Rebel Heart

This is the intriguing story of one of the most unusual figures of the struggle for independence. George Lennon, at 20, was the youngest commander of a flying column during the war of independence and fought for the anti-treaty side during the Civil War. When it became clear that the anti-treatyites had lost the war and that a guerilla campaign would cause the ordinary people to suffer he voluntarily laid down arms and surrendered to Free State forces in the burning ruins of Waterford in 1922, starting on a path that would take him far away from the country he fought for and very far from the path of violence. He emigrated to the US in 1926, returning in 1938 when he made earnest efforts to develop the national economy. Before he died, George had converted to Buddhism, written a play about his experiences and become as much a rebel of peace as he had been a fighting rebel.