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Irish Emigrant Book Review, No.57 (April 2000)
The Story of
a Toiler’s Life by James Mullin
- This is a remarkable life story, taking us from a life of poverty in
Co. Tyrone in the Famine years to the travels of a successful doctor who
has made his home in Wales. First published a year after the author’s
death in 1920, it forms part of the “Classics of Irish History” series
and includes Mullin’s views on a number of major characters whom he met
through his political associations, including Michael Davitt, Charles
Stewart Parnell and Padraig Pearse. However he had first to overcome his
humble origins to acquire an education, a process greatly helped by the
encouragement and self-sacrifice of his mother, and his own love of reading.
Despite having left formal education at the age of eleven he continued
reading anything he could find, even losing one job for reading when he
was supposed to be working. His interests included the study of Latin
and Greek, and his mother persuaded him to return to school, Cookstown
Academy, when he was 22 years of age, from where he made his way to the
Queen’s University in Galway. Despite many setbacks, and with a great
deal of hard work, he managed to acquire a medical degree, and much of
the narrative is taken up with an account of the different practices in
which he worked, mostly in Wales. At this point the determination shown
by James Mullin in his childhood and youth takes on a hint of arrogance
as he describes the people whom he has to treat, but this may be due to
the system prevalent at the time, whereby a doctor was put on contract
by the mine owners and was duty bound to treat the miners when requested,
a privilege the miners often abused. His involvement in politics began
with membership of the Fenians as a young man, followed by a long period
when he eschewed all political groups. However the violent anti-Irish
reaction in Britain to the Phoenix Park murders prompted his return to
the political arena and it was his long association with the United Irish
League in Cardiff which brought him into contact with Davitt, Parnell
and Pearse. For the latter two he gave only a qualified admiration, but
was a devoted supporter of Davitt, whose death he described as “the greatest
loss that Ireland sustained in the nineteenth century”. / “A Toiler’s
Life” is very much the story of one man, his marriage is covered in just
a few lines, there is one mention of a daughter and one of grandchildren,
but for the most part Mullin seems to have followed his own path. His
extensive travels, whether hiking in the British Isles, sailing to the
Mediterranean or to Jamaica, only once seem to have included his wife,
though in fairness many of the voyages were working holidays when he took
the role of ship’s surgeon. The book gives us, however, a fascinating
and wide-ranging insight into the 19th century world from a man who had
known both poverty and comparative wealth.
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I am Alone by
Walter Macken
- This second novel by author and playwright Walter Macken had the distinction
of being banned in his native country when it was first published in 1948,
whether for the suggestion of pre-marital sex or its IRA subplot I’m not
entirely sure. Set in London just before the outbreak of the Second World
War, the book tells the story of one Galwayman’s experiences when he leaves
home for the bright lights and building sites of England. Patrick Moore’s
first digs, with a relative, prove rather more eventful than he had imagined
and he becomes caught up in the drama even when he has moved on. His encounters
with English women allow him to learn the hard way that beauty is only
skin deep, but he eventually makes the right choice and all seems well
as he settles into married life with Maureen and a job selling insurance.
However a chance meeting with an old school friend, Jojo, reveals the
underside of life for the Irish in Britain, the world of explosives and
bombings, of being on the run and escaping home to Ireland. The climax
brings together the two strands of Patrick’s English experience, with
a police chase closely followed by a dash to the maternity hospital. The
loneliness alluded to in the title is variously felt by all three of the
principal characters, Patrick, Maureen and Jojo and each, in his or her
own way, comes to see that the feelings of loneliness will be finite.
Interestingly the descriptions of Patrick’s life on the road as an insurance
agent are reminiscent of those described by George Orwell in “Coming up
for Air”, with both authors suggesting the rather dubious morality of
the insurance world in England between the wars. The atmosphere of pre-war
Britain, with the war clouds gathering, is well captured, and indeed the
author lived in London for a short time during this period. I was mildly
surprised, however, to find a television set featuring in a public house
visited by Patrick and Lelia. / “I Am Alone” is, in some ways, the story
of the hundreds and thousands of young Irish people who have emigrated
to Britain and who move from fear and loneliness to an acceptance of and
by the people of their adopted country. But it is also the story of one
man’s determination to lead an “ordinary” life despite meeting with some
extraordinary circumstances.
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Killing Time
by K.T. McCaffrey
- In Mr McCaffrey’s second novel to feature investigative journalist Emma
Boylan, the story is again centred on Dublin and on those who wield power,
whether in government or the law. A senior politician is murdered and
an attempted cover-up goes badly wrong, leading to another murder and
the even deeper involvement of the governing party. Emma Boylan’s help
is enlisted by photographer Frankie Kelly, and it is his missing negatives
which set in motion a trail of deceit which ends in a Carlow village.
Jacqueline Miller, a woman whose life has been shattered by sexual abuse
as a child and a horrific car accident six years previously; Jimmy Rabbitte,
a photographer whose career has been ruined by drugs; Damien Conway, a
young man deeply in debt, all play their part in uncovering the politician’s
murderer. Emma’s feelings of personal responsibility for the death of
photographer Frankie Kelly drive her determination to pinpoint not only
the men who carried out the killing, but the person who ordered it to
be done. In so doing she uncovers the evidence to implicate a senior detective,
with the expectation that the trail of guilt will lead to the highest
political level. / A few chapters into “Killing Time” I was disappointed,
I thought the clues being laid were somewhat heavy handed and that the
final outcome was a foregone conclusion. I couldn’t have been more wrong.
The twist in the tail of this fast-paced thriller was totally unexpected
and overturned all my preconceived notions of the identity of the killer.
I look forward to more Emma Boylan books from this author.
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Rebels by Peter
De Rosa
- Reissued ten years after it was first published, this account of the
1916 Rising comprises a wealth of detail which the author has fashioned
into a historical novel. De Rosa has dealt with elements of the story
not usually included, such as the voyage of the Aud from Germany via the
Arctic circle to Tralee Bay. This long and dangerous journey we see through
the eyes of the ship’s captain, Karl Spindler, bringing home to us his
confusion and frustration at the failure of the Irish to make contact
in Tralee. The drawing together of the American and German threads in
the years leading up to the Rising, through the work of John Devoy and
Roger Casement, is well documented. An interesting development was the
attempt to fire Irish prisoners of war in Germany with an enthusiasm for
fighting with their captors against the English in Ireland, though the
attempt was doomed to failure. / With the capture of the Aud, the scene
of action moves to Dublin where the members of the Military Council have
to counter Eoin MacNeill’s opposition to an armed rebellion, an opposition
which, despite an ingenious plan prepared by Joseph Plunkett, eventually
leaves insurgents around the country in disarray and unable to support
their Dublin comrades. In the anecdotal style adopted by de Rosa the events
of Easter week are given an immediacy rarely found in books on this subject,
and the characters, whether major or minor, are brought vividly to life.
Acts of both barbarism and kindness are highlighted, and the reaction
to the bloodshed and the effect on the citizens of Dublin are well illustrated.
The description of the final days of each of the rebels executed, and
their last meetings with their families, is particularly poignant, and
the whole provides evidence of an enormous and painstaking research project.
I had difficulty with the authenticity of some of the dialogue, particularly
the way in which the author attempted to render phonetically the accent
of Countess Markievicz, but that is a minor quibble about an informative
and entertaining web of fact and fiction.
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A Pocket History
of Irish Rebels by Morgan Llywelyn
- From Silken Thomas to Gerry Adams, this latest in the Pocket History
series chronicles the main players in the struggle for freedom in Ireland,
and the author’s technique of revealing the human side of the characters
reveals her novelist background. The story of O’Sullivan Beare’s mammoth
trek through the country to join O’Neill in Antrim, and the description
of Constance Markievicz’ part in the Easter Rising are particularly well
done. It was interesting to learn, in the profile of Gerry Adams, that
the present Troubles were deemed to have begun with a loyalist parade
through the Bogside in Derry in 1969, since I had believed that the attack
on the Civil Rights march at Burntollet in 1968 was the defining event.
Of course even within the office here there is another view which dates
the start to the loyalist murder in Malvern Street in 1966.
A Pocket History
of Gaelic Culture by Alan Titley
- The tone of this Pocket History is different indeed. Alan Titley takes
an irreverent look at what is seen as Irish culture, and traces the history
of its development through myth and language, taking sideswipes at a number
of institutions en route. With a mixture of serious scholarship and tongue-in-cheek
humour he endeavours to bring us an understanding of how we arrived at
the culture of Riverdance and Irish coffee on the one hand, and the resurgence
in the interest in Irish as a language on the other.
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The Easter Rising,
a guide to Dublin in 1916 by Conor Kostick and Lorcan Collins
- One of two books on the Rising to be reviewed this month, this is based
on a guided walking tour of associated sites in Dublin. Beginning with
a chronology of the events leading to Easter week and a brief description
of the different factors involved, the reader begins the tour outside
Trinity College and finishes at Dublin Castle. Knowing the locations,
it is easy to visualise what was happening at each point, and to participate
in the walking tour would obviously make the experience much more immediate.
Even to a stranger to Dublin, the accompanying illustrations help convey
both the idealism and the destruction which marked the events of Easter
1916. Included are short bibliographies of the signatories to the Proclamation,
and further suggested reading, making this a very useful contribution
to the understanding of a pivotal part of our history.
National Questions
ed. R.V.Comerford and Enda Delaney
- These seven essays arose from a series of talks given at a conference
held in Maynooth to mark the 150th anniversary of the death of Daniel
O’Connell. Subtitled “Reflections on Daniel O’Connell and Contemporary
Ireland”, each contribution takes as its basis some aspect of the life
and experience of the Liberator. Thus in considering the place of broadcasting
in Ireland today, Farrel Corcoran, Professor of Communications at DCU,
looks briefly at the situation extant in the 19th century, and prides
a neat link between O’Connell’s monster meeting on the Hill of Tara, and
the emergence of Radio Tara and Tara Television to serve Irish people
living in Britain. Miriam Hederman O’Brien considers Ireland’s contribution
to Europe, having first established O’Connell’s credentials as a true
European, and Maurice O’Connell cites the Liberator’s founding of the
National Bank in 1834 as a precursor to a look at our financial institutions.
Other contributions come from H.C.G. Matthew, Professor of Modern History
at Oxford; Maynooth’s Professor of Education John Coolahan; Queen’s lecturer
Enda Delaney; Eda Sagarra, Professor of Germanic Studies at Trinity; and
Joseph Liechty of the Irish School of Ecumenics.
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Princes of Ireland,
Planters of Maryland by Ronald Hoffman
- Ronald Hoffman, who takes pains to record the fact that the book was
written in collaboration with Sally D. Mason, has produced a study of
three generations of the O’Carroll/Carroll family from the time that Charles
Carroll the Settler left the Irish midlands for Maryland with the ambition
to rebuild the family fortune and make good the loss of much of his land
in Ireland, though he and his heirs found that their Catholic religion
was just as much a hindrance to advancement in the New World as it had
been in the Old. However both he and his son, known as Charles Carroll
of Annapolis, increased the family fortune, primarily through the acquisition
of property. The son, an astute businessman with a determination to remain
independent, was the only surviving member of his family. He took on the
responsibility of his brother’s children and subsequently became embroiled
in a legal quarrel with family members. His only son, known as Charles
Carroll of Carrollton, was almost 20 years of age before his parents eventually
married, a highly unusual arrangement for 18th century Maryland. Charles
Carroll III had been sent to school in Europe but, despite the distance
between them, his father guided every aspect of his life. After 16 years
abroad he came home to Maryland and became involved in political life,
leading to his becoming a signatory of the Declaration of Independence,
the only Catholic to do so. The story of these three men is brought to
life by the wealth of detail amassed by the author, in particular the
domestic details of family life. All three made interesting marriages
and the story of Molly, wife of Charles Carroll of Carrollton, is a saga
of multiple pregnancies, infant deaths and drug-taking. Charles himself
lived to the age of 95, and through his involvement in the Declaration
of Independence “this descendant of a long line of Irish rebels became
a full-fledged member of America’s Revolutionary elite”.
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Irish Winners
of the Victoria Cross by Richard Doherty and David Truesdale
- Detailed research has led the authors of this book to suppose that the
generally accepted total of 166 Irish people awarded the highest medal
for bravery may be an underestimate, if all those born to Irish parents
living overseas are taken into account. There are also a small number
whose names would suggest an Irish background but, with no documentary
evidence, they have not been included in the total. The book is divided
chronologically from the Crimea to the Second World War, and begins with
the first presentation of the award by Queen Victoria in Hyde Park in
1857 during which two Irishmen, Lt Charles Davis Lucas of the Royal Navy
and Ensign Luke O’Connor of the 23rd Regiment were among those rewarded
for gallantry. Details are given of the particular acts of courage for
which the award was given, though in the earlier conflicts these are not
extensive. One World War I recipient from the North misconstrued the words
of praise from King George V, “You’re a brave man”, at the presentation
of his medal, and replied, “You’re a brave wee man yourself, Sir”. Another
soldier, James Duffy from near Letterkenny, met with some difficulty as
a result of his award, being kidnapped by the IRA in the early ’20s and
receiving threatening letters on other occasions. The book, which includes
a number of photographs of the holders of the Victoria Cross, has a final
section listing Irishmen whose nominations for the award were rejected,
and an index of all Irish recipients.
Traithnini
by John Ennis
- The translation of the work “traithnini”, as given at the beginning
of John Ennis’ volume of poetry, is “a dart or arrow, a strong blade of
grass, a withered stalk of meadow grass...” and the 100 sonnet-like poems
reflect days of growing, of living and loving, always with the awareness
of the mower’s blade ready to “cut us down / at the ankles / our voices
falling / side by side in swathes.” The poems tell of days spent among
the fields, working and wondering, of lovers and children and parents,
and include two devoted to the memories of Wilfred Owen and Francis Ledwidge.
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Light from
light trans. John F. Deane
- Ingemar Leckius’ “Ljus av ljus” is translated by John F. Deane in the
Poetry Europe Series and the title poem represents the Swedish poet’s
movement from an earlier nihilistic period to a belief in Christianity
and the common themes of the major world religions. For this work Ingemar
Leckius was awarded the Bellman Prize of the Swedish Academy, his country’s
most prestigious poetry award.
Working towards
balance ed. Harry Bohan and Gerard Kennedy
- This collection comprises lectures delivered at a conference convened
to debate issues arising from our transition from a Church-dominated society
to one dominated increasingly by technology. A follow-on to an earlier
conference, “Are We Forgetting Something?”, the speakers in this instance
included journalist Fintan O’Toole, Catherine McGeachy of Vision Consultants,
Dr Tom Collins of NUI, Maynooth, clinical psychologist Dr Miriam Moore
and John O’Donoghue, author of the bestselling “Anam Cara”. The introductory
lecture by Fintan O’Toole discusses the relationship between power and
ethics, citing the scandals of tax evasion and child sex abuse as examples
of the loss of an ethical base for behaviour influenced by the holding
of power. Catherine McGeachy recognises how, in different work environments,
the performance of the individual will vary enormously, and makes a very
strong argument for employers to provide a “compelling place to work”.
Dr Collins reflects on the way in which we are adapting to the changes
in our society, and the importance of active citizenship, while John O’Donoghue
explores the myth and mythology of balance and the imbalance brought about
by such as the consumerist society. This theme is also taken up by Dr
Miriam Moore, who deals with the problems posed by the levels of stress
in the workplace which are often provoked by fear of failure, of job loss
or of being unable to cope. The book has an introduction by Fr Harry Bohan
of Rural Resource Development.
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Memories of
the Present ed. Eamonn Slater and Micheal Peillon
- This series of essays looks at the way in which Ireland changed in the
years 1997 and 1998, both in the way it is seen by outsiders and in the
way we see ourselves. The contributors focus in particular on two aspects
of that change, the move towards peace in the North, and the emergence
of the booming economy. Con Coulter of Maynooth examines the way in which
unionists view the Republic and their inability to alter their views in
light of the increased economic success and the lessening influence of
the Catholic Church. Alan Bairner also addresses the differences between
unionist and nationalist, this time through the medium of sport and highlights
three areas, the GAA’s Rule 21 which bars any member of the security forces
from membership of the association; the controversy that arose over a
soccer fixture between Donegal Celtic and the RUC; and the apparent coming
together of both traditions at the time of Ulster’s defeat of a French
team in Lansdowne Road. Mary P. Corcoran provides an interesting view
of the way in which the shopping mall has impacted on our lives, while
Ruth Casey examines the way in which a rural community has become dependent
on an influx of visitors to maintain its vibrancy. Among other topics
covered in this “Sociological Chronicle of Ireland” are the questions
of refugees, ownership of horses within the city of Dublin, traffic problems
in our capital city and the emergence of an indigenous software industry.
Intertwinded
Roots by W.A. Hanna
- “An Ulster-Scot Perspective” examines the roots of division in the North
as they affect the situation in the 21st century. Having first given the
background to the arrival of the Ulster-Scots in Ireland, the difficulties
they faced and the significant emigration to the US from the 17th century,
the author turns his attention to the different sections of the unionist
population of the north and the political and religious views by which
they live. Following this, and forming the major part of the narrative,
is a description of the events leading to the Good Friday Agreement, and
the subsequent failure to follow through to lasting peace. Hanna gives
us his view of what has led to the current uncertainty, and concludes
that without decommissioning the North cannot move forward to total peace.
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