'Britain in Ireland is a beast exceeding terrible; his feet and claws are of iron,' The Invincibles In an Ireland still reeling from years of famine, with tenant farmers being evicted and left to starve for their inability to pay exorbitant rents, revolutionary fervour was growing. An inner circle of the IRB was formed, a secret assassination squad within a secret society - the Irish National Invincibles. Their mission was to strike at the heart of British Imperial power, to kill the figureheads of Ireland's oppressors. On their way home from a triumphal parade through the city, Lord Frederick Cavendish and Thomas Burke, two of the heads of the establishment, were set upon and stabbed to death in the Phoenix Park. These killings would shake the Empire to its core, and shape the following decades of Irish history.

The story of the Hales family from Bandon epitomises the whole revolutionary period in Ireland. They were involved from the establishment of the Irish Volunteers in West Cork and were closely associated with well-known revolutionary figures, including Michael Collins, Tom Barry and Liam Deasy. Both Sean and Tom were company commanders in the IRA in the area. The signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty in December 1921 split the family and led to the two brothers taking opposing sides in the Civil War that would follow. Tom Hales was the most senior Republican officer on the scene of the chaotic ambush at Beal na mBlath that led to the shooting of Michael Collins. Sean Hales was himself assassinated in Dublin by Republicans, following a vote in Dail Eireann to allow the Provisional Government to increase its powers to penalise Republican prisoners.The story of these brothers and the rest of the family gives a unique insight into life in Ireland in this tumultuous period.