Kerry historian Owen O’Shea has released a new book detailing Civil War politics in the county and charting the turbulent and sometimes violent elections of the 1920s and early 1930s.

From Bullets to Ballots: Politics and Electioneering in Post-Civil War Kerry, 1923-33 has been published this week by UCD Press and will be launched at events in Tralee during the coming weeks.

Owen’s book is based on four years of research for a PhD at the School of History at University College Dublin.

Owen describes the Civil war in Kerry as the most divisive and longer lasting than any other county in Ireland.

He said: “Politics and election campaigns in the county were hugely influenced by the bitterness and hatred which the war created.

Elections brought underlying tensions to the surface and were often occasions of violence fuelled by fiery rhetoric from election platforms.”

In the book, the results of elections for the Civil War parties, as well as other parties who were not defined by the Treaty split, are considered in detail.

Key influences on electoral behaviour are examined, including party organisation, the role of party members, the dynamics of election campaigns, how the memory of the Civil War was used to persuade voters, and the crucial role of newspapers and their coverage of elections.

The book was launched by Professor Ferriter in Dublin bookshop Books Upstairs, on Tuesday.

There will be a Kerry launch on November 28 at O’Mahony’s Bookshop in Tralee with Minister Norma Foley as guest speaker.

Sheila Casey pictured with the winners of the Soroptimists Public Speaking competition.

Two winners advance to the Regional Final in Cork: Lily Ann Reen (Killarney Community College), who spoke on ‘Life in the Fast Lane is it worth it?’, and Emma O’Sullivan (Pobalscoil Inbhear Sceine Kenmare), who presented on ‘If not us, then who, if not now, then when’. The Reserve winner is Anna Roche (St Brigid’s Secondary School Killarney), whose topic was ‘Fashions Dirty Secret’. The event marks 45 years of the Soroptimists promoting public speaking in Killarney.