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tjj wrote: I enjoyed the first episode best too (watched it after the second one). As is pointed out in that first episode, the anger felt by the survivors of the Famine and their descendants fueled the later rebellion against their British oppressors. One of the best books I've read about the Great Famine is 'Star of the Sea' by Joseph O'Connor which, although a novel, refers to Victorian publications and uses illustrations around at the time which would now be considered completely racist. On a lighter note, I loved Martha Kearney's visit to the Bog of Allen which probably deserved an episode all to itself. It's really hard to appreciate the mindset of an imperialist administrator - although reading Orwell's experiences in India is perhaps a good starting point - not comprehending that treating people like animals will eventually result in insurrection. I may well be making a wild generalisation, but my experiences travelling around Ireland and knocking on doors led me to believe that the Irish were/are(?) not really that concerned who governs them as long as the administration is fair and doesn't interfere too much in their lives. I understand that the IRA arriving at your farm was often something to be feared every bit as much as a Crossley tender full of Black and Tans.... something I learned foolishly asking 'what happened' pointing to gaunt ruins in the garden of a B&B in Kilkenny. Some people on both sides of a divide will always hijack higher ideals for self profit and a naked lust for power and violence. The list is endless, from Lenin, Guevara, Mao to seemingly just about every modern politician. Why the British leaders decided they needed to execute and make martyrs of the leaders of such a tragi-comic farce as the Easter Rising is beyond belief. No one benefited. I was watching a programme on Irish music a week or so back during which Sinead O'Connor said that kicking the British out of southern Ireland merely replaced a brutal, out of touch regime with an authoritarian dictatorship by the Catholic church.... Reply | with quote |  4th April 2015ce 11:55 In reply to: Re: Great Irish Journeys with Martha Kearney (tjj) |
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