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The Making of Ireland: From Ancient Times to the Present
An accessible history of Ireland from the earliest records. Lydon recounts in colourful detail the waves of settlers, missionaries and invaders who have come to Ireland since pre-history and offers a long view on Irish history up to the present.
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First published July 23, 1998
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January 24, 2023Argues that "it was not isolation which made Ireland go her own way, but conservatism." Christianity, he says, ended "fossilization."
This was for a class and I think we only read the part about the middle ages. I don't really recall the book.
This was for a class and I think we only read the part about the middle ages. I don't really recall the book.
January 6, 2018
A certainly admirable feat: 1500 years of history fit into 400 pages. This book provided a good overview of the entire Irish history starting with St. Patrick and early Christian Ireland in the 5th century through the 1970's. However, there is just too much history to go into details in one book. This book sometimes reads like a textbook and makes it difficult to be interested in the material. If you're looking for rich illustrations of characters and culture, look elsewhere. This reads more like a detailed timeline, which may serve your purpose if you are looking for a down and dirty, fact filled timeline of the who, whats and whens from early Irish civilization to the republic. Although, it made for a very dry and tedious read. I started this book in July, and just now finished it over 6 months later.
I would also recommend reading this book with a cellphone or laptop at hand. If you want details of a certain battle, person or place, you will have to look it up. The book briefly glossed over Newgrange and acknowledges that there was thousands of years of the Irish people prior to Christian Ireland. But understandably, another story for another book. Similarly, the early 20th century was a tumultuous time for Ireland, and entire tomes have been written just on the first few decades of the 20th, whereas only 50 pages of this book was dedicated to the cause.
The biggest problem I had with this book is perhaps the editing. Who edited this book? There are clearly errors where dates do not line up, names are misspelled and just flat out mistypes (on p. 347, the paragraph starts, "Collins had come back from back from England..." What?!). It was easy to miss because there are so many names and dates, it was difficult to keep them straight. Also, the author jumps around with the sequencing of events, but then only lists the month and the day, and not the year, which makes it very confusing. Also, I find that sometimes acronyms, and there are so many with the different political factions, aren't always defined or described. He uses them as if you should already know who they are. Again, I found myself spending a lot of time on my phone, Googling various terms, and also referencing the index, hoping to find the terms described elsewhere in the book.
All-in-all, a decent one stop shop if want to know the who, what and when of modern Irish history. Although, don't expect to be thrilled. It's quite a boring tread, and you may end up watching Outlander instead because it's "close enough," or maybe that's just me :)
I would also recommend reading this book with a cellphone or laptop at hand. If you want details of a certain battle, person or place, you will have to look it up. The book briefly glossed over Newgrange and acknowledges that there was thousands of years of the Irish people prior to Christian Ireland. But understandably, another story for another book. Similarly, the early 20th century was a tumultuous time for Ireland, and entire tomes have been written just on the first few decades of the 20th, whereas only 50 pages of this book was dedicated to the cause.
The biggest problem I had with this book is perhaps the editing. Who edited this book? There are clearly errors where dates do not line up, names are misspelled and just flat out mistypes (on p. 347, the paragraph starts, "Collins had come back from back from England..." What?!). It was easy to miss because there are so many names and dates, it was difficult to keep them straight. Also, the author jumps around with the sequencing of events, but then only lists the month and the day, and not the year, which makes it very confusing. Also, I find that sometimes acronyms, and there are so many with the different political factions, aren't always defined or described. He uses them as if you should already know who they are. Again, I found myself spending a lot of time on my phone, Googling various terms, and also referencing the index, hoping to find the terms described elsewhere in the book.
All-in-all, a decent one stop shop if want to know the who, what and when of modern Irish history. Although, don't expect to be thrilled. It's quite a boring tread, and you may end up watching Outlander instead because it's "close enough," or maybe that's just me :)
September 21, 2010
Good survey of Irish history, unbiased and well documented, written by an eminent Irish historian who knows a LOT about Irish history and has written extensively on the topic. Although I sometimes became confused when the author backtracked in time, eventually I was able to sort out the facts and themes being presented. Additionally, tracking the "secret societies" and their acronyms, even when well defined by the author, was sometimes difficult.
The book is designed in chapters covering different aspects of Irish governance commencing with the "Saints and Scholars" of early Christian Ireland through the "End of the Old Order." Continuing with "A New Ireland," "A Protestant kingdom," "The Emergence of Catholic Ireland," to The struggle for independence, ending with "Towards a Republic" and the late twentieth century, Lydon sees that the truth has many versions, some based in fact and some in fiction. However, he is clear in describing the culpability of the IRA specifically, in prolonging and worsening the Irish situation over the course of the twentieth century. From the little I know firsthand but have read extensively, he is correct. As my western Ireland landlord put it when I visited there in 2005: They [the IRA]had millions when a dollar was hard to come by everywhere else and they kept it for themselves. All in all, good survey, good insights, a lot of ground covered in 400 pages and an excellent list of books for further reading.
The book is designed in chapters covering different aspects of Irish governance commencing with the "Saints and Scholars" of early Christian Ireland through the "End of the Old Order." Continuing with "A New Ireland," "A Protestant kingdom," "The Emergence of Catholic Ireland," to The struggle for independence, ending with "Towards a Republic" and the late twentieth century, Lydon sees that the truth has many versions, some based in fact and some in fiction. However, he is clear in describing the culpability of the IRA specifically, in prolonging and worsening the Irish situation over the course of the twentieth century. From the little I know firsthand but have read extensively, he is correct. As my western Ireland landlord put it when I visited there in 2005: They [the IRA]had millions when a dollar was hard to come by everywhere else and they kept it for themselves. All in all, good survey, good insights, a lot of ground covered in 400 pages and an excellent list of books for further reading.
August 12, 2011
Wonderful book, but you really have to want to read it, there is a lot of information crammed in and it covers are large time frame. It got confusing a few times because so many people have very similar names, I had to go back and reread things a few times.
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