‘What was to unfold in Ireland, between 1911 and 1921’, writes W.J. McCormack, ‘was effectively an ideological battle to fill the cheap places, to draw the lower middle class into this cause or that, social revolution, imperial retrenchment or nationalist separatism’ (p. 82). ‘Cheap places’ refers to a review of musical culture in the Dublin of 1913, in which the writer noted that the popularity of Wagner ‘grows and grows’. McCormack’s undertaking is to trace the ways in which challenging and often controversial ideas from Europe were conveyed to Ireland via intellectuals, after which they were absorbed (often unconsciously) by the general population. This is an extremely difficult task and McCormack submits a truly impressive range of material in the course of his quest, from the French syllabus read by Pearse and others at the Royal University of Ireland through articles in the Irish Review to the more circuitous connection between the French poets read by Yeats under the guidance of Iseult Gonne, who, through her father Lucien Millevoye, had some contact with the literary salon of the writer and right-wing politician Maurice Barrès.
Reviews
Atlas of the Great Irish Famine
When I got my review copy of the Atlas of the Great Irish Famine, I was startled by the heft of the book; this is a seriously weighty tome! In spite of its cumbersome format, however, Cork University Press is to be congratulated for a fine publication with excellent production values. As far as content is concerned, ‘it does exactly what it says on the tin’: this is an atlas, compiled and edited by geographers. According to the introduction, the cartographic journey to the Atlas of the Great Irish Famine ‘began almost twenty years ago with a discussion in the Department of Geography, University College Cork’. Anyone wishing to study or research the Famine will discover a fascinating assembly of relevant material contained in the maps, diagrams, graphs, illustrations, statistics and essays that adorn this publication. There is one major drawback, however—the absence of a proper index. There is, as you would expect from geographers, an index of places, but the reader will find this less than helpful when trying to make sense of the multitude of facts contained in the atlas.
Bookworm
The decade of centenaries has Irish publishers working overtime. Four Courts Press have now launched an ambitious new series of county histories: ‘The Irish Revolution, 1912–23’. The first volume is Michael Farry’s Sligo (€17.50pb, 192pp, ISBN 9781846823022); if it is anything to go by, this will be an elegant, comprehensive and well-produced series. Further books … Read more
Museum eye : Ireland’s Great Hunger Museum
In his painting Departure, Pádraic Reany depicts an apocalyptic human procession trudging across a blighted and bloodied potato field, the emaciated dead lying beneath the feet of the mourners, the living marching towards perpetual exile on a famine ship. The anger of the piece encapsulates the mood of the inaugural exhibition of the newly opened … Read more
TV eye : A lost son
Ireland has yet to come to terms with its Civil War, fought over the bitterly divisive Treaty signed in December 1921, resulting in up to 1,000 fatalities and the subject of limited scholarly study. Michael McDowell SC, former attorney general, minister for justice and tánaiste, is a compelling presenter in this well-crafted documentary. He embarks … Read more