Ashbourne (Cill Dhéagláin, meaning 'Déaglán's church') is a town in County Meath, Ireland. Ashbourne is a commuter town within Greater Dublin.On 28 April 1916, a group of Fingal Volunteers attacked the Royal Irish Constabulary barracks at Ashbourne. The total group members was greater than 40,and were under the command of Thomas Ashe, a national school teacher in Lusk.The barracks were usually manned by a sergeant and four constables but given the level of fighting in the capital, reinforcements had been called in from surrounding barracks.The rebels advanced on the barracks and disarmed two RIC men who were setting up a barricade outside the barracks. Ashe then called on the remaining officers to surrender, and the siege situation turned into a shoot-out. Ultimately, the RIC members offered to surrender by waving a white handkerchief.However, before they could emerge, a supporting convoy of cars and RIC reinforcements arrived from the direction of Slane. Ashe's force spread out and rushed along Slane road to stop the RIC convoy from reaching Rath Cross. The RIC reinforcements took fire from all sides. The firefight lasted several hours before volunteer reinforcements arrived from Boranstown. The RIC eventually surrendered to the volunteers. However, given that the uprising in Dublin had been put down, the Fingal volunteers eventually gave themselves up two days later. Thomas Ashe and his men were sentenced to death for their part in the attack, but this was later commuted to penal servitude for life.The Irish Volunteers (Óglaigh na hÉireann) aka the Irish Volunteer Force or Army, was a paramilitary organisation established in 1913 by nationalists and republicans in Ireland. It was ostensibly formed in response to the formation of its Irish unionist/loyalist counterpart the Ulster Volunteers in 1912, and its declared primary aim was "to secure and maintain the rights and liberties common to the whole people of Ireland".Its ranks included members of the Conradh na Gaeilge, Ancient Order of Hibernians, Sinn Fein,and the Irish Republican Brotherhood.

"Guerrilla War in the Easter Rising" uses the recorded statements of those involved to shine a light on a less publicised story on the fringes of 1916 Easter Rising in Ireland. Having the story recounted in the words of the participants (witness statements) lends the story an immediacy and personalisation that vividly brings history to light. It serves to highlight the chaos, the mistakes and the basic human frailties that underlie even the greatest events in a country's, even our world's, history. This is a small book packed with an interesting story and much humanity. Thank you to Pen & Sword and NetGalley for a no obligation advance review copy.