From Email Patrick O'Sullivan
There is a review of

The New Americans: How the Melting Pot Can Work Again, by Michael Barone
(Regnery, 338 pp., $27.95)
Mixology.(Review) / (book review)
at
http://www.findarticles.com/m1282/11_53/74942031/p1/article.jhtml

Author/s: Tamar Jacoby
Issue: June 11, 2001

P.O'S.

From Email Patrick O'Sullivan
There is a review of

THE IRISH FAMINE: A DOCUMENTARY

Colm Toibin and Diarmaid Ferriter

Profile Books, 214pp,

at

Blame game.(Review) / (book review)
http://www.findarticles.com/m0FQP/4538_130/75288620/p1/article.jhtml

Blame game.(Review) / (book review)
Author/s: Maurice Walsh
Issue: May 21, 2001

P.O'S.

From Email Patrick O'Sullivan >>
The booming Irish economy means that the tradition of people leaving to seek
a better life overseas has gone into reverse. But while young professionals
are flocking back to a trendy lifestyle in Dublin, another group of economic
migrants is stranded this side of the Irish Sea.

The thousands of labourers - nobody knows exactly how many - who came to
Britain after the second world war to work on the building sites of McAlpine
and Wimpey are a largely unexplored element of the Irish diaspora. They were
a source of cheap and plentiful labour from the 1950s to the 1970s, working
to support families back in Ireland and willing to put up with poor
conditions.

Daily pay, cash-in-hand, made it hard to rent rooms that required a deposit,
so many slept rough. Some employers provided dormitories, but at 40 to a
room the pavement often seemed more attractive.

And when "Paddy" grew too old for the physical demands of carrying bricks
and digging trenches, lack of national insurance or tax records made
applying for benefits problem atic. Rather than go home, he took to the
streets.
EXTRACT ENDS>>>

EXTRACT BEGINS>>>
Next week, Radio 4 is broadcasting five daily programmes about Arlington
House, its tenants and the Aisling Project. The narrator is Irish comedian
Ardal O'Hanlon, a long-term fundraiser for the project.

"Like every Irish family, I know people and had relatives who came over here
to work," he says. "And unlike an awful lot of other worthy causes, Aisling
doesn't need much money to achieve things. People are taken on a relatively
cheap holiday to Ireland. They get one-to-one attention, counselling for
problems with alcohol in some cases, and are given hope and opportunity to
establish communication with their families."

It is clear, O'Hanlon says, that the holidays makes a big difference to the
Arlington men's lives. "These are the poorest of the poor and are on the
scrapheap, but they are men who were of huge benefit to the economy of
Britain and its infrastructure. They made a major contribution to the Irish
economy, too, because they were sending money to support their families at
home. Their achievements and their lives have been overlooked."

McAlpine's Fusiliers is on Radio 4 daily at 3.45pm from Monday, October 1,
to Friday, October 5.
EXTRACT ENDS>>>



- --
Patrick O'Sullivan
Head of the Irish Diaspora Research Unit

Email Patrick O'Sullivan
Email Patrick O'Sullivan

Irish-Diaspora list
Irish Diaspora Studies http://www.brad.ac.uk/acad/diaspora/
Irish Diaspora Net Archive http://www.irishdiaspora.net

Personal Fax National 0709 236 9050
Fax International +44 709 236 9050

Irish Diaspora Research Unit
Department of Interdisciplinary Human Studies
University of Bradford
Bradford BD7 1DP
Yorkshire
England

From: "noel gilzean"
Subject: radio four on the web

Noel Gilzean
rosslare51[at]hotmail.com
n.a.gilzean[at]hud.ac.uk
University of Huddersfield UK
http://www.hud.ac.uk/hip

The technicalities of listening to radio four on the web involve going to
this website http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/ and clicking on the radio four
button. It will probably then tell you you need a plug in called RealPlayer.
A link will take you to the realplayer website and on that page will be link
to a free version of their program.
Clicking on this link will take you to a page that advertises the
availability of their programme called RealPlayer Plus, this costs about 20
usdollars.
However hidden in small text is a link to the free version of the programme
called RealPlayer Basic. Clicking on this will allow you to download a free
version of the player.
Enjoy it is quicker and easier than it might appear.
Noel


From: irish-diaspora[at]Bradford.ac.uk
Reply-To: irish-diaspora[at]Bradford.ac.uk
To: irish-diaspora[at]Bradford.ac.uk
Subject: Ir-D 'McAlpine's Fusiliers'
Date: Thu 27 Sep 2001 06:00:00 +0000

>From Email Patrick O'Sullivan >>
The booming Irish economy means that the tradition of people leaving to seek
a better life overseas has gone into reverse. But while young professionals
are flocking back to a trendy lifestyle in Dublin, another group of economic
migrants is stranded this side of the Irish Sea.

The thousands of labourers - nobody knows exactly how many - who came to
Britain after the second world war to work on the building sites of McAlpine
and Wimpey are a largely unexplored element of the Irish diaspora. They were
a source of cheap and plentiful labour from the 1950s to the 1970s, working
to support families back in Ireland and willing to put up with poor
conditions.

Daily pay, cash-in-hand, made it hard to rent rooms that required a deposit,
so many slept rough. Some employers provided dormitories, but at 40 to a
room the pavement often seemed more attractive.

And when "Paddy" grew too old for the physical demands of carrying bricks
and digging trenches, lack of national insurance or tax records made
applying for benefits problem atic. Rather than go home, he took to the
streets.
EXTRACT ENDS>>>

EXTRACT BEGINS>>>
Next week, Radio 4 is broadcasting five daily programmes about Arlington
House, its tenants and the Aisling Project. The narrator is Irish comedian
Ardal O'Hanlon, a long-term fundraiser for the project.

"Like every Irish family, I know people and had relatives who came over here
to work," he says. "And unlike an awful lot of other worthy causes, Aisling
doesn't need much money to achieve things. People are taken on a relatively
cheap holiday to Ireland. They get one-to-one attention, counselling for
problems with alcohol in some cases, and are given hope and opportunity to
establish communication with their families."

It is clear, O'Hanlon says, that the holidays makes a big difference to the
Arlington men's lives. "These are the poorest of the poor and are on the
scrapheap, but they are men who were of huge benefit to the economy of
Britain and its infrastructure. They made a major contribution to the Irish
economy, too, because they were sending money to support their families at
home. Their achievements and their lives have been overlooked."

McAlpine's Fusiliers is on Radio 4 daily at 3.45pm from Monday, October 1,
to Friday, October 5.
EXTRACT ENDS>>>

>From Email Patrick O'Sullivan

DIRDA - the Database of the Ir-D Archive...

It is the last Thursday of the month, and (as is our tradition) the DIRDA
password has changed.

Plus we have quite a few new members who will wish to be aware of this
resource...

Go to
Irish Diaspora Net Archive http://www.irishdiaspora.net

Click on Special Access, at the top of the screen.

Username irdmember
Password harpy

That gets you into our RESTRICTED area.

Click on RESTRICTED, and you have access to EFORUM: DIRDA.

Click on that and you are in the first page of the database/archive.

You will see that we have nearly 3 full years of Ir-D messages, November
1998 onwards, in a searchable database. Most recent first.

Log out by clicking on irishdiaspora.net at the top of the screen.

The database is currently restricted to Irish-Diaspora list members, and
maybe the occasional bona fide scholar or researcher.

Note that there are still a few untidynesses to sort out. Ir-D members may
occasionally find that the DIRDA database is offline and not available, as
the software is re-designed and fine-tuned.

Also, we have noticed that it can sometimes run quite slowly, if a number of
people are logged on at the same time. We are looking at that problem.

As ever we are grateful to Stephen Sobol, of SobolStones,
http://www.sobolstones.com
for his support and the development of this facility.

Patrick O'Sullivan

- --
Patrick O'Sullivan
Head of the Irish Diaspora Research Unit

Email Patrick O'Sullivan
Email Patrick O'Sullivan

Irish-Diaspora list
Irish Diaspora Studies http://www.brad.ac.uk/acad/diaspora/
Irish Diaspora Net Archive http://www.irishdiaspora.net

Personal Fax National 0709 236 9050
Fax International +44 709 236 9050

Irish Diaspora Research Unit
Department of Interdisciplinary Human Studies
University of Bradford
Bradford BD7 1DP
Yorkshire
England

>From Email Patrick O'Sullivan

Further to my message, below...

There was a little glitch with the password system...

Now dealt with...

Username irdmember
Password harpy

Now works...

Apologies.

P.O'S.


ORIGINAL MESSAGE...

DIRDA - the Database of the Ir-D Archive...

It is the last Thursday of the month, and (as is our tradition) the DIRDA
password has changed.

Plus we have quite a few new members who will wish to be aware of this
resource...

Go to
Irish Diaspora Net Archive http://www.irishdiaspora.net

Click on Special Access, at the top of the screen.

Username irdmember
Password harpy

That gets you into our RESTRICTED area.

Click on RESTRICTED, and you have access to EFORUM: DIRDA.

Click on that and you are in the first page of the database/archive.

You will see that we have nearly 3 full years of Ir-D messages, November
1998 onwards, in a searchable database. Most recent first.

Log out by clicking on irishdiaspora.net at the top of the screen.

The database is currently restricted to Irish-Diaspora list members, and
maybe the occasional bona fide scholar or researcher.

Note that there are still a few untidynesses to sort out. Ir-D members may
occasionally find that the DIRDA database is offline and not available, as
the software is re-designed and fine-tuned.

Also, we have noticed that it can sometimes run quite slowly, if a number of
people are logged on at the same time. We are looking at that problem.

As ever we are grateful to Stephen Sobol, of SobolStones,
http://www.sobolstones.com
for his support and the development of this facility.

Patrick O'Sullivan

- --
Patrick O'Sullivan
Head of the Irish Diaspora Research Unit

Email Patrick O'Sullivan
Email Patrick O'Sullivan

Irish-Diaspora list
Irish Diaspora Studies http://www.brad.ac.uk/acad/diaspora/
Irish Diaspora Net Archive http://www.irishdiaspora.net

Personal Fax National 0709 236 9050
Fax International +44 709 236 9050

Irish Diaspora Research Unit
Department of Interdisciplinary Human Studies
University of Bradford
Bradford BD7 1DP
Yorkshire
England

>From Email Patrick O'Sullivan

Details of Ultan Cowley's forthcoming book can be found at

http://migration.ucc.ie/

Ultan Cowley's pages

http://migration.ucc.ie/ultan/index.htm

THE MEN WHO BUILT BRITAIN
A HISTORY OF THE IRISH NAVVY
ULTAN COWLEY

Published by: Wolfhound Press, September 2001
ISBN: 0 86327 829 9, 250x210mm, 200pp, illustrated
throughout b/w, HB £19.70

Also on ther Web site are details of Ultan Cowley's One Man Show, which
promotes and celebrates the book...

The book launch details that I have are...

Dublin (Gravity Bar, Guinness Storehouse)
Tuesday, October 16th. Launch by Michael D. Higgins

London, Thursday October 18th.
But I do not yet have the full details...

As soon as the details reach me I will distribute them.

P.O'S.

- --
Patrick O'Sullivan
Head of the Irish Diaspora Research Unit

Email Patrick O'Sullivan
Email Patrick O'Sullivan

Irish-Diaspora list
Irish Diaspora Studies http://www.brad.ac.uk/acad/diaspora/
Irish Diaspora Net Archive http://www.irishdiaspora.net

Personal Fax National 0709 236 9050
Fax International +44 709 236 9050

Irish Diaspora Research Unit
Department of Interdisciplinary Human Studies
University of Bradford
Bradford BD7 1DP
Yorkshire
England

From: "William H. Mulligan, Jr"
Subject: Book on Irish Women's History

I am teaching a survey of Irish history next semester and would like to
include a book on women in Ireland that covers a long time period.=
Either an anthology or a monograph will be fine.

Suggestions, please...

Bill Mulligan

William H. Mulligan, Jr.
Associate Professor of History
Murray State University

From: Ultan Cowley

Dear IR-D List members
Apropos of the forthcoming BBC Radio 4 Aisling Project series.

I will be linking up with the relevant BBC studio on Monday at 9.30 am via
BBC Radio Foyle in Derry to discuss the connections between my book, THE
MEN WHO BUILT BRITAIN, and this issue.

The book is launching in Dublin on Oct. 16 & London on Oct. 18. Presumably
it is on its way to 'every good bookshop' etc., as we speak. The Irish
navvy may, at last, come into his own...

Ultan Cowley






At 06:00 27/09/01 +0000, you wrote:
>
>From Email Patrick O'Sullivan
>Below are some extracts from an item in The Guardian newspaper...
>
>The full text is at...
>
>http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4264221,00.html
>
>There is an outline of the Aisling Project, which reconnects with Ireland
>isolated Irish people in Britain, plus information on 'McAlpine's
>Fusiliers', a BBC Radio 4 series, narrated by actor/comedian Ardal
O'Hanlon.
>
>I think it is now possible to get BBC Radio 4 via the Web - does anyone
know
>more about the technicalities?
>
>P.O'S.
>
>
>Erin's exiles
>Julie Nightingale on a scheme to help Irish labourers who came to work in
>post-war England, but could never return home
>
>Julie Nightingale
>Guardian
>
>Wednesday September 26, 2001
>
>EXTRACT BEGINS>>>
>The booming Irish economy means that the tradition of people leaving to
seek
>a better life overseas has gone into reverse. But while young professionals
>are flocking back to a trendy lifestyle in Dublin, another group of
economic
>migrants is stranded this side of the Irish Sea.
>
>The thousands of labourers - nobody knows exactly how many - who came to
>Britain after the second world war to work on the building sites of
McAlpine
>and Wimpey are a largely unexplored element of the Irish diaspora. They
were
>a source of cheap and plentiful labour from the 1950s to the 1970s, working
>to support families back in Ireland and willing to put up with poor
>conditions.
>
>Daily pay, cash-in-hand, made it hard to rent rooms that required a
deposit,
>so many slept rough. Some employers provided dormitories, but at 40 to a
>room the pavement often seemed more attractive.
>
>And when "Paddy" grew too old for the physical demands of carrying bricks
>and digging trenches, lack of national insurance or tax records made
>applying for benefits problem atic. Rather than go home, he took to the
>streets.
>EXTRACT ENDS>>>
>
>EXTRACT BEGINS>>>
>Next week, Radio 4 is broadcasting five daily programmes about Arlington
>House, its tenants and the Aisling Project. The narrator is Irish comedian
>Ardal O'Hanlon, a long-term fundraiser for the project.
>
>"Like every Irish family, I know people and had relatives who came over
here
>to work," he says. "And unlike an awful lot of other worthy causes, Aisling
>doesn't need much money to achieve things. People are taken on a relatively
>cheap holiday to Ireland. They get one-to-one attention, counselling for
>problems with alcohol in some cases, and are given hope and opportunity to
>establish communication with their families."
>
>It is clear, O'Hanlon says, that the holidays makes a big difference to the
>Arlington men's lives. "These are the poorest of the poor and are on the
>scrapheap, but they are men who were of huge benefit to the economy of
>Britain and its infrastructure. They made a major contribution to the Irish
>economy, too, because they were sending money to support their families at
>home. Their achievements and their lives have been overlooked."
>
>McAlpine's Fusiliers is on Radio 4 daily at 3.45pm from Monday, October 1,
>to Friday, October 5.
>EXTRACT ENDS>>>
>
>

>From Email Patrick O'Sullivan

David Rose of the Department of English/Centre for Irish Studies at
Goldsmiths College, University of London, has developed a Web version of the
free email
academic journal
THE OSCHOLARS

For further information and to see the current issue go to
http://homepages.gold.ac.uk/oscholars/

Welcome to
THE OSCHOLARS
An Electronic Journal for the Exchange of Information on Current Research,
Publications and Productions concerning Oscar Wilde and his Circle.

Latest Issue

Volume I No. 5, October 2001

P.O'S.

- --
Patrick O'Sullivan
Head of the Irish Diaspora Research Unit

Email Patrick O'Sullivan
Email Patrick O'Sullivan

Irish-Diaspora list
Irish Diaspora Studies http://www.brad.ac.uk/acad/diaspora/
Irish Diaspora Net Archive http://www.irishdiaspora.net

Personal Fax National 0709 236 9050
Fax International +44 709 236 9050

Irish Diaspora Research Unit
Department of Interdisciplinary Human Studies
University of Bradford
Bradford BD7 1DP
Yorkshire
England

Subject: Re: Ir-D CFP IASIL 2002 BRAZIL
From: Eileen A Sullivan

Laura

Hopefully, I will be able to get to Brazil for the conference, but it is
too early to confirm.

Do you suppose you could get a panel on 19th Century Ireland: literature,
history, sociology, anthropology and whatever?

As you can imagine we are recovering from an unbelievable disaster. My
country now has enemies beyond its comprehension. We are learning
quickly of another reality which is not science fiction. God help us
all.

The eastern regional ACIS conference this weekend in Boston had such a
great program and I was scheduled to chair a panel, but had to cancel.
My granddaughter and her son were scheduled to go with me (Boston is such
a great city to visit) My daughter was adamant; she did not want her
family exposed to the aftermath of the tragedy. She is an only child;
her daughter is an only child; and I appreciate her anxiety. I don't
think the conference at Boston University was cancelled, but it could
not have been as planned.

Dr. Eileen A. Sullivan, Director
The Irish Educational Association, Inc.
Tel # (352) 332 3690
6412 NW 128th Street
Gainesville, FL 32653
E-Mail:
eolas1[at]juno.com

From Email Patrick O'Sullivan

Here are web addresses for online guides to archives in England...

http://www.a2a.pro.gov.uk/
the A2A database
The English strand in the UK archives network

http://www.hmc.gov.uk/nra/nra2.htm
Historical Manuscripts Commission
UK National Register of Archives

http://www.hmc.gov.uk/focus/focus.htm
Archives in Focus is your introduction to archives in the UK. It is
maintained by the Historical Manuscripts Commission (HMC).

I have to say that I would be (agreeably) surprised if Lesley Wood came
across much material of the type she is seeking. Reading Donald MacRaild on
the Irish in Cumbria or Paul O'Leary on the Irish in Wales I am struck by
how little of that fine detail the archives reveal.

There are untapped records - some of Frank Neal's students at Salford are
getting good stuff out of the archives of the GAA. And Frank himself, Don
MacRaild, and Shelagh Ward here in Bradford, have found useful things in the
archives of the Catholic parishes.

P.O'S.


- --
Patrick O'Sullivan
Head of the Irish Diaspora Research Unit

Email Patrick O'Sullivan
Email Patrick O'Sullivan

Irish-Diaspora list
Irish Diaspora Studies http://www.brad.ac.uk/acad/diaspora/
Irish Diaspora Net Archive http://www.irishdiaspora.net

Personal Fax National 0709 236 9050
Fax International +44 709 236 9050

Irish Diaspora Research Unit
Department of Interdisciplinary Human Studies
University of Bradford
Bradford BD7 1DP
Yorkshire
England

From: Craig Bailey
Subject: Re: Ir-D Advice about archival collections

Dear Lesley,
I suppose the answer to this query really depends upon which people and
which political events. However, if I were doing a general search for
individual collections held in U.K. archives, I would probably start with
the National Registry of Archives at the Historical Manuscripts
Commission. One may visit the HMC in London, but it is far easier to
use the website (www.hmc.gov.uk). I find the 'personal name' entry the
best way to search the database. A large number of collections are listed
here and the bigger names will often turn up holdings at several
archives.

One person who comes to mind for the period you are looking at
is that of the MP Richard Wellesley (d.1831, son of the 1st Marquis
Wellesley Lord Lieut. of Ireland) who was active in the
political and social circles between Ireland and London. As the National
Registry database will tell you, a large collection of his private and
official papers are held at the University of Southampton.

Hope this proves useful.
Best,

Craig Bailey
Centre for Metropolitan History,
Institute of Historical Research
and King's College, London.
email- cbailey[at]sas.ac.uk



On Tue, 30 Sep 2001 irish-diaspora[at]Bradford.ac.uk wrote:

>
>
> Hi folks,
> I'm pretty new to the list but I wonder if folks who know the archival
> scene could direct me.
>
> I'm doing research on the political practices of the Irish in England
> (London, Manchester and Liverpool), roughly between 1820 - 1834.
>
> I have details on approximately 50 political events which took place in
> London, Manchester and Liverpool during that period, taken from
> periodicals of the day -- I have the location, participation and issues.
> In order to better understand the interplay between migration and
> political practices I want to examine representations of Irish migrant
> collective identity which surrounded political action during this period.
>
> So I'm interested in finding archives which have collections of letters of
> Irish migrants to England. I'm coming over to Ireland and the UK in the
> next few months, and I know that the Public Record Office in London will
> be useful, but I'm interesting in any suggestions of other collections
> which might be rich sources for letters, both between ordinary people and
> more prominent political figures.
>
> What I'd love to find are archival collections that might include letters
> that would reference political organizations, struggles, faction fights,
> social organizations etc. I know I'm appearing rather general - but any
> suggestions about particular collections to go and investigate would be
> fantastic.
> Thanks so much,
>
> Lesley Wood
> Department of Sociology
> Columbia University
> New York, NY
> USA
>

From: Ultan Cowley
Subject: The Men Who Built Britain

Dear friends,

My thanks to Paddy for passing on details of the forthcoming
launch/es.

Updated info. on these is as follows:

1. Dublin launch: Ocean Bar, Charlotte Quay Dock, Ringsend, Dublin, October
16th. 6.30 - 9.30pm.
2. London launch: Irish Club, Eaton Square, London SW1, October 18th, 6.30
- - 9.30pm.
3. Manchester launch: Irish World Heritage Centre, Queen's Road, November
1st
(details to be confirmed).

I hope to do readings, and/or illustrated lectures, and/or my One Man Show,
'On the Shovel', which is based on the book & my 1995 Revue, 'A Tribute to
the Navvies', around Britain in the coming months. See my website for
details.

Web Info. as per Paddy's previous postings...
Ultan Cowley's pages
http://migration.ucc.ie/ultan/index.htm

I welcome inquiries from all interested parties.

Regards

Ultan

From: "lryan"
Subject: Re: Ir-D Book on Irish Women's History

Hi Bill,
there is a new Irish women's history reader which has recently been
published by Routledge.
It called The Irish Women's History Reader and is edited by A. Hayes and D.
Urquhart.
I have just reviewed it for a journal. It has 31 chapters on very varied
topics: politics, religion, historiography,
health and sexuality, emigration and employment. It cover the 1800s up to
the mid-1900s. All the chapters have been previously published over the
last 20 years or so. This is a good source and may be a useful teaching aid.
If you need the ISBN let me know.

Louise Ryan,
University of North London


- ----- Original Message -----
From:
To:
Sent: Sunday, September 30, 2001 7:00 AM
Subject: Ir-D Book on Irish Women's History


>
> From: "William H. Mulligan, Jr"
> Subject: Book on Irish Women's History
>
> I am teaching a survey of Irish history next semester and would like to
> include a book on women in Ireland that covers a long time period.=
> Either an anthology or a monograph will be fine.
>
> Suggestions, please...
>
> Bill Mulligan
>
> William H. Mulligan, Jr.
> Associate Professor of History
> Murray State University
>
>

From: "Richard Jensen"
To:
Subject: Fw: H-ETHNIC: Saints days and ethnic celebrations

Forwarded from H-Ethnic...

From: GILeitch[at]aol.com
Date: Sat, 29 Sep 2001 17:18:27 EDT
Subject: Saints days and ethnic celebrations


I am presently researching the use of Saints days as ethnic
celebrations
among Montreal's British population in the early nineteenth
century
(commemorated with parades, dinners and church services) , and I
am curious
to know whether the use of Saints days such as George, Andrew and
David by
Protestants was unusual or not. It struck me that the co-opting
of a very
Catholic form of using Saints, and holding religious services in
honour of
these saints, as they did in Montreal, was not particularly in
keeping with
the tenants of their faiths.
I would appreciate any assistance the list could provide in the
historiography of the patron saints as ethnic symbols, especially
in the
North American context, but certainly generally, and their
particular
relation with the Protestant commemoration of their days

Gillian I Leitch
Universite de Montreal.

From: Patrick Maume
Subject: John Valentine

From: Patrick Maume
Does anyone on this list have information on the prominent Bristol
Irish activist John Valentine, who was active in Home Rule
organisations in Britain from the 1880s on, published a book of
memoirs (which I have) in 1928, and was still alive in 1945. (I have
a newspaper interview with him from that year). I am doing a short
entry on him for the Royal Irish Academy's DICTIONARY OF IRISH
BIOGRAPHY, and would be interested to hear from anyone who can add to
my knowledge of him. I am particularly interested in finding his date
of death, newspaper obituaries, &c.
Thanks in advance,
Yours sincerely,
Patrick

From Email Patrick O'Sullivan

One of my playwright colleagues, who is also a literary translator, has
become interested in Wilfrid Ewart - partly through admiration for the work
of Javier Marías. Marías is greatly admired in Europe, but little known in
Britain...

DARK BACK OF TIME
By Javier Marías
New Directions, £19.75, pp.336, ISBN:0811214664
There is a section from Negra espalda del tiempo at this web site..
http://www.wwnorton.com/nd/SPRING01/MariasDARKBACKex.htm

Wilfrid Ewart is the mysteriously dead writer in Marias' novel. See also...
The Flower of Battle: How Britain Wrote the Great War. Hugh Cecil. South
Royalton, Vermont: Steerforth Press,1996. Pp. 440. Photographs, notes,
index. $32.00.
http://www.usafa.af.mil/dfeng/wla/wlafall/reviews.htm
'Wilfrid Ewart was killed on a balcony in Mexico City by a stray bullet
fired in New Year?s revels below...'

A text by Wilfrid Ewart
http://greatwar.topcities.com/A_First_Visit_to_the_Trenches/A_First_Visit_to
_the_Trenches_01.htm

I do not think we need to labour the ironies...

Ewart is usually listed as a minor writer of the Great War - he wrote an
account of the Scots Guards on the western front.

The Irish connection is that he also wrote...

A Journey in Ireland, 1921, etc.
EWART. Wilfrid Herbert Gore
pp. xi. 170. G. P. Putnam's Sons: London & New York, 1922. 8o.

I have, as yet not seen a copy, but my colleague tells me...

'The guy walked from Cork to Belfast in 1921, talking to people
on the way, arrested by the British and nearly executed by the IRA. It
seems to me an interesting and historically valuable account.'

Does anyone know more about Wilfrid Ewart's journey and this book? Has it
ever been cited?

Paddy


- --
Patrick O'Sullivan
Head of the Irish Diaspora Research Unit

Email Patrick O'Sullivan
Email Patrick O'Sullivan

Irish-Diaspora list
Irish Diaspora Studies http://www.brad.ac.uk/acad/diaspora/
Irish Diaspora Net Archive http://www.irishdiaspora.net

Personal Fax National 0709 236 9050
Fax International +44 709 236 9050

Irish Diaspora Research Unit
Department of Interdisciplinary Human Studies
University of Bradford
Bradford BD7 1DP
Yorkshire
England

From Email Patrick O'Sullivan

Our attention has been drawn to the following web site...

http://www.irishtribute.com/

EXTRACT BEGINS>>>
Irish Tribute
September 11, 2001 may well go down as the bloodiest day in the history of
the Irish people. An estimated 1000 people who were of Irish descent, or of
Irish birth were lost in the violent events on that day.
Many of those lost were serving as Fire Fighters, Police Officers, and
Emergency workers who lost their lives as they endeavoured to save others.
Many others were working in financial services and represented the pinnacle
of the Irish success story in America, as they became leaders in their
field. Many more were hard-working labourers, construction workers, mothers,
fathers, neighbours and friends. All of these lives, although cut short,
were doubtless rich with accomplishments, achievements, families and
friends.

As a tribute to these people, IrishAbroad has set up IrishTribute.com, a
memorial to those who died that day.
EXTRACT ENDS>>>

I suppose we can think of other bloody days, like the Somme in July 1916,
and again in March 1918... But the point is well taken...

P.O'S.

- --
Patrick O'Sullivan
Head of the Irish Diaspora Research Unit

Email Patrick O'Sullivan
Email Patrick O'Sullivan

Irish-Diaspora list
Irish Diaspora Studies http://www.brad.ac.uk/acad/diaspora/
Irish Diaspora Net Archive http://www.irishdiaspora.net

Personal Fax National 0709 236 9050
Fax International +44 709 236 9050

Irish Diaspora Research Unit
Department of Interdisciplinary Human Studies
University of Bradford
Bradford BD7 1DP
Yorkshire
England

From: Cymru66[at]aol.com
Subject: Re: Ir-D Saints days and ethnic celebrations

Dear Paddy,
I would first caution, in this regard, against the use of the term
'Protestant'. There are many among the major non-Roman Catholic religious
organisations, particularly the Evangelical Lutheran Church of North America
and the Episcopalian Church here in the United States and their Anglican
brethren in Britain who would reject the title 'Protestant'. The tenets of
the faith which are referred to relate to those groups which have
deliberately rejected the ' Catholic' tradition with all its accompanying
devotions, who rely solely upon the direct communication between the
individual and God, who are therefore, by definition, 'Saints' themselves,
having been 'saved' and who, consequently, don't need to honour Saints days.
These groups take pride in the title 'Protestant'.
I would suggest that your correspondent bear this distinction in mind and
track down the origin and affiliation of the groups who celebrated feast
days
in terms of their theological and traditional roots. This should give a
clearer insight into a very complex situation.
Best,
John Hickey,
Professor Emeritus,
Dominican University.
Illinois,
USA