Book Talk: Clear - Hold - Build: How The Free State Won the Irish Civil War by Gareth Prendergast
Please join the Keough-Naughton Institute for a talk by Dr. Gareth Prendergast, Colonel and Head of Strategic Force Design in the Irish Defence Forces, on his new book Clear - Hold - Build: How the Free State Won the Irish Civil War (Eastwood Publications, 2025). Copies of the book will be available for purchase after the reading.
About Clear - Hold - Build
Researching a civil war is always fraught with danger. While writing a historical textbook 50 years after the end of hostilities, F.S.L. Lyons referred to the Irish Civil War as “burned so deep into the heart and mind of Ireland that it is not yet possible for the historian to approach it with the detailed knowledge or the objectivity which it deserves." Pushing to one side the ideological differences still prevalent in Ireland, Clear - Hold - Build: How the Free State Won the Irish Civil War by Dr. Gareth Prendergast, now explains the construct behind the Free State Strategy during the Irish Civil War.
As a serving officer in the Irish Defence Forces and a former graduate of the US Army Command and General Staff College, Prendergast utilises his academic and military experience to offer a unique perspective of this contentious period in Irish history. In this newly published book, Prendergast analyses the Clearance and Hold operations conducted by the Leadership of the National Army in order to face down a violent insurgency primarily based in the ‘Munster Republic.’ He credits the Build or Rebuild operations conducted by the Free State as the main contributory reason why the National Army ultimately won the civil war.
Even the words ‘won the civil war’ are contentious to this day. Using the lens of modern counterinsurgency doctrine to connect tactical actions to strategic success, Prendergast presents readers with a nuanced examination of the conflict and invites them to draw their own conclusions.
You can listen to Gareth Prendergast discuss Clear - Hold - Build on the Irish History Show Podcast here.
About Gareth Prendergast
Dr. Gareth Prendergast is a serving Colonel in the Irish Defence Forces with over 30 years’ service. He has seven operational tours of duty overseas including the Middle East, Balkans and Mali. At home he has served in Infantry Battalions on the Irish Border during the ‘Troubles’, in Kilkenny and Dublin. He has also served in the Military College and Defence Force Headquarter on numerous occasions, including appointments in the Command and Staff School, OIC Military Finance Branch, and Director of Logistics. He is currently serving as Head of Strategic Force Design.
Prendergast has a Masters of Military Art and Science from his year spent on the US Army Command and General Staff Course in Fort Leavenworth Kansas and he recently achieved his Doctorate (PhD) after six years study and research in the History Department of UCC.
Colonel Prendergast recently published his first book, Clear – Hold – Build, How the Free State won the Irish Civil War (1922-1923) with Eastwood Publications in 2025. This book encompasses his previous experiences and military education as he spent over six years researching how the newly established Irish National Army utilised a counterinsurgency doctrine that allowed them to convert tactical victories into overall strategic success.
Originally published at irishstudies.nd.edu.