Just Finished Reading: The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue (FP: 2020) [291pp] 

Dublin, 1918. Nurse Julia Power has other things on her mind than turning 30 soon. With growing staff shortages due to the Flu, she has been put in charge of the small maternity ward (6 beds in a crowded room) for mothers suffering through fever on top of everything else. Despite not being full nurse Power is on her own until young volunteer Bridie Sweeny is assigned to her. Completed untrained and barely educated, Bridie is more than nurse Power could have possibly hoped for. A quick learner with a natural bedside manner she is a veritable godsend. But trained and experienced as she is nurse Power cannot make decisions about medication – what little they have after almost 5 years of war – or much else besides. What she needs is a doctor, preferably one trained in maternity. The rumour circulating is that a new doctor is about to arrive to fill one of the posts vacated by a sick surgeon. The rumours say that this doctor is not only a woman but one with a political past who the authorities would very much like to speak to. The rumours say that she aided the rebels during the Easter Rising and was only not executed because of her sex. Not that nurse Power cares about any of that. The only thing on her mind is the health of the mothers under her charge and the delivery of new life into a very troubled world. 

I picked this up primarily because it was a fictional account of the Spanish Flu. The location of Dublin, especially not too long after the 1916 Easter Rising, no doubt added to my interest – although I wasn’t aware just how much this event impacted on the story when I chose to bring this home. The feel of a city at wartime – despite being FAR from any front or fighting – is palpable as is the obvious rubble still not cleared from 1916. I can only guess that the evidence of a failed rebellion was left in place, at least in part, as a reminder to any future rebels what happens when you go up against the British Empire in a time of war.  

The majority of the novel takes place over a period of 3-4 days and in the ‘ward’ of 6 beds. It honestly had a feel of a stage play with characters coming in and leaving off-stage to complete tasks only to return when the story demanded their presence. Most of the focus was on Julia Power as she narrated the story and interacted with the two other main players – Bridie and the doctor Kathleen Lynn (who was a real historical person – more later!). The secondary characters were the mothers awaiting their births who passed through the maternity ward throughout the book. While not exactly cyphers they’re not as deeply rendered as the main characters but are still individuals with enough depth to feel sympathy and understanding for. Although Julia Power is front and centre in the plot and is a great character in her own right, my favourite was Bridie Sweeny, and I honestly fell in love with her. Orphaned from an early age and largely uneducated she had survived her brutal upbringing with her native intelligence and ‘soul’ fully intact.  

Now the warnings: Being the time, the place and the particular circumstances of the story you need to be aware that people are going to die and that there will be a not inconsiderable amount of pain and blood displayed from time to time. Although no doubt toned down quite a bit this is not a book for the squeamish! But if you can read about (and imagine!) or have experienced birth and its dangers without feeling faint or sick you should be OK. Finally, if you’re like me and form emotional bonds to characters in a book you’re going to need a few tissues handy at the end. I’m still getting over it... One of the best reads of the year. Definitely recommended with the above warnings! 

Just Finished Reading: Michael Collins and the Troubles – The Struggle for Irish Freedom 1912-1922 by Ulick O’Connor (FP: 1975) [209pp] 

Tension in Ireland had been building for some time. Periodic rebellions across the island, although more prevalent in the South, had long been a feature of life there. As the 20th century progressed it became obvious, even to the British parliament in London that something needed to be done. The answer it seemed was to give Ireland a form of independence similar to the Dominion status of Canada and Australia within the British Empire. Not everyone, of course, was happy with the idea of Home Rule – both in England and in the north of Ireland specifically – and the passage of the Bill through parliament was far from easy. A further complication arose with the start of the Great War and Home Rule was delayed until after hostilities has ceased. Tensions, however, continued to rise with activists on both sides of the issue starting to arm and train for future conflict both in support of Home Rule (or indeed full Independence) or to fight against it. This culminated in the 1916 Easter Rising in Dublin and the subsequent brutal British response. With the end of the War in Europe talks began again regarding Home Rule with now three factions arming heavily – those in favour of the Home Rule bill being implemented, those fighting for full Independence from the British Empire and those fighting (in the northern counties) to remain within the Empire. A Civil War was brewing in Ireland and Michael Collins, one of the leaders in the Rising, was at the heart of things. 

This slim volume covered much of the ground I’d read about in various other books regarding this turbulent period in Anglo-Irish history. Despite being necessarily brief, it did manage to cover the Easter Rising in some detail over around 3-4 chapters and I picked up a few more insights into that pivotal event. It was interesting to see how the Rising could have been much more effective (or at least longer lasting) if the plan for a much wider rebellion had managed to go off as expected or if a large arms shipment from Germany had been delivered into Republican hands as planned. But what I took from this book was the importance of some of the leading players in the drama – and not only Collins himself. Although hundreds of men (and women!) took part in the Easter Rising itself and many thousands of others in the subsequent Civil War, it was the big players (mostly men, but with a few notable women too) who directed things for good or ill both in Ireland itself and within the English establishment in London. I’ll definitely be reading more about them going forward. I also wanted to read more about the leaders of the Rising who were arrested afterwards and eventually executed in England for treason.  

England has had a LONG and difficult relationship with its close neighbour to the west, and I’m really only just still scratching the surface of that troubled history. As I get older, I’m becoming more interested in my Irish heritage so want to understand the background to incidents such as this (for one thing I only discovered that Ireland even HAD a Civil War just a few years ago!) so expect more Ireland focused books in the years ahead. Oh, and just one other thing... Although Michael Collins does feature quite a bit in this book – especially in the second half – this isn’t really about him so much as the role he played in things during and after 1916. On the back, the book is classified as a Biography. It isn’t. But, as a well-written and concise look at the 10-year period from 1912-1922 its pretty good. More to come. 

Just Finished Reading: 1916 – Ireland's Revolutionary Tradition by Kieran Allen (FP: 2016) [196pp] 

This was yet another one of those books that turned out not to be exactly what I’d expected. Indeed, it was far more about its sub-title than its main title. Although the author did discuss the events of the Easter Rising in Dublin in 1916 (briefly) as well as the underlying reasons for both the event and its failure (briefly), the main thrust of this often deeply political work was what happened next and how those events echoed through the following century until the present. 

After the failure of the Uprising and the quite brutal British response (things never go well when you’re firing artillery down streets into enemy held buildings) Ireland secured partial independence from the British Empire followed by a short bloody Civil War and counter-revolution. Here I learnt exactly why southern Ireland became the poster child for religious conservatism on steroids. I never fully realised before just how much of a stranglehold the Catholic church had over just about every aspect of Irish life south of the border with Northern Ireland. Coupled with the political power they had access to 24-7 it’s hardly surprising that a clamp down on unions, socialist politics in general (the fear of *communism* was the foundation of much of this and, it seemed, communism was defined as anything that even smelt of social justice or freedom of thought), abortion, divorce, women in any position of power or influence, women in higher education, essentially women as anything other than baby factories (within wedlock naturally) chained to the kitchen sink. Oh, and no access to contraception of any kind, indeed no universal access to healthcare of any kind – unless you could pay through the nose for it, or travel to England which amounted to the same thing. This didn’t really begin to change until the 1970’s and only really got going in the 80’s and beyond.  

On top of this was, as we know, the situation in the North with the minority Catholic community in the separated 6 Counties living under the heel of the majority Protestant community. As you might expect it wasn’t long until fighting broke out as it had been bubbling under for some time. As you’d also expect the Catholics got the rough end of things which prompted both a backlash from organisations like the IRA and the involvement of the British military – AKA ‘The Troubles’.  

Looked at from a very Left-wing perspective - (I hesitate to go so far as to say Marxist, but Karl does come up quite a bit throughout the book) as much of the countries revolutionary tradition/history centres around the life and thought of James Connolly (who I definitely need to read up about!) who was a devoted Socialist/Syndicalist and was a big fan of the bearded one – this was an often fascinating, if at times deeply political look at Irish history post-1916. I think I had a fair, if general, knowledge of Irish history over the last 100 years but I learnt a LOT in less than 200 pages which is cool. Definitely of interest to anyone who wants to dive deeper into Irish political history, though if you’re a novice to this country’s past I’d start with something a bit lighter! More on ‘1916’ to come. 

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Just Finished Reading: Easter 1916 – The Irish Rebellion by Charles Townshend


I’m trying to deepen my knowledge of areas I’m at least partially aware of already rather than move into completely uncharted territory. As part of that knowledge creep I picked up this book recently to find out the details of the Easter uprising in Dublin during Easter 1916. I guess that part of my interest in this event is my Irish ancestry and the fact that my father was born 13 years after and a mere 26 miles south-east of the main event. I can guess that he must have grown up with stories of the Catholic heroes who held off the might of the British army. He certainly mentioned some of the people discussed in this book which was an interesting personal link to an historic event.

I had already been horrified, and incensed, but stories of British atrocities in Dublin during that fateful weekend. I knew about the use of artillery on the streets of central Dublin to clear out rebel strongholds (not unlike the Russian army in Berlin it seemed) and I knew about the fatal error of the British authorities who executed the rebel leaders after the uprising had failed. I remember my disbelief (and righteous anger) when I was told about one rebel who, after being injured in the retaking of the city, was executed after being tied to a chair as he was incapable of standing up to be shot. I can imagine how badly that was received in the Catholic communities at the time – never mind to my less than fully active ‘Catholic’ sensibilities almost a century later.

What I didn’t realise, though maybe I should have, was the level of Imperial oppression prior to the events of 1916. Basically England treated Ireland like a dominion territory – not unlike India. Unsurprisingly the Irish population resented it. When WW1 exploded onto the scene the British administration could not understand the Irish reluctance to join the fight to defend their oppressors. When, after several years of fighting in Europe, the idea of compulsorily conscription was brought up that alone nearly caused a rebellion. With the idea of Home Rule hanging in front of the nation like a carrot – only after the war of course – tensions within the Irish political scene produced a group of radical thinkers (later to become founding members of the IRA) who decided that only an uprising could force the issue. Unfortunately the rebels did not have the weapons, the knowledge or the experience to pull it off. What followed was a series of mistakes on the Irish side which made their positions untenable. But it was the actions on the British side that ironically made the rebellion a successful one. Because of their heavy handed response – both in putting down the immediate act of rebellion and in the subsequent executions – they turned what was basically a farce into an act of heroism that has informed Irish politics even since.

Despite a fairly complex narrative and a large cast of characters, the author managed to keep my attention (often riveted if truth be told) focused on the events of 1916. I did lose track of some of the names from time to time but, overall, managed to keep a grip on things. On one level this can be seen as the story of a romantically bungled uprising by people who had no business being revolutionaries. On another level it was the story of what happens when a powerful nation treats its weaker neighbour with distain. It is also the story of brave, if naïve, men and women who fought and died for freedom in a time of global conflict. Overshadowed by the war in Europe it is easy to forget or overlook the events in Ireland but that, I think, would be a mistake. The fallout of the events that occurred in Dublin in 1916 have echoed down the years and present day Ireland cannot be understood without reference to it. Recommended for those of Irish ancestry or for anyone interested in the history of revolt and revolution.