The Rising: Ireland: Easter 1916

by Fearghal McGarry

Overview

Based on a recently released trove of over 1,700 eye-witness statements, this gripping volume tells the story of the Easter Rising as seen through the eyes of the rebels themselves, capturing in crisp, unflinching detail what the nascent Irish revolution actually felt like. As it chronicles the activities of members of Sinn Féin, the Irish Republican Brotherhood, Cumann na mBan, and the Irish Volunteers, this compelling volume addresses a range of key questions that continue to divide historians of modern Ireland: What led people from ordinary backgrounds to fight for Irish freedom? What did they think they could achieve given the superior forces arrayed against them? What kind of republic were they willing to kill and die for? Fearghal McGarry deftly interweaves the oral history of the rank-and-file revolutionaries of the Rising into a comprehensive, yet powerfully affecting narrative—one that The Boston Globe called "vivid and compelling" and "a poignant mosaic of idealism, bravery, and humanity."

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780199605972
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	09/05/2011
Edition description:	Older Edition
Pages:	384
Product dimensions:	5.30(w) x 8.40(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Fearghal McGarry is Senior Lecturer in History at Queen's University, Belfast. He is the author of a number of books on Irish history in the twentieth century, including Frank Ryan, Irish Politics and the Spanish Civil War, and most recently, Eoin O'Duffy: A Self-Made Hero (OUP, 2005).

Table of Contents

1. The Rising Generation: Separatism in Ireland2. Arms in Irish hands: Volunteering3. The Soul of the Nation: War4. Walking on Air: The Rising in Dublin5. Glorious Forever: The Fall of the Republic6. Charlie Weston, Are you Gone Mad? The Rising in Provincial Ireland7. A Good End: Punishment8. The Beginning of Ireland: AftermathGuide to Further ReadingNotesIndex

Editorial Reviews

"Although the subject has been covered before, in this work McGarry (history, Queen's Univ., Belfast) uses primary sources only recently made available, focusing not on the major leaders but on members of the rank and file, and lets them provide the descriptions of what happened almost 100 years ago....[A]n important addition to the field."—Library Journal

"McGarry's prose throughout does justice to the very dramatic story he tells. He seamlessly weaves together these richly evocative witnesses with current historiography and narrative, making this book both a major addition to what has already been done, but also an excellent introduction for the general reader to the Rising of 1916."—America

"[A] vivid and compelling narrative that explores the thoughts, fears, and motivations of the revolutionaries in this seminal event in the nation's fight for independence....The Rising offers invaluable insights into the insurrection from ground level....[A] poignant mosaic of idealism, bravery, and humanity....The Rising is rich with tales of the acts of ordinary Dubliners."—Boston Globe

"McGarry succeeds in exposing what few histories of the Rising have done: how the ordinary men and women felt as their city fell around them, bursting into flame and assaulted by rebels and the counterattacks by British troops rushed in to crush the latest in a series of seemingly futile uprisings."—New York Journal of Books

From the Publisher

The insurrection that began on Easter Monday 1916 in Dublin can be described many ways: a doomed coup d'état, a glorious sacrifice, a catalyst for Ireland's freedom from Britain. Although the subject has been covered before, in this work McGarry (history, Queen's Univ., Belfast) uses primary sources only recently made available, focusing not on the major leaders but on members of the rank and file, and lets them provide the descriptions of what happened almost 100 years ago. The rebels' motives, preparations, experiences, and reflections are absorbing, and the small details—e.g., a volunteer's recollection of bidding good-bye to his father while his mother made him sandwiches to take along when he left to fight—are poignant. VERDICT This book assumes some prior knowledge of Irish history, politics, and culture; thus, it's not ideal for the generalist unfamiliar with the subject. However, it is an important addition to the field and is especially useful for study of the role of women and the laboring classes in the uprising, and as a companion piece to more general histories. Best for academic libraries. (Maps, a chronology, and illustrations not seen.)—Megan Hahn Fraser, University of California Lib., Los Angeles

Library Journal