The final run from the `98 presses
Mícheál O Riain looks at some of the best and some of the rest of the hundreds of books on 1798 published in this bicentenary year
The French are in the Bay: The Expedition to Bantry Bay 1796
John A. Murphy, ed,
(Cork: Mercier Press, 1997). £8.99.
The great might-have-been - that's Bantry Bay not John A. What would have happened had the 48 ships that sailed from Brest in December 1796 with over 13,000 battle-proven veterans not been scattered in severe storms? This collection of essays examines all the ifs, buts, why nots and if onlys of what Tone recognised as England's greatest escape since the Spanish Armada. It will drive you bananas thinking about how it all came undone so it is best left until the New Year when domestic tensions ease. It includes an excellent essay on west Cork's shifting oral traditions about the expedition. And, mercifully, John A. only contributes a two page introduction. Be grateful. Be very grateful.
The Great Irish Rebellion of 1798: The Thomas Davis Lectures
Cathal Póirtéir, ed,
(Cork: Mercier Press, 1998). £8.99.
other fine collection from Mercier Press - this time the Thomas Davis Lectures broadcast on RTE last summer. Prominent historians trace the development of the republican movement in the 1790s and locate it in its international context. Includes a well-documented account of the Wexford Senate and an analysis of the United Irishmen in northwest Ulster that upturns the Revisionist argument that republicanism made little impact west of the Bann. A good mix of politics and pikes.
A Flame Now Quenched: Rebels and Frenchmen in Leitrim, 1793-1798
Liam Kelly,
(Dublin: Lilliput Press, 1998).
Complete with maps, illustrations and extensive quotations from key documents, this highly readable account is a model local study. Kelly details the rise of the Defenders and their suppression in the early 1790s; the arrival of refugees from the Orange terror in north Armagh from 1795; United Irish activity in 1796-8; the impact of the French landings in August 1798, when Humbert and his troops marched the full length of the county, and the price the people of Leitrim paid for their politics. Look out for William Trimble of the Cavan Yeomanry who gave evidence against a republican at a court-martial and established the family's legal tradition!
The United Irishmen: Popular Politics in Ulster and Dublin, 1791-8
Nancy Curtin,
(Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1998).
First published in 1994 and now out in paperback. A rather conservative assessment of the movement in Ulster which has been largely superseded by recent research. Still, remains a good read on propaganda activities and recruitment. Did you know that they had something suspiciously like Saoirse's green ribbons in the 1790s? Was Martin Meehan really around then? Did he have a croppy hair-cut? Speaking of Saoirse ribbons, the green goes well with the festive red jumper and nose - wear one.
The Women of 1798
Dáire Keogh and Nicholas Furlong, eds,
(Dublin: Four Courts Press, 1998)
d where were you in 1798 great, great, great, great granny O Riain? Republican or otherwise? A tout? In arms? In under the bed? This book has them all. It includes several big names - Matilda Tone, Mary Anne McCracken and Croppy Biddy Dolan (but little on Betsy Gray) - yet also touches on more typical experiences; an essay on women who gave evidence at court-martials is particularly good in this regard.
1798: The First Year of Irish Liberty. Irish Traditional Songs of the Rebellion of 1798
Frank Harte and Dónal Lunny,
Hummingbird Records: HBCD0014
Produced by Dónal Lunny who also provides understated musical accompaniment, this CD of Frank Harte singing songs of and about the rising is one of the must-buys of the year. It comes complete with detailed sleevenotes that give a firm historical background to the rising and illuminate the songs. As the man himself says, ``Those in power write the history, those who suffer write the songs'' and Frank's singing of the songs, more than any book or essay, brings home the human and political tragedy of the United Irishmen's defeat. An instant classic and a welcome break from Bing Crosby.
Rebellion in Kildare, 1790-1803
Liam Chambers,
(Dublin: Four Courts Press, 1998);
All that Delirium of the Brave: Kildare in 1798
Mario Corrigan,
(Naas: Kildare County Council, 1998)
Citizen Edward Fitzgerald's county, where there was considerable activity in 1798, gets two books. Chambers is the tighter and more focused account but Corrigan's is also a solid effort. Like the Lily Whites in 1998, the Kildare United Men trained hard, mobilised successfully and initially it looked as if they might go all the way but then they got hammered. Personally, I think they will have to drop the shirts. Tennis outfits hardly strike fear into the opposition.
The Summer Soldiers: The 1798 Rebellion in Antrim and Down
ATQ Stewart,
(Belfast: Blackstaff Press, 1995). £12.99
A military history of Antrim and Down in 1798 that makes little use of the main primary sources, the Rebellion Papers in the National Archives. Still, well-written and highly accessible, the flowing prose will get you over Stewart's decidedly conservative assessment of the men and women of 1798. A bit like the BBC, the book informs, educates and entertains though not always the way it intends. Reach for this about 28 December when you realise there is only Tennents (or Mundy's) left in the fridge and nothing on the telly but Jim Davidson and only put it down if Zulu comes on and you can sit back and watch Michael Caine, yet again, losing another bit of the empire.
Ulster Biographies Relating to the Rebellion of 1798
WT Latimer,
(Belfast: Presbyterian Historical Society of Ireland, 1998). £3.99.
The Presbyterian Historical Society of Ireland have reissued Latimer's 1897 collection of biographies which includes Henry Joy, Jemmy Hope and James Porter. A nice wee stocking filler that will pass a bus or train journey.
Presbyterians and Orangeism, 1795-1995
Finlay Holmes,
(Belfast: Presbyterian Historical Society of Ireland, 1996) £1:00.
The Presbyterian Historical Society have also published this thought-provoking essay on the shifting relationship of Presbyterians with the Orange Order. A timely reminder that Presbyterians' retreat from radicalism was not as sudden, abrupt or complete as Revisionist historians might think and that there has always been a liberal tradition hostile to Orangeism within Irish Presbyterianism.
The Mighty Wave: The 1798 Rebellion in Wexford
Dáire Keogh and Nicholas Furlong, eds.,
(Dublin, 1996)
Supporters of the Yellow Bellies will wish this book was handed out in the dressing room last season. An elegantly produced collection of essays with contributions from leading historians, including some Wexford people who write with more passion than their countymen hurl. The book puts the nail in the coffin of the notion that the Wexford rising was a mad uprising of Catholic peasants led by priests in a crusade for faith and fatherland. Rather, the rebels of Wexford came from all classes and religious backgrounds; they were well-organised and highly politicised, intent on cementing a brotherhood of affection among Irishmen and breaking the connection with England.
Theobald Wolfe Tone
Thomas Bartlett,
(Dundalk: Dundalgan Press, 1997) £6:00.
The answers to the questions that open this biography - Was he a republican? Was he a separatist? - are a bit too obvious yet the book is a vast improvement on some of the gibberish that has appeared in print about Wolfe Tone. He emerges as a remarkable activist and his political descendants will be intrigued to find that late nights ``arguing over wine'' have been part of the deal since the beginning. Reasonable stuff, cheap at the price and a nice little present from yourself to yourself as a mark of your esteem and affection for yourself.
The Tree of Liberty: Radicalism, Catholicism and the Construction of Irish Identity, 1760-1830
Kevin Whelan,
(Cork, 1996)
Excellent collection of essays that present the 1790s as a pivotal moment in the development of modern Ireland - a non-sectarian, inclusive and democratic politics appeared attainable but was choked by Britain through military repression and, as always, the Crown's readiness to foment sectarian division. Politically engaged, at times this book reads like a parable for the late 1990s. In 20 years time, it will be like a pike in the thatch (or a Boyzone CD): every house will have one but nobody will use it anymore.
Rebellion: A Television History of 1798
Thomas Bartlett, Kevin Dawson and Dáire Keogh,
(Dublin: Gill and Macmillan, 1998)
The book of the RTE television series. Nicely packaged and provides a useful account of events but the analysis is rather timid. Still, you can do that for yourself.
The Sans Culottes of Belfast: The United Irishmen and the Men of No Property
John Gray,
(Belfast, 1998) £2:50
Published by the Belfast Trades Union Council and the United Irishmen Commemorative Society, this important pamphlet relates the rise and fall of republicanism in Belfast to the industrialisation of the regional economy. Insightful on the tensions between the middle-class leadership and the movement's base. Proudly in the tradition of Jemmy Hope.
Ballets and Poems of the Wicklow Rebellion, 1798
Ruán O'Donnell and Henry Cairns, comps.,
(Bray, 1998). £6:00.
Don't be put off by the misprint in the title. It should be ``Ballads'' and a fine wee book it is too - ``Michael Dwyer'', ``Billy Byrne'' and ``Anne Devlin'' they're all here. A good companion volume to O'Donnell's history of the rising in Wicklow.
The United Irishmen: Republicanism, Radicalism and Rebellion
David Dickson, Dáire Keogh and Kevin Whelan, eds.,
(The Lilliput Press, 1993). £15:00.
The big academic doorstop of a book. More about ideas than action. Includes a print of Napper Tandy on the back, reminding us that republicans only really became good-looking in our own generation - witness Tom Hartley. A good Xmas present for the serious history student.
The Man from God Knows Where: Thomas Russell, 1767-1803
Denis Carroll,
(Dublin: Gartan, 1995). £9:99
This is the best English-language book on the ``Man from God Knows Where''. Russell's spell as a republican prisoner of war and particularly the negotations between Dublin Castle and the prisoners who were trying to save the lives of Oliver Bond and William Byrne, two comrades sentenced to death, will put many readers in mind of the dark days of 1980 and 1981. Still, the book is not a patch on Tomás Ruiséil (1957), a full-length biography in Irish by Séamas Mac Giolla Easpaig, a Christian Brother who taught Irish and history on the Glen Road in the 1950s and 1960s. Although long out of print you can pick up a copy in secondhand bookshops for about a fiver.
The Tellicherry Five: the transporation of Michael Dwyer & the Wicklow rebels
Kieran Sheedy,
(Dublin;Woodfield, 1997).
This and several other books concerning the Wicklow United Irishmen continue the story and disprove those so-called historians who claimed that the 1798 Rising was but a small event in Irish history. It proves that the spirit of freedom continued for several years after.
Fellowship of Freedom
Kevin Whelan,
(Cork University Press, 1998) £15.
Lavishly illustrated companion volume to the National Museum and National Gallery exhibitions. Good argumentative text with reflections on the relevance of republicanism and contemporary Irish society.
Radicals and revolutionaries: essays on 1798
Connolly Association,
(London, 1998) £3.
Essays by James Connolly, Mary Cullen, Peter Beresford Ellis, Tom Barlett, Ruan O'Donnell, Priscilla Metscher.
1798 & the Irish Bar
Patrick Geoghegan,
(Dublin 1998) £2.50.
Snippets from 1798 history and the connections with the Irish Bar. Beautifully produced but incomplete. Send one to Michael McDowell for Christmas.
Irish Rebellions, 1798-1916 an illustrated history
Helen Litton,
(Dublin 1998) £8.30.
Given the high standard of previous volumes by Litton, this one is somewhat disappointing. Its scope is too ambitious and she fails to explain that Cruikshank's cartoons were blatant propangda pieces that portrayed the Irish as apes.
Fealsúnacht, Feall agus Fuil: aistí ar ghnéithe de stair `98
Aengus O Snodaigh, ed,
(BAC, Coiscéim 1998).
Last out as usual. Aengus scraped onto the list, with his compilation of a series of lectures given by eight historians as Gaeilge earlier this year. It's not even launched till tomorrow, Friday. Some very interesting topics dealt with in it.
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