The turbulent revolutionary period in modern Irish history from 1912 to 1923 had a profound impact on the political, economic and social make-up of Laois. The issue of land that had dominated the landscape of Laois from the late nineteenth century onwards, continued to do so during the Irish revolutionary years, often intertwined with the major political developments of the era.

Cormac Moore's book explores how seismic national events from the Third Home Rule Crisis, through to the First World War, the 1916 Easter Rising, the War of Independence and the Civil War affected Laois.Moore's book provides a comprehensive extensively researched account of how the Irish Revolution impacted on all sections of Laois society at the time, with its effects reverberating for years after.