Busting the Historical Myths Part II: The Irish Famine…

For the second part of my instalment, I thought it may be interesting to consider one of the most well-known historical episodes in Irish History, The Famine. When one thinks on the famine one gets the impression of a scarcity of food, people dying from starvation whilst being removed from their homes by the RIC and a British Government hell-bent on genocide. This, however, would not be accurate. As with the Siege the reality of the Famine is dominated by …

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How Art can enter the grey zone of the Irish Famine…

Great, if rather lengthy review of five books on the Irish Famine from Breandán Mac Suibhne on the importance of recovering memory from past events. In framing his long and detailed work, he borrows directly from Primo Levi’s insights from his time as a prison in German death camps: “The questions naturally arise, What is man? And, What is life? What can be the cause of all this? Is it a punishment for our crimes? Or those of our forefathers, …

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