by ignoring democracy, sowing division amongst the population, and implementing repression, brutality and murder."
This is the 40th anniversary of the original 1986 publication of Cath Saoirse An Iúir, and the 110th anniversary of the Easter Rising. This new 2026 edition is greatly revised and expanded, and attempts to include every event that occurred in the greater Newry area. The book can be purchased from Raymond Watson by calling 077 5459 5370
or email raymie.watson@gmail.com
