In December 1920 the Irish War of Independence hung in the balance.

The response of the government at Westminster was a declaration of Martial Law in the south and west of the country, placing the courts and civil authorities under the control of the army and converting a number of non-capital charges into offenses punishable by death.

The army then set up its own courts to bring to trial and punish those who contravened martial law. This book provides a dispassionate account of the historical context. The trials before the upper tier of the Military Court are recounted and the legal challenges analysed.