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Dec. 2nd, 2012 06:09 pm68. Story of Ireland: In Search of a New National Memory by Neil Hegarty
I got this book because I enjoyed the TV series for two reasons: It was presented by Fergal Keane, whose voice I love, and its theme was "it's more complicated than that" (I don't have the knowledge to judge how accurate it is, but when that is the theme, I am less inclined to judge on that basis).
Anyway, I struggled with the book through all the periods I'm intrinsically interested in. It turns out Tudor-era Ireland is one of those things like the dating of Easter that I am unable to internalise. A day after reading about the Fight of the Earls, I couldn't have said what it was about.
I might have expected a series that was part funded by RTE to concentrate more on the Gaelic parts of Ireland in the Middle Ages, but the emphasis was on early English colonisation, with infuriating throw-away snippets of "the Gaelic chronicles indicate that..." On the other hand, there was nothing about Viking Age Dublin that was so wrong I wanted to throw the book against the wall, so that's a big step up on most general works on the subject.
I did find it picked up from the chapter on Wolf Tone (and that one period where there had been a possibility of there being a secular, non-sectarian Ireland based on Enlightenment principles). The narrative of how Union came about and the long struggle for Home Rule is basic and easy to follow while showing the complexity of the situation. I did not know, for instance, the extent to which women were involved in the Easter Rising, because de Valera later made sure they got written (and in one case literally airbrushed) out.
So, um, kind of worth it for a general introduction. I will be mining the bibliography for books on medieval Ireland and not keeping it, so if anybody wants my copy, give me a shout.
I got this book because I enjoyed the TV series for two reasons: It was presented by Fergal Keane, whose voice I love, and its theme was "it's more complicated than that" (I don't have the knowledge to judge how accurate it is, but when that is the theme, I am less inclined to judge on that basis).
Anyway, I struggled with the book through all the periods I'm intrinsically interested in. It turns out Tudor-era Ireland is one of those things like the dating of Easter that I am unable to internalise. A day after reading about the Fight of the Earls, I couldn't have said what it was about.
I might have expected a series that was part funded by RTE to concentrate more on the Gaelic parts of Ireland in the Middle Ages, but the emphasis was on early English colonisation, with infuriating throw-away snippets of "the Gaelic chronicles indicate that..." On the other hand, there was nothing about Viking Age Dublin that was so wrong I wanted to throw the book against the wall, so that's a big step up on most general works on the subject.
I did find it picked up from the chapter on Wolf Tone (and that one period where there had been a possibility of there being a secular, non-sectarian Ireland based on Enlightenment principles). The narrative of how Union came about and the long struggle for Home Rule is basic and easy to follow while showing the complexity of the situation. I did not know, for instance, the extent to which women were involved in the Easter Rising, because de Valera later made sure they got written (and in one case literally airbrushed) out.
So, um, kind of worth it for a general introduction. I will be mining the bibliography for books on medieval Ireland and not keeping it, so if anybody wants my copy, give me a shout.
