Great Irish Speeches

by Richard Aldous, Colm Tóibín

Overview

A stirring anthology of 50 speeches—eulogies and damnations, new beginnings and last words, threats of war and demands for peace—that have shaped Irish history
 
Fifty of the most stirring and memorable speeches in Irish history are collected here—from the political oratories of Charles Stewart Parnell, Michael Collins, and Eamon De Valera to emotive addresses by the nation’s celebrated poets, writers, and musicians. All of the included speeches have had a remarkable impact on the course of Irish and world history. The oratorical skills of the greatest names in Irish politics and culture are here: Henry Grattan, Daniel O'Connell, Charles Stewart Parnell, Michael Collins, W. B. Yeats, Eamon de Valera, John F. Kennedy, and Seamus Heaney, to name but a few. Each speech is preceded by an introduction, which places the address in context and underlines its historical significance, as well as an iconic photograph of the speaker. Presented chronologically, the collection provides tremendous insight into Irish history.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781847248879
Publisher:	Quercus
Publication date:	02/01/2011
Pages:	234
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 7.70(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Richard Aldous is the head of the School of History and Archives at University College, Dublin. He contributes to the Irish Times and is the author of The Lion and the Unicorn. Colm Toibin is an award-winning novelist. He is the author of numerous books, including Brooklyn, which was longlisted for the Booker Prize and won the 2009 Costa Novel Award 

Table of Contents

Foreword   Colm Toibin     4
Introduction     11
'Spirit of Swift! Spirit of Molyneux!' 16 April 1782   Henry Grattan     12
'Whatever be the sentence of the court, I am prepared for it.' 10 November 1798   Theobald Wolfe Tone     15
'I am sickened with this rant of Irish dignity and independence.' 10 February 1800   John FitzGibbon     19
'Then, and not till then, let my epitaph be written.' 19 September 1803   Robert Emmet     22
'Hold, I have seen the aliens do their duty!' 23 February 1837   Richard Lalor Sheil     26
'Be obedient to me, and Ireland shall be free.' 1 October 1843   Daniel O'Connell     30
'Gentlemen, you have a country!' 17 June 1839   Thomas Davis     35
'Eternity is not long enough, nor hell is not hot enough.' 17 February 1867   David Moriarty     38
'No man has the right to fix the boundary of the march of a nation.' 21 January 1885   Charles Stewart Parnell     41
'The Land League repels the accusation, and counter-charges landlordism.' 29 October 1889   Michael Davitt     45
'Parnell, by his public misconduct, has utterly disqualified himself.' 3 July 1891$dThe Catholic hierarchy     50
'His heart still yearned toward the people of Ireland.' 20May 1898   John Dillon     53
'If they want war, then war they will have.' 4 October 1913   James Larkin     56
'Ulster is asking to be let alone.' 11 February 1914   Edward Carson     60
'The interests of Ireland are at stake in this war.' 20 September 1914   John Redmond     63
'The fools, the fools! They have left us our Fenian dead.' 1 August 1915   Patrick Pearse     66
'Let us in God's name abide by the decision.' 19 December 1921   Michael Collins     70
'The grossest act of betrayal that Ireland ever endured.' 7 January 1922   Mary MacSwiney     75
'We are no petty people.' 11 June 1925   William Butler Yeats     78
'The Blueshirts will be victorious in the Irish Free State.' 28 February 1934   John A. Costello     83
'We are a Protestant Parliament and a Protestant State.' 24 April 1934   Sir James Craig     87
'That Ireland which we dreamed of.' 17 March 1943   Eamon de Valera     91
'The abuse of a people who have done him no wrong.' 16 May 1945   Eamon de Valera     96
'The honesty of my motives will be attacked by able men.' 12 April 1951   Noel Browne     101
'100,000 jobs.' 11 October 1955   Sean Lemass      106
'No one is likely to dispute the existence or the gravity of these dangers.' 17 October 1958   Frank Aiken     110
'Ireland's hour has come.' 28 June 1963   John F. Kennedy     114
'The seventies will be socialist.' 13 October 1967   Brendan Corish     121
'Ulster stands at the crossroads.' 9 December 1968   Terence O'Neill     125
'There is no place in society for us.' 22 April 1969   Bernadette Devlin     129
'The Irish government can no longer stand by.' 13 August 1969   Jack Lynch     133
'Mongrel foxes.' 21 May 1972   Liam Cosgrave     137
'We are living away beyond our means.' 9 January 1980   Charles J. Haughey     142
'People of Galway - we love you!' 7 September 1980   Joe Connolly     147
'Sit down and negotiate our future with us.' 16 November 1981   John Hume     150
'I stand by the Republic.' 20 February 1985   Des O'Malley     154
'People are entitled to a mature discussion.' 16 May 1986   Garret FitzGerald     158
'I will not play that game.' 2 September 1987   Alan Dukes     163
'Come dance with me in Ireland.' 3 December 1990   Mary Robinson     167
'A necessary development of human rights.' 23 June 1993   Maire Geoghegan-Quinn     171
'The Ireland I now inhabit.' 7 December 1995   Seamus Heaney     176
'A cold house for Catholics.' 10 December 1998   David Trimble     179
'Closer to Boston than Berlin.' 21 July 2000   Mary Harney     183
'Ansbacher man.' 11 July 2002   Joe Higgins     188
'I will introduce a prohibition on smoking.' 30 January 2003   Micheal Martin     192
'Now there is an alternative.' 6 April 2005   Gerry Adams     195
'Their deaths rise far above the clamour.' 27 January 2006   Mary McAleese     199
'Ireland needs to cherish its roots.' 26 February 2007   Bertie Ahern     204
'Northern Ireland has come to a time of peace.' 8 May 2007   Ian Paisley     209
'This is what Ireland can give to the world.' 15 May 2007   Bertie Ahern     214
Index of Notable Phrases     219
Index     221