The Irish Republic is a history book written by Dorothy Macardle, first published in 1937,[1] which covers the formation and existence of the Irish Republic, the Irish War of Independence, the Anglo-Irish Treaty and the Irish Civil War, a period which covered from 1919–1923. It was commissioned by politician Éamon de Valera, and is not politically neutral, with Macardle reportedly describing herself as a "propagandist, unrepentant and unashamed".[2]
The book, which was first published in 1937, analysed the period from an Irish republican, pro-Éamon de Valera perspective.[3] Sometimes disputed for aspects of its analysis, the book is described in a biography of Macardle as being "prized more for the insights it provides into the ideological disputes of its time than as a historical work in its own right".[4] Writing in 2016, Peter Berresford Ellis described it as "still the standard history of the period 1916–23 in Ireland".[5]
The book, along with Frank Pakenham's Peace by Ordeal, features on a number of reading lists for university courses which cover the period.[citation needed] Among the reasons for this are:[citation needed]
- The author personally knew many of the people she was writing about; among those thanked in the acknowledgements were Seán T. O'Kelly, Oscar Traynor, Thomas Derrig, Seán MacBride, and the widows of Austin Stack and Erskine Childers. As a result, she knew from personal experience their private views and opinions, not just those expressed publicly.
- She had been an activist with the republican movement during the period, serving in Cumann na mBan and being jailed during the Civil War. Thus she had an insider's perspective on the movement.
- It reflects the perspective of Anti-Treaty republicans. Later books were less sympathetic to the Anti-Treaty side, given the widespread belief, even expressed by de Valera at the end of his life, that opposition to the Treaty was in retrospect a mistake.
Macardle reportedly willed the royalties from the book, which has regularly been reprinted, to Éamon de Valera,[6] who wrote the book's foreword. The book's political allegiances were demonstrated unmistakably when a studio portrait of de Valera featured on the front page of some editions.[citation needed]
Some historians, such as Patrick Murray, have found that the book's outline was substantially laid down by de Valera to create a continuous justification of his political views from 1916 to 1936, that was then fleshed out by Macardle.[7] De Valera said it was "the only really authoritative account of the period 1916–26".[2]
Further reading
edit- Macardle, Dorothy (1968). The Irish Republic. Corgi. ISBN 9780552078627.[8]
- Coogan, Tim Pat (22 October 2015). Éamon de Valera. Penguin Random House. ISBN 9781784753276.
- Lane, Leeann (2019). Dorothy Macardle. University College Dublin Press. ISBN 9781910820414.
References
edit- ^ O'Halpin, Eunan (May 1999). "Historical Revisit: Dorothy Macardle, "The Irish Republic" (1937)". Irish Historical Studies. 31 (123). Cambridge University Press: 389–394. doi:10.1017/S002112140001422X. JSTOR 30007149. S2CID 163186052.
- ^ a b Smith, Nadia Clare (2007). "Dorothy Macardle (1889-1958): republican and internationalist". History Ireland. 15 (3 (May/Jun 2007)).
- ^ Lane, Leeann (4 December 2019). "Dorothy Macardle: De Valera's friend no exemplar of his 'ideal woman'". Irish Times. Retrieved 5 August 2023.
the book falls into the category of history as political propaganda in support of Eamon de Valera
- ^ Maume, Patrick (October 2009). "Macardle, Dorothy Margaret". Dictionary of Irish Biography. doi:10.3318/dib.005097.v1. Retrieved 5 August 2023.
- ^ Ellis, Peter Berresford (May 2016). "A Reflection of Ghosts: The Life of Dorothy Macardle". The Green Book: Writings on Irish Gothic, Supernatural and Fantastic Literature (7): 63–81. JSTOR 48536112.
- ^ Stewart, Bruce. "Dorothy Macardle". Ricorso - A Knowledge of Irish Literature. Retrieved 5 August 2023.
- ^ Murray, Patrick (2001). "Obsessive Historian: Eamon de Valera and the Policing of His Reputation (essay by P. Murray)" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 April 2003 – via ria.ie.
- ^ Holdings: The Irish Republic : a documented chronicle of the Anglo-Irish conflict and the partitioning of Ireland, with a detailed account of the period 1916-1923. Corgi book. National Library of Ireland. 5 August 1968. ISBN 9780552078627. Retrieved 5 August 2023.