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6501  
6 April 2006 15:26  
  
Date: Thu, 6 Apr 2006 15:26:26 +0100 Reply-To: "Eoin.Flannery" [IR-DLOG0604.txt]
  
==================================================================
  
Sender: The Irish Diaspora Studies List
From: "Eoin.Flannery"
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Call For Submissions - Postcolonial Text - Special Issue: Ireland.
E=F3in Flannery (ed.)

Postcolonial Text is an open access, electronic journal, which is both =
internationally peer-reviewed and accessible to a global readership. The =
editors now seek submissions for a specially-themed volume on Ireland =
and postcolonialism. Over the last three decades Irish Studies has =
witnessed, and been the subject of, significant critical and theoretical =
interrogations. Primary among these theoretical trajectories has been =
the postcolonial turn in Irish Studies. Indeed it is arguable whether =
Irish Studies as an international academic and critical discipline would =
be the force that it undeniably has become without the impetus of =
Ireland's inflection of postcolonial studies.
The significance of Ireland's co-option into debates on colonial history =
and postcoloniality is, as Robert Young argues, that the very 'forms of =
revolutionary and cultural activism developed by the Irish against the =
entrenched self-interest of its rule by the British aristocracy and =
bourgeoisie meant that it remained the standard bearer for all =
anti-colonial movements in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries'. =
Equally, the militant critical output of post-war African anti-colonial =
writers and activists, as well as the later revisionist historians of =
Indian nationalism, has provided Irish postcolonial studies with =
theoretical resources with which to confront anew Ireland's colonial =
history and postcolonial present and futures. In other words, Irish =
postcolonial studies belongs to a protracted continuum of resistant =
engagement and to a historically constituted circulatory system of =
theoretical and ideational exchange. As Irish postcolonial criticism =
demonstrates, the legacies of colonial trauma and the ethical =
negotiations of postcolonial recovery are irreducible to the logic of =
economic statistics, geographical location, or racial or ethnic =
contiguity. Thus readings of such a prolonged colonial occupation have =
the capacity to expand and to contest the mandate of global postcolonial =
studies.
Essays are invited from all disciplinary backgrounds, including =
literature, history, politics, sociology, visual studies, law, =
languages, and philosophy. Among the issues that might be addressed in =
potential contributions are Ireland and modernisation; historical =
revisionism; the Irish body; diaspora; the Irish language; migrancy; =
women's studies; women's history; utopianism; Irish republicanism; =
religious missions; charity and empire; cosmopolitanism and postcolonial =
theory; cultural trauma; postcolonial gothic; architecture and empire; =
globalisation and Ireland; the history of medicine and empire; =
cross-colonial solidarity movements.=20
Deadline for submissions: December 31st 2006. Essays to be sent =
electronically to eoin.flannery[at]ul.ie or =
hardcopies to E=F3in Flannery, Department of Languages and Cultural =
Studies, College of Humanities, University of Limerick, Ireland.
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6502  
7 April 2006 07:29  
  
Date: Fri, 7 Apr 2006 07:29:48 -0500 Reply-To: "William Mulligan Jr." [IR-DLOG0604.txt]
  
Video Available
  
Sender: The Irish Diaspora Studies List
From: "William Mulligan Jr."
Subject: Video Available
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I have a video on the Irish in Australia produced by Orana Films and RTE in
PAL format. I've had it converted to the proper US format - either I forgot
to specify when I ordered or the wrong format was sent. In any event, I
will send the original PAL format video tape to the first person who asks
for it - reply off list and supply mailing address.

Bill

William H. Mulligan, Jr., Ph.D.
Professor of History
Murray State University
Murray KY 42071-3341 USA
 TOP
6503  
11 April 2006 12:06  
  
Date: Tue, 11 Apr 2006 12:06:03 +0100 Reply-To: Patrick O'Sullivan [IR-DLOG0604.txt]
  
Launch of Diaspora, Indigenous, and Minority Education (DIME),
  
Sender: The Irish Diaspora Studies List
From: Patrick O'Sullivan
Subject: Launch of Diaspora, Indigenous, and Minority Education (DIME),
new scholarly journal on Diasporas...
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Email Patrick O'Sullivan

Forwarded on behalf of
Seonaigh MacPherson [mailto:seonaigh[at]shaw.ca]

Please distribute...

P.O'S.


________________________________________


From: Seonaigh MacPherson [mailto:seonaigh[at]shaw.ca]
Subject: New scholarly journal on Diasporas...

Dear Madams and Sirs,

My colleague and co-Editor may have notified you, but if not I will take the
liberty to do so. We are launching a new scholarly journal on Diaspora,
Indigenous, and Minority Education: An International Journal, published by
LEA (with Hebrew University of Jerusalem and University of Manitoba / Mauro
Centre).

We would welcome any submissions from your scholars and would encourage you
to subscribe at the reduced advanced rates. It is scheduled to come out in
2007. Please see attached and/or below for more details.


Seonaigh MacPherson
seonaigh[at]shaw.ca

NEW IN 2007. Diaspora, Indigenous, and Minority Education: An International
Journal (DIME)-a quarterly peer-reviewed journal focused on critical
discourse and research in diaspora, indigenous, and minority education-is
dedicated to researching cultural sustainability in a world increasingly
consolidating under national, transnational, and global organizations. It
aims to draw attention to, and learn from, the many initiatives being
conducted around the globe in support of diaspora, indigenous, and minority
education, which might otherwise go unnoticed.

DIME invites research from a variety of theoretical and methodological
perspectives. The journal welcomes articles that ground theoretical
reflections in specific empirical research and case studies of diverse
locations and peoples.

Full contribution instructions are available online at www.LEAonline.com To
access the information click on the Journals menu, and locate Diaspora,
Indigenous,and Minority Education or contact the editors Zvi Bekerman
mszviman[at]mscc.huji.ac.il or Seonaigh MacPherson macpher2[at]ms.umanitoba.ca
 TOP
6504  
11 April 2006 12:09  
  
Date: Tue, 11 Apr 2006 12:09:43 +0100 Reply-To: Patrick O'Sullivan [IR-DLOG0604.txt]
  
CFP Ireland - Renaissance, Revolution,
  
Sender: The Irish Diaspora Studies List
From: Patrick O'Sullivan
Subject: CFP Ireland - Renaissance, Revolution,
Regeneration - Sunderland 2006
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Email Patrick O'Sullivan

Forwarded on behalf of
Alison O'Malley-Younger [Dr]
Programme Leader: English and Drama
Department of English
University of Sunderland

Please distribute...

P.O'S.

________________________________________
From: Alison Younger [mailto:alison_younger[at]yahoo.co.uk]=20
Subject: Call For Paper
Email Patrick O'Sullivan
=A0
The University of Sunderland=20
In Association with the North East Irish Culture Network
Fourth Annual Irish Studies Conference
=A0
10-12 November 2005
The Word, The Icon and The Ritual [iii] -Ireland - Renaissance, =
Revolution,
Regeneration.
=A0
Following the success of its last three international conferences:
Representing-Ireland: Past, Present and Future, [2003] and The Word, The
Icon and The Ritual, [2004], and Lands of Saints of Scholars, [2005] the
University of Sunderland, in association with NEICN, is soliciting =
papers
for an interdisciplinary conference, which will run from 10-12 November
2006.
=20
=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0 The conference organisers hope to represent =
a wide range of
approaches to Irish culture from academics and non--academics alike.
Performances, roundtables, collaborative projects, and other
non--traditional presentations are encouraged in addition to conference
papers. We particularly welcome proposals for panels; As with previous
year=92s conference, we welcome submissions for panels and papers under =
the
thematic headings of: Ireland - Renaissance, Revolution, Regeneration in =
the
following areas: Literature, Performing Arts, History, Politics, =
Folklore
and Mythology, Ireland in Theory, Gender and Ireland Anthropology,
Sociology, Art and Art History, Music, Dance, Media and Film Studies,
Cultural Studies, and Studies of the Diaspora. North American and other
international scholars, practitioners in the arts, and postgraduate =
students
are all encouraged to submit proposals to the conference organisers.=A0 =
We
also welcome proposals for papers in absentia for delegates who wish to
participate but may find it difficult to attend the event.

=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0 The last three conferences have resulted in =
the publication of a
selection of essays, and we hope to continue this with essays from this
year=92s conference.

This year we will have over 100 speakers in an international event that =
will
include a book launch, traditional music and dance, drama and a ceilidh.

Plenary Speakers Include:
Ailbhe Smyth =96 University College, Dublin
Mervyn Busteed =96 University of Manchester

Proposals of not more than 500 words should be sent by 20th June 2006 at =
the
latest to either of the editors:

Dr Alison O=92Malley-Younger =96 alison.younger[at]sunderland.ac.uk=20
Professor Stephen Regan =96 stephen.regan[at]durham.ac.uk
And copied to the conference adminstrator, Ms Susan Cottam =96
susan.cottam[at]sunderland.ac.uk=20
=A0



Slan agus beannacht
=A0
Education is not filling a bucket, but lighting a fire.
W. B. Yeats

Alison O'Malley-Younger [Dr]
Programme Leader: English and Drama
Department of English
University of Sunderland
=A0
 TOP
6505  
11 April 2006 16:04  
  
Date: Tue, 11 Apr 2006 16:04:36 +0100 Reply-To: Patrick O'Sullivan [IR-DLOG0604.txt]
  
Book Review, McDiarmid, Irish Art of Controversy
  
Sender: The Irish Diaspora Studies List
From: Patrick O'Sullivan
Subject: Book Review, McDiarmid, Irish Art of Controversy
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Email Patrick O'Sullivan

For information...

P.O'S.

-----Original Message-----

REVIEW:

H-NET BOOK REVIEW
Published by H-Albion[at]h-net.msu.edu (April 2006)

Lucy McDiarmid. _The Irish Art of Controversy_. Ithaca and London: Cornell
University Press, 2005. xvii + 280 pp. Illustrations, chronologies, notes,
bibliography, index. $29.95 (cloth), ISBN 0-8014-4353-9; $19.95 (paper),
ISBN 1-8435-1069-3.

Reviewed for H-Albion by Karen Steele, Department of English, Texas
Christian University

The Irish Muse Called Aggression

In the two decades that preceded the Easter Rising of 1916, Ireland seemed
to be forever erupting in dramas of contention that crossed barriers of
class, creed, religion, language, philosophy, and politics. Intense public
debates emerged that became immortalized in lasting literature, such as the
deposing of Ireland's "uncrowned King," Irish Parliamentary Party leader
Charles Stewart Parnell, in the early 1890s. Other cultural battles, such
as the Abbey theater's staging of unflattering Irish behavior, served in
retrospect as critical plot points in the _bildungsroman_ narrative of
Ireland's national theater. The growing political unrest stemming from
Ireland's colonial condition inspired militancy on many fronts: the
middle-class nationalists in the Irish Volunteers; the stone-throwing
suffragettes in the Irish Women's Franchise League; the buff,
hurley-sporting members of the Gaelic Athletic Association; and the rag-tag
working class Irish Citizen Army. Each organization, indeed each impatient
confrontation, contributed to the sense that rebelliousness was a byword for
Irishness during these remarkable years.

In her richly rewarding study, _The Irish Art of Controversy_, Lucy
McDiarmid identifies in fascinating detail how this very aggression
functioned as the muse for the age. Studying five key cultural contests of
the Irish Revival, McDiarmid uncovers how such rancorous battles inspired
stunning literature; she also reveals how cultural controversy repeatedly
betrayed the way the Irish people--especially Dubliners, about whom this
book is largely concerned--were staking a claim to the future of the Irish
state and the institutions that would help usher it into existence. These
controversies continue to have relevance to those seeking to understand the
Ireland of today because the center of each contest--whose version of
Ireland would dominate?--continues to influence and even frame many of the
cultural, social, and political questions that confront Ireland in the new
millennium.

In writing a book about Irish controversies, McDiarmid faced a daunting
challenge in narrowing her selections to a manageable, representative set,
given the preponderance of cultural and political battles to choose from
during these years. Her choices are carefully balanced between revisiting
well-known high literary affairs and introducing readers to cultural battles
that deserve to be more widely studied. In five tightly-shaped chapters,
she investigates Hugh Lane's efforts to establish a Municipal Gallery of
Modern Art in Dublin; Father O'Hickey's campaign to make Irish language
fluency compulsory for entrance to the new National University; Lady Gregory
and Bernard Shaw's efforts to stage _Blanco Postnet_ to provoke the
censorious eyes in Dublin Castle; the socialist effort to transport Dublin's
hungry children to England during the 1913 Lockout; and the lingering
question of authenticity regarding Roger Casement's diaries.

Although, as McDiarmid notes, "the colonial condition of Ireland provided a
paradigm for these controversies," what is most acutely analyzed is how
Irishness served as the heart of every battle, though whose Ireland is never
easily or convincingly resolved, even decades after the major combatants
have died. Her chapters confront readers with how Ireland in the last
century has faced not merely battles for literary and political independence
but also a series of struggles over its engagement with modernity: each
fight tapped important currents and anxieties regarding Ireland's fledgling,
diversely imagined national identity.

McDiarmid brings to her investigation enviably deep, rich knowledge of the
Irish Revival, building on her influential literary scholarship on Yeats,
Gregory, and Casement. Her cultural studies method--which is lucidly
theorized in her co-edited collection, _High and Low Moderns_--exemplifies
what is most suggestive and necessary in Irish studies today.[1] Instead of
simply drawing on history, folklore, high and popular art, gossip,
interviews, and private letters as background materials, which would have
been no small task in itself, she brings these high and low texts to the
center of her investigation, and provides superbly nuanced close readings to
clarify how deeply these debates resonated with a large public audience that
was, at heart, fighting over nationalist discourse.

In _The Irish Art of Controversy_, Lucy McDiarmid provides the sustained,
masterful intellectual engagement that one would expect of a leading critic
in Irish studies. She possesses the persuasive, illuminating power to
reshape multiple debates about high cultural nationalism, language studies,
sexuality, censorship, and socialism, to name but a few of the key topics
studied here. As admirable, she has the narrative command and stylistic
flourish to educate and edify non-specialists too. Very few scholars today
attempt, let alone achieve, such balance.

Note

[1]. Lucy McDiarmid and Maria DiBattista, eds., _High and Low Moderns:
Literature and Culture, 1889-1939_ (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996).





Copyright (c) 2006 by H-Net, all rights reserved. H-Net permits the
redistribution and reprinting of this work for nonprofit, educational
purposes, with full and accurate attribution to the author, web location,
date of publication, originating list, and H-Net: Humanities & Social
Sciences Online. For other uses contact the Reviews editorial staff:
hbooks[at]mail.h-net.msu.edu.
 TOP
6506  
13 April 2006 11:22  
  
Date: Thu, 13 Apr 2006 11:22:20 +0200 Reply-To: "Murray, Edmundo" [IR-DLOG0604.txt]
  
L.O.L.A. Literature of Latin America / "Becoming Irlandes" by
  
Sender: The Irish Diaspora Studies List
From: "Murray, Edmundo"
Subject: L.O.L.A. Literature of Latin America / "Becoming Irlandes" by
Edmundo Murray
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"Becoming Irland=E9s: Private Narratives of the Irish Emigration to =
Argentina, 1844-1912" by Edmundo Murray
Published: January 2006
ISBN 9509725714
EUR 25.00, $ Arg 50.00, =A312.00, US$ 21.00
=20
What happened when the Irish went to live in a Spanish-speaking country, =
beyond the colonial borders of the British Empire? Did they follow the =
settlement patterns prevailing in Australia, Canada, England or the =
United States? Did they integrate into the receiving society or persist =
to maintain their Irish identity throughout generations? How did they =
perceive themselves, British, Argentines or irlandeses? How they evolved =
from colonised to colonisers? This book provides a variety of answers =
through the analysis of unpublished emigrant letters and memoirs.=20

Among Latin American countries, Argentina received the largest =
immigration from Ireland. After a number of years, some of the emigrants =
went back home or re-emigrated to North America, Australia, and other =
regions. Others settled in the Argentine pampas, and founded families =
that during generations developed their own sets of values and beliefs. =
Collectively, they shaped the largest Irish community in the =
Spanish-speaking world. Including unpublished emigrant letters and =
memoirs of Irish settlers and their families, this book explores the =
community's evolution since its early years to the integration into the =
larger Argentine society in the twentieth century. This revised edition =
in English includes the original texts of letters and memoirs, as well =
as new documents and substantial new thinking on the roles of identity =
and nationalism.
=20
The Author: Edmundo Murray is a researcher and writer based in Geneva, =
Switzerland, and a doctoral candidate at the University of Zurich. He is =
the editor of "Irish Migration Studies in Latin America" =
(www.irlandeses.org), and a frequent contributor to journals and =
publications related to Latin American and Irish Diaspora studies.
=20
To order please contact the publisher L.O.L.A. Literature of Latin =
America.
Contact: Colin Sharp (csharp[at]ar.inter.net)
Online orders: www.lola-online.com
 TOP
6507  
13 April 2006 14:15  
  
Date: Thu, 13 Apr 2006 14:15:34 +0100 Reply-To: Patrick O'Sullivan [IR-DLOG0604.txt]
  
Commemoration of Easter Rising
  
Sender: The Irish Diaspora Studies List
From: Patrick O'Sullivan
Subject: Commemoration of Easter Rising
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From: Steven Mccabe [mailto:Steve.Mccabe[at]uce.ac.uk]=20
Sent: 13 April 2006 12:06
To: Patrick O'Sullivan
Subject: Commemoration of Easter Rising

It is almost amusing to see the moral anguish that some politicians in
Ireland seem to be suffering over this weekend=92s commemoration of the =
Easter
Rising (see Guardian story below). It would appear that the more things
change, the more that they stay the same! Lord only knows what will =
happen
in ten years time for the centenary.=20

'Dublin still split on Easter Rising

Plan to mark 1916 revolt arouses controversy about origins and =
self-image of
Irish Republic

Owen Bowcott, Ireland correspondent
Monday April 10, 2006
The Guardian

More than three decades after the last commemoration of the 1916 Easter
Uprising, the Republic of Ireland is again preparing to mark the pivotal
moment in its history.

Commemorative stamps are being issued. There will be fly-pasts by the =
air
corps and the Proclamation, declaring the nation's independence from
Britain, will be read outside the General Post Office on Dublin's =
O'Connell
Street. Even the British ambassador, Stewart Eldon, has signalled his
intention to attend...'

Article continues

http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,1750463,00.html


Dr. Steven McCabe
Faculty of Law, Humanities, Development and Society=20
University of Central England
B42 2SU
Tel 0121 331 5178
=A0
 TOP
6508  
13 April 2006 15:47  
  
Date: Thu, 13 Apr 2006 15:47:30 +0100 Reply-To: Patrick O'Sullivan [IR-DLOG0604.txt]
  
Commemoration of Easter Rising 2
  
Sender: The Irish Diaspora Studies List
From: Patrick O'Sullivan
Subject: Commemoration of Easter Rising 2
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From: Carmel McCaffrey [mailto:cmc[at]jhu.edu]
Subject: Re: [IR-D] Commemoration of Easter Rising

This article needs a rebuttal.

The "pelted with fruit" part of this narrative has always been
exaggerated and the long fully supported battle for Irish independence
that took over six arduous years cannot be so easily discounted as
merely - and solely - the result of British disposal of the rebels.
There was enormous pent up anger in Ireland after years of failed
constitutional methods and the direct interference of the British
Conservative Party to this peaceful process. The Home Rule bill - as
passed by Westminster in 1912 -14 - was essentially declared to be null
and void by the Conservatives - does any one really believe this was
greeted with glee in Ireland?

Superficial and simplified reading of history in the terms expressed
by Owen Bowcott does no one any justice.

Carmel McC


>From: Steven Mccabe [mailto:Steve.Mccabe[at]uce.ac.uk]
>Sent: 13 April 2006 12:06
>Subject: Commemoration of Easter Rising
>
>
>Owen Bowcott, Ireland correspondent
>Monday April 10, 2006
>The Guardian
>
>More than three decades after the last commemoration of the 1916 Easter
>Uprising, the Republic of Ireland is again preparing to mark the pivotal
>moment in its history.
>
>Commemorative stamps are being issued. There will be fly-pasts by the air
>corps and the Proclamation, declaring the nation's independence from
>Britain, will be read outside the General Post Office on Dublin's O'Connell
>Street. Even the British ambassador, Stewart Eldon, has signalled his
>intention to attend...'
>
>Article continues
>
>http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,1750463,00.html
>
 TOP
6509  
14 April 2006 14:45  
  
Date: Fri, 14 Apr 2006 14:45:24 +0100 Reply-To: Patrick O'Sullivan [IR-DLOG0604.txt]
  
Britain and Ireland - lives entwined
  
Sender: The Irish Diaspora Studies List
From: Patrick O'Sullivan
Subject: Britain and Ireland - lives entwined
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From: "MacEinri, Piaras"
To: "'The Irish Diaspora Studies List '"
Subject: RE: [IR-D] Commemoration of Easter Rising 2

This somewhat personal essay (which deals with my grandfather's presence =
in
the GPO in 1916, among other things! Hence my reason for noting it now)
might be of interest to members of the list. It was published about two
years ago by the British Council (with three other essays by Ziauddin
Sardar, Zrinka Bralo, Czilla Hos in a volume entitled 'What is British',
Brits seen by foreigners)...=20

Hope you are keeping well.

Best

Piaras=20

Britain and Ireland =96 lives entwined
Piaras Mac =C9inr=ED

Like many Irish people of a certain age, I grew up in a strongly =
republican
household. To my parents=92 generation, independence was hard-won and =
recent.
They, and their parents before them, had been involved in different ways =
in
the project of nation building; they remained deeply committed to and
intensely proud of it.

Independence may have been hard-won but it was not simple and involved a
certain amount of manipulation of our memories, myths and narratives of =
the
past. A black and white view of Britishness and Irishness was part of =
the
new official Ireland=92s self-image; the struggle for freedom became the
central myth of nationhood. As a boy of almost twelve years of age my
proudest moment in 1966, the 50th anniversary of the Easter Rising =
against
British Rule, was to read out, in Irish (although it had, of course, =
been
written in English), the proclamation of the Republic, the founding text =
of
the State, over a tinny public address system to the massed crowds of =
our
local parish.

FULL TEXT AT
http://migration.ucc.ie/britainandireland.html
 TOP
6510  
16 April 2006 11:32  
  
Date: Sun, 16 Apr 2006 11:32:24 +0100 Reply-To: Patrick O'Sullivan [IR-DLOG0604.txt]
  
Britain and Ireland - lives entwined 2
  
Sender: The Irish Diaspora Studies List
From: Patrick O'Sullivan
Subject: Britain and Ireland - lives entwined 2
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From: Carmel McCaffrey [mailto:cmc[at]jhu.edu]
Sent: 15 April 2006 11:06
Subject: Re: [IR-D] Britain and Ireland - lives entwined

>
>
>A black and white view of Britishness and Irishness was part of the
>new official Ireland's self-image; the struggle for freedom became the
>central myth of nationhood.
>


Piaras,

I have to say that one problem with this narrative is that it ignores
the fact that not everyone who grew up in Ireland at this time was
subjected to this polarization. My family had a very different view - I
fully understood nuance because, in spite what was being fed officially
my own relatives had very different ideas of Irishness. It simply did
not matter that some elements had annexed and attempted to define - or
redefine- "Irishness." As just one example, the prevailing view in our
household was that the GAA was a bigoted organization; my brothers
played the "English" games. My father loved cricket. Some of my relative
still worked in the British civil service in Asia. We spent every summer
at one of the English seasides with trips to London a part of our
itinerary. Mars bars - not at the time available in Ireland - were on my
list. But the memory of hundreds of small sandcastles with tiny paper
union jacks spoke to me of an entitlement and attitude that we did not
participate in. We were Irish - not the Ireland of the Gaelic League -
but not feeling anything other than a separate breed.

But I now have to ask - why does this "new" epiphany of a blurred Irish
past now necessarily involve the ignoring of what British imperialism
did in Ireland and around the world? I fail to see how the two are
connected. Yes, the narrow narrative that evolved after independence in
Ireland was not a full truth - I grew up knowing that - but imperial
aggression and brutality cannot be denied because the Irish embellished
their own sense of identity. Surely to ignore the violence and treachery
of the British presence in Ireland - and the suffering it caused - is to
deny to others the lessons of history. We don't have to look any further
than the evening news to see the folly in that.

Carmel
 TOP
6511  
16 April 2006 12:51  
  
Date: Sun, 16 Apr 2006 12:51:35 +0100 Reply-To: "MacEinri, Piaras" [IR-DLOG0604.txt]
  
Re: Britain and Ireland - lives entwined 2
  
Sender: The Irish Diaspora Studies List
From: "MacEinri, Piaras"
Subject: Re: Britain and Ireland - lives entwined 2
MIME-Version: 1.0
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Hi Carmel

Thanks for your interesting posting. My narrative is autobiographical - it
represents a personal view only. While it's always risky to put something
personal into print, anyone who reads it is free to contest it. But it
doesn't 'ignore the fact that not everyone who grew up in Ireland at this
time was subjected to this polarization'; it simply represents a personal
experience.

I think it's understating the realities somewhat to say that 'some elements
had annexed and attempted to define - or redefine - "Irishness"'. These
'elements' dominated the 26 county state for most of the 20th century and I
believe that people who did not share their views felt distinctly
uncomfortable, as the work of a writer like Hubert Butler clearly shows.

Take religion, for instance. The ideology of the 26 county state was
grounded in Catholicism - the introduction of censorship, the banning of
divorce, the special position accorded to the Catholic Church, military
parades on Catholic feastdays, discrimination in public employment, economic
boycotts against Protestants. I don't think it is an exaggeration to say
that Ireland was close to being a theocratic state in many day-to-day ways,
in spite of De Valera's subtlety in resisting pressure to recognise Franco's
fascist regime before the end of the Spanish Civil War, say, or in his
refusal to make Catholicism the official religion of the state. All that was
before my time but I think the attitudes and ideology were still strongly
present well into the 1960s.

The rural-urban divide is less often spoken of but also permeates issues of
'authenticity', it seems to me, when one comes to consider the ideology, not
just of the state, but of substantial numbers of its citizens. The Reports
of the Commission on Emigration and other Population Problems, for
instances, are suffused with a thinly disguised contempt for urban Ireland,
for industrialisation and for modernity.

I can only speak for my own background in the way I described it and my
intention was to do so as dispassionately as I could. I think many others
grew up in similar circumstances but of course they were others who did not
and Carmel's own account is very interesting. I think one could say that in
spite of the official ideology Ireland remained a palimpsest, a
multiple-layered society, rather than a unified culture.

One should not ignore the other side of the coin either. In my lifetime
there were still golf courses in this state which did not admit Catholics
and Jews and companies which did not employ Catholics (the old Cork joke
about the advertisement for a 'Protestant messenger boy' had a foundation).

The question of sport is more complex, it seems to me, as facts such as
class (and rampant sexism) enter into it as well. Soccer was associated a
generation ago with garrison towns and was therefore sometimes looked down
upon by some GAA people. Rugby was associated with private boarding schools
and with the middle and upper classes, Catholic and Protestant, except in
Limerick where, like the south-west of France, it is a popular game with all
classes. But while many young men of my generation played soccer as well as
GAA, ignoring the ban, there was frequently an attitude of contempt shown by
rugby and soccer followers towards the 'culchie' game. All of this, too,
has been largely swept away. GAA women's football is the fastest growing
game in Ireland today and the GAA is one of the most successful sporting
organisations anywhere.

I think it's interesting that Carmel's family did have regular contact with
England and with English life. Most of us didn't and that probably
reinforced a sense of isolationism. I had relatives in England but they were
working in factories and building sites; I didn't travel there until I was a
student. I don't think I was alone in having a fairly narrow and blinkered
view.

>But I now have to ask - why does this "new" epiphany of a blurred Irish
past now necessarily involve the ignoring of what British imperialism
did in Ireland and around the world? I fail to see how the two are
connected. Yes, the narrow narrative that evolved after independence in
Ireland was not a full truth - I grew up knowing that - but imperial
aggression and brutality cannot be denied because the Irish embellished
their own sense of identity. Surely to ignore the violence and treachery
of the British presence in Ireland - and the suffering it caused - is to
deny to others the lessons of history. We don't have to look any further
than the evening news to see the folly in that.<

I don't think this epiphany is new, for start, nor do I think it's
'blurred'. For me, it's a question of putting back into the picture the bits
which we tended in the past to leave out. As for what British imperialism
did in Ireland and around the world, I don't think the essay I wrote is in
any way some kind of denial of those realities. But I think it is worth
thinking about the Irish self-narrative and of the ways in which it
attended, or failed to attend, to aspects of that imperial tradition.

For one thing, I think a lot of Irish people conflated British imperialism
and the British people, although there is a long and honourable tradition of
anti-imperialism in Britain. And many Irish people of my generation believed
that the British Army was uniquely awful. I think now that, occasional
outrages aside, it is no worse and no better than most armies used in the
service of the violent imposition of brute force by any state against an
unwilling people or an unwilling minority. In retrospect it still seems
extraordinary to me that successive London governments allowed the forces of
law and order in a supposedly 'British' jurisdiction systematically to
oppress an entire minority on sectarian and political grounds - the B
Specials, RUC and NI state machinery were the real problem, not the British
Army. That does not excuse, either, the appalling ignorance and racist
condescension of successive British politicians towards the Irish - Edward
Heath and Reginald Maudling are the two who still stick most in my mind. And
while there are still British politicians who appear to sincerely believe
that their task is to mediate between two uncivilised groups of native
Irish, as if they themselves had nothing to do with it, it seems to me that
British people in general are much better informed about Ireland than they
used to be.

Our own connections with British imperialism were a good deal closer and
more complex than Irish nationalists have often wished to admit. Irish
independence was in part justified on the grounds that we were white and
therefore fit to rule ourselves. Irish racism, most of the time, does not
differ greatly from the British variety. Irish-born soldiers and civil
servants were everywhere in the British Empire - as Carmel's own account
shows. Dwelling on these facts does not in any way constitute some kind of
endorsement of a particular viewpoint, it seems to me. We do need a better
sense of balance, however. The Irish are not the most oppressed people ever.
For that matter British imperialism, while odious (I have no time for the
current revisionism in the UK which tends to suggest that it did more good
than harm), is no more odious in most respects, and less so in some, that
that practiced by the French, Belgians, Dutch, Portuguese, Germans, and,
nowadays, the US, although we do not give it that name.

Piaras
 TOP
6512  
16 April 2006 15:59  
  
Date: Sun, 16 Apr 2006 15:59:30 -0500 Reply-To: "William Mulligan Jr." [IR-DLOG0604.txt]
  
Re: Britain and Ireland - lives entwined 2
  
Sender: The Irish Diaspora Studies List
From: "William Mulligan Jr."
Subject: Re: Britain and Ireland - lives entwined 2
In-Reply-To:
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
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I want to thank Piaras for his two posts. I thought they were both very
interesting and raised a number of important points about identity,
specifically Irishness, (as did Carmel's) and the role of the Irish in =
the
British Empire as soldiers and administrators. A great deal to think =
about.
This last point is something I have been especially struck by this =
semester
(or maybe I should say reminded of) as I teach my Irish Diaspora course =
-
and also US Military History. At least one-third of the US Army was =
Irish
(and about the same proportion African American) during the Indian =
Wars
that drove the Indians into reservations and completed their conquest. =
One
of the principal architects of US military policy towards the Indians in
period from 1865 to his death in 1888 was Philip Sheridan, whose parents
were from County Cavan. Sheridan may have been born there as well - =
four
different locations have been given at various times for his birth. So, =
it
is not only as part of the British Empire - I won't go into that here - =
that
Irish people have helped subjugate others.=20

Back to the question of identity and personal narrative - it is not a
surprise to me that Carmel and Piaras had different experiences. I am =
sure
if had the ability to write of my own growing up in the suburbs of New =
York
City in the 1950s and early 1960s as eloquently as Piaras wrote of his
experience others would respond by citing differences with their own
experience. It may well be that the only generalization one can safely =
make
about Irishness or Irish- American identity is that to make a =
generalization
is dangerous. Tim Meagher makes this point in his recent book.

Bill =20

William H. Mulligan, Jr., Ph.D.
Professor of History
Murray State University
Murray KY 42071-3341 USA=20
=20
=20
 TOP
6513  
16 April 2006 22:35  
  
Date: Sun, 16 Apr 2006 22:35:29 -0400 Reply-To: Carmel McCaffrey [IR-DLOG0604.txt]
  
Re: Britain and Ireland - lives entwined 2
  
Sender: The Irish Diaspora Studies List
From: Carmel McCaffrey
Subject: Re: Britain and Ireland - lives entwined 2
In-Reply-To:
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

Piaras,

I find that we are in agreement about most of the points that you make
and in some ways are saying the same thing. I understood that your
story was a personal one and you did not consider it to be a universal
truth but I wanted to make the point that some of us were outside of the
narrow definitions of Irishness and still would not think of the British
as anything other than "other". Let me also stress that I do not for a
moment think that the Irish experience was unique or that British
brutality - and I still think this is an apt description- was unique to
their empire.

>For that matter British imperialism, while odious (I have no time for the
>current revisionism in the UK which tends to suggest that it did more good
>than harm), is no more odious in most respects, and less so in some, that
>that practiced by the French, Belgians, Dutch, Portuguese, Germans, and,
>nowadays, the US, although we do not give it that name.
>
I absolutely agree with this and it concurs with the point I was making
about history teaching lessons. I think we see another kind of
imperialism being paraded around today under yet another pretext.

But I do think that the British presence in Ireland WAS odious - no
matter that the same violent behaviour was commonplace among other
European imperial powers. Justification theories were common to just
about all of them as they ploughed their way through the world and
carved it up for their own ends. What concerns me I suppose is the
suggestion, sometimes made in some quarters, that somehow because we -
rightfully - do not think of the Irish experience as being unique, as we
once purportedly did - that this somehow exonerates the British or
cleanses their record in Ireland. A sort of "Oh well, they were all up
to it" modern justification theory.

The relationship that the Irish had with the British presence was indeed
complex but the dialogue on this I believe should include a discussion
of how the weaker and powerless respond to the strong - who hold the
economic strings. Something like the psychological relationship that
captives develop with their captors. And while the Irish did
participate in the British army and civil service - just as the Indians
and others did, hey, they were good jobs - they were rarely put into
real positions of power and had much more difficulty with promotions.

Carmel


>
>
 TOP
6514  
17 April 2006 08:13  
  
Date: Mon, 17 Apr 2006 08:13:39 -0500 Reply-To: bill mulligan [IR-DLOG0604.txt]
  
Fwd: Irish Newspapers Archive
  
Sender: The Irish Diaspora Studies List
From: bill mulligan
Subject: Fwd: Irish Newspapers Archive
In-Reply-To:
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=WINDOWS-1252
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This would seem to be of interest to the list.

Bill

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Richard Gorrie
Date: Mar 12, 2006 10:03 AM
Subject: Irish Newspapers Archive
To: H-ALBION[at]h-net.msu.edu

Date: Fri, 10 Mar 2006 21:53:56 -0400
From: Harold Rennie
Subject: Irish Newspapers Archive

The following item is taken verbatim from ResearchBuzz #368 -- March 9, 200=
6
Reproduced with permission of ResearchBuzz (www.researchbuzz.com)

** New Irish Newspapers Archive Now Available


There's a new archive of Irish newspapers
available. And though the site does cost,
searching is free and downloading the first ten
documents is free. You can try it at
http://irishnewspaperarchives.com/ .

There are eight publications currently available,
including The Freeman's Journal (issues span from
1763 to 1924), Irish Independent (1905 - 2003),
and The Sunday Independent (1935 - 2006). You can
browse the issues by date, but to view them you'll
have to be a member (more about that in a minute.)

Searching the archive is by keyword. You can limit
your search to a certain publication or a date
range. My search for historical found over 21,000
results with a thumbnail of the page where the
word was found, source, date, page number, and
some of the oddest search snippets I've ever read.
It looked like most of them were keyword listings
instead of transcript snippets. Ah, I see some
newspapers are not completely indexed and they do
indeed have keywords instead of snippets.

Back to the membership. As I said, in order to
read stories or view pages, you'll need to be a
member. Membership requires name and address. Once
you've registered you'll have to confirm your
address. Once you've registered you will have ten
free credits. Going back to the search results I
clicked on the thumbnail to open a page, and it
looked like Adobe Acrobat Reader launched. But
once launched, it popped up an error message,
"Operation Not Allowed". Some kind of security
setting on Firefox? Perhaps you'll have better
luck than I did. At any rate, if you do and you
want to continue using the service, you can
purchase more credits. They start at =8010.00 for 20
credits, and one credit buys one page image. Not
bad at all. Discounts are given when ordering more
credits.

ResearchBuzz #368 -- March 9, 2006
http://www.researchbuzz.com/ .
newsletter[at]researchbuzz.com

ResearchBuzz is copyright 2006 Tara Calishain. All rights
reserved.


--
Bill Mulligan
Professor of History
Murray State University
 TOP
6515  
17 April 2006 08:49  
  
Date: Mon, 17 Apr 2006 08:49:39 -0500 Reply-To: "William Mulligan Jr." [IR-DLOG0604.txt]
  
The White Ethnic Revival
  
Sender: The Irish Diaspora Studies List
From: "William Mulligan Jr."
Subject: The White Ethnic Revival
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable

This piece from HNN may be of interest to the list.=20

The White Ethnic Revival=20

By Matthew Frye Jacobson=20

Matthew Frye Jacobson is Professor of American Studies at Yale and =
author of
Roots Too: White Ethnic Revival in Post-Civil Rights America.=20

The leader of an anti-racism workshop in the 1990s once noted a =
disquieting
inclination on the part white participants to dissociate themselves from =
the
advantages of whiteness by emphasizing some purportedly not-quite-white
ethnic background. "I'm not white; I'm Italian," one would say. Another,
"I'm Jewish." After this ripple had made its way across the group, the
seminar leader was left wondering, "What happened to all the white =
people
who were here just a minute ago?"=20

The sense of a sentence like "I'm not white, I'm Italian" rests upon =
several
historical preconditions, now loosely relayed in the term "ethnic =
revival":
the Civil Rights Movement heightened whites' consciousness of their skin
privilege, rendering it both visible and newly uncomfortable. The =
example of
Black Nationalism and later multiculturalism provided a new language =
for-and
perceived cache in-the specificities of an identity that was not simply
"American." After decades of striving to conform to the Anglo-Saxon
standard, descendants of earlier European immigrants quit the melting =
pot.
Italianness, Jewishness, or Greekness were now badges of pride, not =
shame.=20

The rest of the article is at: http://hnn.us/articles/23824.html


Bill Mulligan
William H. Mulligan, Jr., Ph.D.
Professor of History
Murray State University
Murray KY 42071-3341 USA=20
=20
=20
 TOP
6516  
17 April 2006 10:38  
  
Date: Mon, 17 Apr 2006 10:38:25 +0100 Reply-To: "MacEinri, Piaras" [IR-DLOG0604.txt]
  
Re: Britain and Ireland - lives entwined 2
  
Sender: The Irish Diaspora Studies List
From: "MacEinri, Piaras"
Subject: Re: Britain and Ireland - lives entwined 2
Comments: To: Carmel McCaffrey
In-Reply-To:
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

Hi Carmel

What time of the morning is it in your part of the world! Thank you for
taking the trouble to write again. I find myself partly in agreement but
partly in disagreement with you.

Perhaps the crux of it, for me, is when you say that you 'still would not
think of the British as anything other than "other"'. I don't think it's
possible to reify differences along national boundaries so that 'British'
means the 'other' (and, by implication, the opposite) of 'Irishness'. I
think that in a way that captures the trap in which we caught ourselves as
an emergent (and incomplete) nation for several decades.

My daughter considered the question of her identity some years ago, at the
advanced age of nine or thereabouts. She decided after much deliberation
that she was 60% Irish, 25% French (her mother lives there, she has
near-native French and she visits there often), 10% Breton (her grandfather
was a Breton nationalist) and 5% Lebanese (where she was born). That seems
to me to be about as satisfactory a way of thinking about the business as
any other.

The Belfast Agreement, that much-hailed document (I don't know why some
people call it the Good Friday agreement, which as far as I am concerned is
a sectarian description - OK, I'm trailing my agnostic coat here) tries to
mediate difference by reifying it as well. You can only come from one
tradition, or the other. There is nothing in between, no hybridity, no room
for alternative or 'third spaces', however jargonistic the concept may
sound. It has bought some peace and some space but not reconciliation; in
some ways the differences have merely been driven to a deeper level but also
validated by the very language of the Agreement itself. Perhaps over time
and with an ongoing absence of violence such differences will be negotiated
but if and when that does happen it will be because the absolutist
boundaries encapsulated in the agreement will finally have been transcended.


I suppose that in considering these matters my interest is in the liminal
and the hybrid as much as in the differences and the 'otherness'. Irish and
British experiences have been shaped differently by history, geography and
chance and it would be foolish to argue that this has not left a legacy of
difference in culture, attitudes, policies, identities. Personally I don't
want to be part of a British polity now or in the future and I would
strongly oppose any proposal to rejoin the Commonwealth (the idea keeps
surfacing, even in some Fianna Fail circles). But Ireland is inescapably
part of the English-speaking world as well, with all that is good and bad
about that. Equally, there are elements in our own culture which do not make
for an appealing legacy and which best can be interrogated in the light of
questions and ideas first asked somewhere else. I think there is little or
no commitment in Ireland, for instance, to equality. Many Irish continue to
see people's status in hierarchical terms defined by birth and connections -
look at the fawning near-idolatry with which Charles Haughey was treated.
The casual patriarchalism and sexism of Irish public culture (although I
think France is far worse) is another example.

>But I do think that the British presence in Ireland WAS odious - no
matter that the same violent behaviour was commonplace among other
European imperial powers. Justification theories were common to just
about all of them as they ploughed their way through the world and
carved it up for their own ends. What concerns me I suppose is the
suggestion, sometimes made in some quarters, that somehow because we -
rightfully - do not think of the Irish experience as being unique, as we
once purportedly did - that this somehow exonerates the British or
cleanses their record in Ireland. A sort of "Oh well, they were all up
to it" modern justification theory.The relationship that the Irish had with the British presence was indeed
complex but the dialogue on this I believe should include a discussion
of how the weaker and powerless respond to the strong - who hold the
economic strings. Something like the psychological relationship that
captives develop with their captors. And while the Irish did
participate in the British army and civil service - just as the Indians
and others did, hey, they were good jobs - they were rarely put into
real positions of power and had much more difficulty with promotions. <

It was probably easier for an Irishman (we are talking about men here) to
advance his career in the colonies than in London and it is probably not a
coincidence that Irish and Scottish people were strongly represented in the
administration of Empire. But I don't think that the captive/captives model
is an adequate framework for understanding the complexity of it. For one
think the Irish middle classes in the 19th and 20th centuries were not
necessarily all that weak and powerless - in the Famine period they
continued to eat well while their poorer compatriots died. And Michael
Holmes writes, in his chapter on India in Andy Bielenberg's The Irish
Diaspora, that if there was a distinguishing feature to the Irish presence
there it was in their unusually harsh and cruel treatment of the Indians. I
don't think the argument 'they made me do it' or references to the
psychological relationship between captors and captives explains all of this
- it seems to me that there was also a sense in which people were complicit
in the process.

Piaras
 TOP
6517  
17 April 2006 13:29  
  
Date: Mon, 17 Apr 2006 13:29:59 -0400 Reply-To: Carmel McCaffrey [IR-DLOG0604.txt]
  
Re: Britain and Ireland - lives entwined 2
  
Sender: The Irish Diaspora Studies List
From: Carmel McCaffrey
Subject: Re: Britain and Ireland - lives entwined 2
Comments: To: "MacEinri, Piaras"
In-Reply-To:
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

Piaras,

At the risk of boring the list I feel compelled to say that far be it
from me to even get close to defending the exclusive Catholic ethos and
"Gaelic" Ireland that emerged in the twentieth century. It was a
nightmare for many - my own family ignored most of it - and a tragedy
for the social life of the nation. The resentment teetering just below
the surface was something that no one in authority - including the press
- wanted to publicly acknowledge. Or the fact that many who left
Ireland during this time did not do so for economic reasons but to
breathe more freely in foreign air.

Allow me also clear up what you termed the 'they made me do it'
argument. This is not what I was inferring -far from it. There is often
a complex reaction to the reality that someone else has either by
violence or manipulation grabbed power. The Irish were certainly not
"innocent" in many situations they found themselves in but I do remember
the remnants of a small coterie of those who expressed admiration for
the fact that the British, no matter what means they had employed in
the world, were in fact the "winners".

When I confront the news of today I lament that the lessons of the past
seem to be lost on those who once again are repeating the same rhetoric
of "civilizing" and "bringing peace" that the history of Ireland is
overloaded with.

Carmel




>
>
 TOP
6518  
17 April 2006 14:24  
  
Date: Mon, 17 Apr 2006 14:24:37 -0200 Reply-To: Peter Hart [IR-DLOG0604.txt]
  
Re: Britain and Ireland - lives entwined 2
  
Sender: The Irish Diaspora Studies List
From: Peter Hart
Subject: Re: Britain and Ireland - lives entwined 2
In-Reply-To:
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

This is a very interesting exchange: thanks to both of you. Perhaps I may
revise my jaundiced view of anniversaries and commemorations given the high
level of much of the debate arising from the 1916 jubilee (or whatever it is).

Also, perhaps a comment from a Newfoundland perspective might add
something. Recent census questions about ethncicty in Canada allow people
to name more than one, and most do so. It is impossible to sort out the
answers into discrete
categories, but probably the most common response is for people to cite
both Irish and English ancestry -
with French sometimes thrown in as well. On top of that, quite a few also
claim Canadianness.

In other words, most people have no problem seeing themselves as both Irish
and British, although no doubt people also emphasise different aspects in
different contexts.

Of course, Newfoundland is not Ireland - although it does have a history of
sectarianism and some segregation,
as well as ethnic accomodation along Good Friday lines (and therefore
ethnic reinforcement by the state). Recent local nationalism - as well as
Irish revivalism - is now non-sectarian, however.

But Newfoundland is what it is because of the British Empire, which seems
to have been accepted and embraced regardless of background and religion -
although local loyalism has now pretty much vanished.

Where is all this leading? Back to good old complexity, I guess -
Newfoundland may not be an Akensonian 'clean laboratory' (not a snide
remark - I'm a fan of his approach) but terms like 'Irish', 'English' and
'Empire' can look a bit different from here.

Peter Hart
 TOP
6519  
17 April 2006 15:20  
  
Date: Mon, 17 Apr 2006 15:20:22 +0200 Reply-To: "D.C. Rose" [IR-DLOG0604.txt]
  
Re: Britain and Ireland - lives entwined
  
Sender: The Irish Diaspora Studies List
From: "D.C. Rose"
Subject: Re: Britain and Ireland - lives entwined
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable

Perhaps the other generalisation against which to be on guard is that of =
assuming what was true for one period was true for another. It also =
depends upon what one means by 'the Irish'. The experience(s) of =
Michael Davitt, Sir John Pope-Hennessy (the first), O'Donovan Rossa, =
Sir Anthony MacDonnell, T.P. O'Connor and Lord Russell of Killowen were =
very different in their relations with the ruling power (I deliberately =
choose patriotic Catholics); and all were different from the =
experiences() of evicted tenants, gombeen men, railway contractors and =
the miners of Castlecomer. When at the time of the gathering of the =
imperial prime ministers in, what, 1909? (I am away from my books), =
Redmond met Sir Wilfrid Laurier, it was as the Prime Minister in waiting =
of a potentially independent Dominion. It is in the multiplicity of =
experience and accommodation that the fascination lies.

One might ask the awkward question whether the number of Irish people =
who 'collaborated' was in any proportion higher than those of other =
countries occupied by an imperial power. I doubt if any imperial =
r=E9gime could have survived without out at least the silent complicity =
of a critical mass of the population. The British empire started to =
collapse when it lost that complicity: I suspect that the Sinn Fein =
courts were as effective as the flying columns in subverting English =
rule in ireland

I have not seen recent studies, but I doubt if every Irishman who joined =
the British Army or the Royal Irish Constabulary (or the Bar or the =
Customs & Excise or the Post Office, come to that) did so just because =
it was 'a job'. I wonder how many still do join the British Armed =
Forces (I knew in West Cork in the 1980s a couple of ex RAF men). I =
remember after the Armistice Day Enniskillen bombing quite a number of =
'unlikely' people started wearing poppies in honour of relatives who had =
'served'.

David Rose
 TOP
6520  
17 April 2006 20:39  
  
Date: Mon, 17 Apr 2006 20:39:47 +0100 Reply-To: Patrick O'Sullivan [IR-DLOG0604.txt]
  
Book Review, Cook, Pirate Queen: The Life of Grace O'Malley
  
Sender: The Irish Diaspora Studies List
From: Patrick O'Sullivan
Subject: Book Review, Cook, Pirate Queen: The Life of Grace O'Malley
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
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Email Patrick O'Sullivan

For information...

P.O'S.


-----Original Message-----
H-NET BOOK REVIEW
Published by H-Albion[at]h-net.msu.edu (April 2006)

Judith Cook. _Pirate Queen: The Life of Grace O'Malley, 1530 1603_. East
Linton: Tuckwell Press, 2004. xii + 195 pp. Illustrations, maps,
bibliography, appendices, index. =C2=A39.99 (paper), ISBN 1 8623-2247-3.

Reviewed for H-Albion, by Cheryl Fury, University of New Brunswick

Painting the Portrait of a Pirate Queen

_Pirate Queen: The Life of Grace O'Malley, 1530 1603_ is a swash =
buckling
tale of an exceptional woman who made herself a force in Irish and =
English
politics. This is no mean feat for the daughter of an Irish chieftain =
from
County Mayo. Both her husbands were important personages in their own =
rite,
but it was Grace (also known as "Grainne," "Grainemhaoil," or "Grania") =
who
was _de facto_ chief of her sept and the admiral of her own fleet. She =
was
almost an exact contemporary of Queen Elizabeth I: they met at least =
once-
probably recognizing they were kindred sisters in the almost exclusively
male world of sixteenth century power politics.

Judith Cook's purpose is to bring O'Malley to the attention of a wider
audience: "Renowned now in legend, ballad, poetry and even music in her =
own
country, Grace O'Malley remains surprisingly unknown outside of it" (p.
xii). Without question, O'Malley's story is one worth telling and =
reading.
Her life has all the elements of an adventure tale: murdered lovers,
wayward children, and villainous enemies. The backdrop is Ireland's
internal conflicts and its David and Goliath struggle against English
domination.

The assembling of O'Malley's life history is hardly a straightforward
matter. The paper trail is far from abundant. Cook relies on a mix of
legend, archaeology, and reasonable supposition to fill in the =
considerable
blanks. Of particular interest is the book's second appendix, namely a
court deposition which provides a rare opportunity to "hear" O'Malley's
voice.

Cook also wrestles with O'Malley's radically different reputations. In =
some
circles, she is a Celtic heroine and, in others, she is a traitor for =
having
consorted with the English when it furthered her ambitions. O'Malley =
was in
many ways indicative of the shifting factions and alliances of Anglo =
Irish
politics at the time.

O'Malley's dominance within her own territories and nearby waters flew =
in
the face of English encroachment. She asserted her own form of justice,
exacted protection money and plundered at will. As in most things, =
O'Malley
paid little heed to conventions of the day and made a number of English =
and
Irish enemies. When it suited her purposes, she was a dutiful subject =
of
the Crown: she appealed (successfully!) to the England's sovereign,
Elizabeth I, and English law, as it entitled her to a greater portion of =
her
dead husbands' estates than Irish custom.

While we can appreciate that O'Malley courted the "powers that be" as a
means of advancing her own and her family's interests, her involvement =
with
the English Crown seems to have gone beyond this. Cook raises the
intriguing matter of O'Malley's narrow escape from the scaffold in 1586.
Her arch nemesis, Sir Richard Bingham, the English Governor of =
Connaught,
intended to hang her as a "notable traitress and the nurse of all =
rebellions
in the province for forty years" (p. ix). Yet, she received a last =
minute
royal reprieve from the Queen herself. Certainly she must have done
something to warrant such miraculous intervention. Cook suggests that =
the
Pirate Queen was providing intelligence for the English government.
O'Malley's ships may have noted the movement of Spanish vessels for
Elizabeth's spymaster, Sir Francis Walsingham.

Cook is an evocative writer and an amateur historian. To her credit, =
she
does not try to simplify this multifaceted character: "what started out =
as
an attempt to tell the story of the life and times of a highly romantic
figure has turned into something altogether more complex" (p. xii). =
Given
the lack of notes, we may assume that the book is aimed at a popular
audience. For the most part, Cook handles the shoals of early modern
European history well, but there are a number of points where her lack =
of
expertise is apparent. For instance, she blames Philip II of Spain for
spurring Mary Tudor towards burning heretics in England. The burnings =
of
Protestant martyrs (which would earn her the sobriquet "Bloody Mary") =
was
very much the Queen's idea. There are other mistakes as well. It was
outspoken Christina of Milan who made the famous quip that if she had =
two
heads she would marry Henry VIII, which Cook attributes to Mary of =
Guise.
Cook assumes that the inability to write one's name was an indicator of
illiteracy. This is not necessarily the case: sixteenth century =
students
learned to read before they could write. Despite her assertions, I =
doubt
that the murder of Mary, Queen of Scot's consort, Darnley, was =
considered a
"terrorist outrage" (p. 52). Darnley was cruel and ambitious as well as
being a personal and political liability for Mary Stewart: he even =
assisted
in the fatal stabbing of her secretary, Rizzio, before the eyes of the
pregnant Queen. Mary and Scotland wept few tears for him. Mary =
probably
suffered more politically for her marriage to the suspected assassin. =
Nor
is it clear why the Queen of Scots deserves any space in this =
examination of
Grace O'Malley at all. Most of Cook's discussion of the Scots focuses =
on
the Irish employment of Scottish soldiers. Cook's chapter on the Armada =
is
also shaky. She asserts that "the English navy was fully prepared" (p. =
124)
in 1588. Extant sources from the period (including the State Papers
Domestic which are listed in her bibliography) reveal a different =
picture:
very high shipboard morbidity and mortality and "great need" of =
provisions,
wages, clothes, and ammunition. Few books are without factual errors or
misinterpretations but, in spots, Cook's knowledge of early modern =
history
is not always sufficient.

Having said that, I applaud Cook's final product. We are always =
entertained
by a good pirate yarn, more so when it is based in truth and the =
protagonist
is a hard scrabble, seafaring woman. Clearly she had more than her =
share of
personal tragedies and even managed to drag herself back from ruin when =
she
lost her entire fleet at age sixty. The fact that she could obtain and
retain command of a fleet of ships and men as well as considerable power =
on
land is astounding. Doubtless Cook will get her wish: this intriguing =
tale
of tragedy and triumph will spread the Pirate Queen's fame (or infamy) =
well
beyond the borders of Ireland.



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