Family Histories of the Irish Revolution

This volume presents a unique and engaging selection of stories from current and retired staff at NUI Galway of familial participation during the revolutionary period. It captures the ways in which family history and memory is transmitted and the influence and legacy of these histories. The stories include familial accounts of well-known figures like Peadar O'Donnell, Tom Kettle, and Hanna and Francis Sheehy-Skeffington, alongside accounts of men and women unknown/forgotten by the larger historical narrative. The contributions include accounts of nationalists and unionists; men, women, and young people; British army soldiers and Irish Volunteers; members of Cumann na mBan and the ICA. Through very real human experiences and personal stories, it demonstrates the complex ways in which people engaged with the events of the period and the diversity of contemporary experience. The contributions discuss how family history and memory was imparted and aim to explore the legacy of this on succeeding generations. As such, the volume reflects the impact of the revolutionary period on the present generation from a lifecourse perspective. Some of these family stories and memories have been buried for generations, such as those of family members who served in the British army during the First World War or of RUC men in rural Ireland, or the real and personal impact of the Civil War, thus shedding new light on the complex politics of memory in post-independence Ireland. -- Publisher description Cover 1 Title Page 4 Copyright Page 5 Contents 6 Acknowledgments 8 Foreword by President Michael D. Higgins 10 Introduction 12 The Irish revolutionary decade, 1913–23: voices, narratives andcontexts 24 1 Our aunt Eilish’s untold story of rebellion, romance and religion 38 2 Family stories and secret keepers: who is Máire Bastabal? 50 3 The Sheehy Skeffington legacy and its influence on me today 70 4 The many sides of Tom Kettle 85 5 From family history to history: my grandfather and I 98 6 Martin Savage: Sligo’s working- class hero 107 7 ‘He did everything, he was the most reliable man we had’:Commandant Pat Fallon (1885–1958), South Mayo Brigade 121 8 A life less ordinary: Barney ‘the Miller’ and the War of Independence 133 9 Jack Morrogh and ‘Sinn Fein’s foredoomed dreams’ 143 10 ‘Ireland will soon be free’: Paddy Maher and the Knocklong Raid 157 11 Dan McCann: IRA artificer and a ‘dangerous man’ 169 12 Peadar O’Donnell: a rebellious relative 177 13 Michael Canavan: an ordinary (heroic) life 191 14 Caught in the conflict: the predicament of the Irish police forceduring the War of Independence 200 15 Cantans intra et extra Chorum: Patrick and Francis Shaw 216 Contributors 230 Index 234