Till, Karen E.
(2006)
Memory Studies.
History Workshop Journal, 62 (1).
pp. 325-341.
ISSN 1363-3554
Abstract
On the ninetieth anniversary of the Easter Rising in Ireland this year, a large
and well-attended parade worked its way through the streets of Dublin.
Commencing at the city castle, the procession ended at the General Post
Office on O’Connell Street, where rebel leaders first declared Ireland a
republic in 1916. Flags flew half-mast, soldiers stood at attention, officials
laid wreaths, and historic proclamations were read. This was no ordinary
partnership’. Yet claims to national belonging are always fragile, contested
by those who seek to promote their own narratives of the past in the public
realm. Ian Paisley Junior, of the Democratic Unionist Party of Northern
Ireland, derided President McAleese for stating that the rebels ‘gave their
lives for those who now enjoy the benefits of the Celtic Tiger economy’. For
him, such a statement was ‘utter folly and would not stand up to ‘historical
scrutiny’. Not only are claims to the past contested, citizens enact a range of
relationships to the nation. At the day’s events, young men shouted
obscenities at government ministers, some families enjoyed the pageantry,
locals attended political rallies, old-timers debated the future of Sinn Fe´in in
pubs, and visiting British students were confused about the lack of media
coverage of the day’s events in the UK.
| Item Type: |
Article
|
| Keywords: |
Memory Studies; |
| Academic Unit: |
Faculty of Social Sciences > Geography |
| Item ID: |
9025 |
| Identification Number: |
https://doi.org/10.1093/hwj/dbl023 |
| Depositing User: |
Dr. Karen Till
|
| Date Deposited: |
22 Nov 2017 15:40 |
| Journal or Publication Title: |
History Workshop Journal |
| Publisher: |
Oxford University Press (OUP) |
| Refereed: |
Yes |
| URI: |
|
| Use Licence: |
This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available
here |
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