Terence MacSwiney, the renowned Republican lord mayor of
Cork, died on 25 October 1920, on the seventy-fifth day of a hunger strike he
started in Brixton Prison in an attempt to gain recognition as a political
prisoner of war. His sacrifice brought worldwide media attention to Ireland's
struggle for independence. Principles of
Freedom, his collection of political writings, provides a glimpse into the
thinking of a man prepared to give his all for Irish freedom.