Read ebook The Pain Game : Why the Irish Think They're the Most Oppressed People Ever DOC, MOBI
9781785370304 English 1785370308 In Unhappy the Land, author Liam Kennedy poses fundamental questions about the social and political history of Ireland and challenges cherished notions of a uniquely painful past. Images of tragedy and victimhood are deeply embedded in the national consciousness, yet, when the Irish experience is viewed in the larger European context, a different perspective emerges. The author's dissection of some pivotal episodes in Irish history serves to explode commonplace assumptions about oppression, victimhood, and a fate said to be comparable 'only to that of the Jews.' Was the catastrophe of the Great Famine really an Irish Holocaust? Was the Ulster Covenant anything other than a battle-cry for ethnic conflict? Was the Proclamation of the Irish Republic a means of texting terror? And, who fears to speak of an Irish War of Independence, shorn of its heroic pretensions? Kennedy argues that the privileging of 'the gun, the drum, and the flag' above social concerns and individual liberties gave rise to disastrous consequences for generations of Irish people. Ireland might well be a land of heroes, from Cuchulainn to Michael Collins, but it is also worth pondering Bertolt Brecht's warning: 'Unhappy the land that is in need of heroes.' [Subject: History, Irish Studies], There is a widespread belief, almost amounting to an article of faith, that the Irish historical experience was uniquely painful. It's an assumption that guides much writing on modern Irish history. Liam Kennedy's seminal work poses fundamental questions about the social and political history of Ireland, challenging us to re-think many of our comfortable, even comforting beliefs about the past. Ranging from the Ulster plantation of the early seventeenth century to the Irish War of Independence, major controversies are examined and challenged within a larger European context. Populist interpretations of the Great Hunger of the 1840s are questioned, and notions, such as the Famine as a kind of Irish Holocaust, are critically reviewed. The malign implications of the Ulster Covenant are highlighted, while the contradictory sentiments within the text of the Proclamation of the Irish Republic in 1916 are given a more complex, multi-layered reality, tinged with contentious conclusions. Liam Kennedy's findings are unexpected, deeply disquieting and inevitably controversial, while his understanding of the 'Why Us' argument is destined to create a stimulating and timely debate. [Subject: History, Irish Studies], There is a widespread belief, amounting almost to an article of faith, that the Irish historical experience was uniquely painful. Such assumptions guide much writing on modern Irish history. It is only by placing Ireland in a larger European context that the issue can be effectively resolved. Liam Kennedy's original and challengingly collection confronts some of the major controversies in modern Irish history, ranging from the Ulster plantation of the early seventeenth century to the Irish War of Independence. Populist interpretations of the Great Hunger of the 1840s are questioned and notions such as the Famine as a kind of Irish Holocaust are critically reviewed. The malign implications of the Ulster Covenant are highlighted, while the contradictory sentiments within the text of the Proclamation of the Irish Republic in 1916 are given a more complex, multi-layered reality tinged with contentious conclusions. Liam Kennedy's findings are unexpected, deeply disquieting and inevitably controversial, while his understanding of the 'Why Us' argument is destined to create a stimulating and timely debate.
9781785370304 English 1785370308 In Unhappy the Land, author Liam Kennedy poses fundamental questions about the social and political history of Ireland and challenges cherished notions of a uniquely painful past. Images of tragedy and victimhood are deeply embedded in the national consciousness, yet, when the Irish experience is viewed in the larger European context, a different perspective emerges. The author's dissection of some pivotal episodes in Irish history serves to explode commonplace assumptions about oppression, victimhood, and a fate said to be comparable 'only to that of the Jews.' Was the catastrophe of the Great Famine really an Irish Holocaust? Was the Ulster Covenant anything other than a battle-cry for ethnic conflict? Was the Proclamation of the Irish Republic a means of texting terror? And, who fears to speak of an Irish War of Independence, shorn of its heroic pretensions? Kennedy argues that the privileging of 'the gun, the drum, and the flag' above social concerns and individual liberties gave rise to disastrous consequences for generations of Irish people. Ireland might well be a land of heroes, from Cuchulainn to Michael Collins, but it is also worth pondering Bertolt Brecht's warning: 'Unhappy the land that is in need of heroes.' [Subject: History, Irish Studies], There is a widespread belief, almost amounting to an article of faith, that the Irish historical experience was uniquely painful. It's an assumption that guides much writing on modern Irish history. Liam Kennedy's seminal work poses fundamental questions about the social and political history of Ireland, challenging us to re-think many of our comfortable, even comforting beliefs about the past. Ranging from the Ulster plantation of the early seventeenth century to the Irish War of Independence, major controversies are examined and challenged within a larger European context. Populist interpretations of the Great Hunger of the 1840s are questioned, and notions, such as the Famine as a kind of Irish Holocaust, are critically reviewed. The malign implications of the Ulster Covenant are highlighted, while the contradictory sentiments within the text of the Proclamation of the Irish Republic in 1916 are given a more complex, multi-layered reality, tinged with contentious conclusions. Liam Kennedy's findings are unexpected, deeply disquieting and inevitably controversial, while his understanding of the 'Why Us' argument is destined to create a stimulating and timely debate. [Subject: History, Irish Studies], There is a widespread belief, amounting almost to an article of faith, that the Irish historical experience was uniquely painful. Such assumptions guide much writing on modern Irish history. It is only by placing Ireland in a larger European context that the issue can be effectively resolved. Liam Kennedy's original and challengingly collection confronts some of the major controversies in modern Irish history, ranging from the Ulster plantation of the early seventeenth century to the Irish War of Independence. Populist interpretations of the Great Hunger of the 1840s are questioned and notions such as the Famine as a kind of Irish Holocaust are critically reviewed. The malign implications of the Ulster Covenant are highlighted, while the contradictory sentiments within the text of the Proclamation of the Irish Republic in 1916 are given a more complex, multi-layered reality tinged with contentious conclusions. Liam Kennedy's findings are unexpected, deeply disquieting and inevitably controversial, while his understanding of the 'Why Us' argument is destined to create a stimulating and timely debate.