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James Connolly: My Search for the Man, the Myth and his Legacy
By former member of the IRA and police informant, Sean O'Callaghan, the story of revolutionary James Connolly, his role in the 1916 Easter Rising, and his subsequent influence both on O'Callaghan himself, and on 20th century Irish politics.
Easter Monday, 24th April, 1916: James Connolly, a 48-year-old Edinburgh-born Marxist and former British soldier, stands at the top of the steps of Liberty Hall, Dublin.
'We are going out to be slaughtered,' Connolly told his comrades, and with this he set in train the Easter Rising of 1916, an armed struggle that would end with his execution in Kilmainham Gaol two weeks later. In a scene that has haunted Nationalist Ireland ever since, he was carried to his place of execution having been badly wounded. Placed on a chair, he was shot dead by soldiers of the army he had once served in.
This is not a traditional biography about the man and the myth that was James Connolly. Neither is it a book about 20th century Irish history, though it can be read as both. It is a book about O'Callaghan's relationship with a man who was to deeply influence his formative years; it is about the politics of violent extremism that O'Callaghan subsequently became caught up in; and it's about the kind of individuals who are willing to sacrifice everything, including their lives, for a holy cause.
Today across the world there is no shortage of what O'Callaghan has come to call 'True Believers': young men and women who, brought up in the heart of Western society, are eager to fight and die for an ideal that will fill the spiritual and political void they see around them.
Never has a book been more timely.
Easter Monday, 24th April, 1916: James Connolly, a 48-year-old Edinburgh-born Marxist and former British soldier, stands at the top of the steps of Liberty Hall, Dublin.
'We are going out to be slaughtered,' Connolly told his comrades, and with this he set in train the Easter Rising of 1916, an armed struggle that would end with his execution in Kilmainham Gaol two weeks later. In a scene that has haunted Nationalist Ireland ever since, he was carried to his place of execution having been badly wounded. Placed on a chair, he was shot dead by soldiers of the army he had once served in.
This is not a traditional biography about the man and the myth that was James Connolly. Neither is it a book about 20th century Irish history, though it can be read as both. It is a book about O'Callaghan's relationship with a man who was to deeply influence his formative years; it is about the politics of violent extremism that O'Callaghan subsequently became caught up in; and it's about the kind of individuals who are willing to sacrifice everything, including their lives, for a holy cause.
Today across the world there is no shortage of what O'Callaghan has come to call 'True Believers': young men and women who, brought up in the heart of Western society, are eager to fight and die for an ideal that will fill the spiritual and political void they see around them.
Never has a book been more timely.
- GenresNonfiction
318 pages, Hardcover
First published November 5, 2015
5 people are currently reading
23 people want to read
About the author
Sean O'Callaghan
2 books1 followerSean O'Callaghan is a former member of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA). Between 1979 and 1988, he was also an informant for the Garda Síochána's Special Branch. In 1988, he resigned from the IRA and voluntarily surrendered to British prosecution. Following his release from jail, O'Callaghan published his memoirs, The Informer: The True Life Story of One Man's War on Terrorism.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
September 15, 2024
Meh.
I want to preface this by saying that what Sean O'Callaghan did was very brave and very admirable. It takes a certain amount of courage to knowingly risk a brutal death in pursuit of what you believe to be right—and he didn't even need to do it. O'Callaghan had absconded to England and was living there rather safely when he decided, for whatever reason, to go back to Ireland and offer up his services as an informer to the Gardaí (Irish police.) Somewhere in the middle of that, for whatever reason, he *also* turned himself in to the British authorities for a murder he had committed while in the IRA as a young man and received a life sentence of which he served 16 years. I truly don't know why you would do that, unless you're absolutely crazy or very convicted in your morals. I would prefer to believe the latter.
That being said, O'Callaghan is far from nuanced, even unbiased and objective, about the Irish conflict. I understand his anger and disgust at the IRA and other extremist nationalist groups. I understand his desire to turn his back on nationalism entirely—especially as one who once committed horrific crimes in the name of it. I understand his fervent desire to change something about the sort of environment and ideas that led thousands of young men and women to lives of violence.
This book (not gonna type out the title because as you can see, it is VERY long) doesn't fit neatly into a genre—it's part history, part memoir, part political essay. The first part of the book gives a brief biography of James Connolly, interspersed with O'Callaghan's commentary, before launching into a brief account of O'Callaghan's own life and involvement with the IRA, and then some ending essaying tying it all together.
O'Callaghan has some interesting things to say, and I agree with a lot of his arguments about the danger of using martyrs to legitimize violence and the horror of an organization like the IRA trying to make decisions for an entire population. That being said, I think O'Callaghan took his condemnation of Irish nationalism a little bit too far.
Like bro, it ain't that black and white. I don't think it's his intention, but for much of the book he acts as if being nationalist is in and of itself a crime, though of course it is entirely possible to believe in Irish unification without also being a terrorist. He condemns the IRA volunteers like him—from the Republic—for pretending to understand the experience of people in Belfast when they really knew nothing. Which is probably true. The experience of a Catholic young man in the Irish countryside would have been very different from that of one in Belfast. But then O'Callaghan turns around and seems to almost justify???? the treatment of nationalists in Northern Ireland. (There's this one line where he's like, no wonder the unionists hated the nationalists! Like Sean, why are you attempting to soften sectarian hatred?) On top of arguing that it wasn't that bad for Catholics in Northern Ireland. My friend, I invite you to study the legalized discrimination in everything from employment to housing and healthcare in Northern Ireland against Catholics. In turning his back on the black-and-white view of Anglo-Irish relations that led him to the IRA, he seems to have swung to the other extreme.
Sean O'Callaghan is right: the IRA and other extremist nationalist organizations completely missed the mark on the reality of Irish politics and the Irish people. But I'm not convinced that Sean O'Callaghan hasn't missed it, either.
I want to preface this by saying that what Sean O'Callaghan did was very brave and very admirable. It takes a certain amount of courage to knowingly risk a brutal death in pursuit of what you believe to be right—and he didn't even need to do it. O'Callaghan had absconded to England and was living there rather safely when he decided, for whatever reason, to go back to Ireland and offer up his services as an informer to the Gardaí (Irish police.) Somewhere in the middle of that, for whatever reason, he *also* turned himself in to the British authorities for a murder he had committed while in the IRA as a young man and received a life sentence of which he served 16 years. I truly don't know why you would do that, unless you're absolutely crazy or very convicted in your morals. I would prefer to believe the latter.
That being said, O'Callaghan is far from nuanced, even unbiased and objective, about the Irish conflict. I understand his anger and disgust at the IRA and other extremist nationalist groups. I understand his desire to turn his back on nationalism entirely—especially as one who once committed horrific crimes in the name of it. I understand his fervent desire to change something about the sort of environment and ideas that led thousands of young men and women to lives of violence.
This book (not gonna type out the title because as you can see, it is VERY long) doesn't fit neatly into a genre—it's part history, part memoir, part political essay. The first part of the book gives a brief biography of James Connolly, interspersed with O'Callaghan's commentary, before launching into a brief account of O'Callaghan's own life and involvement with the IRA, and then some ending essaying tying it all together.
O'Callaghan has some interesting things to say, and I agree with a lot of his arguments about the danger of using martyrs to legitimize violence and the horror of an organization like the IRA trying to make decisions for an entire population. That being said, I think O'Callaghan took his condemnation of Irish nationalism a little bit too far.
Like bro, it ain't that black and white. I don't think it's his intention, but for much of the book he acts as if being nationalist is in and of itself a crime, though of course it is entirely possible to believe in Irish unification without also being a terrorist. He condemns the IRA volunteers like him—from the Republic—for pretending to understand the experience of people in Belfast when they really knew nothing. Which is probably true. The experience of a Catholic young man in the Irish countryside would have been very different from that of one in Belfast. But then O'Callaghan turns around and seems to almost justify???? the treatment of nationalists in Northern Ireland. (There's this one line where he's like, no wonder the unionists hated the nationalists! Like Sean, why are you attempting to soften sectarian hatred?) On top of arguing that it wasn't that bad for Catholics in Northern Ireland. My friend, I invite you to study the legalized discrimination in everything from employment to housing and healthcare in Northern Ireland against Catholics. In turning his back on the black-and-white view of Anglo-Irish relations that led him to the IRA, he seems to have swung to the other extreme.
Sean O'Callaghan is right: the IRA and other extremist nationalist organizations completely missed the mark on the reality of Irish politics and the Irish people. But I'm not convinced that Sean O'Callaghan hasn't missed it, either.
March 6, 2016
There used to be an old saying in Ireland that all that changed with independence was that the post boxes got painted green. This reflected the belief held by some that the switch from rule from London to rule by Dublin represented little real changed in Irish society; the country remained controlled by the middle class and Catholic church. Whereas this tradition could be exemplified by Patrick Pearse, the radical Marxist tradition in Irish nationalism, exemplified by of James Connolly, got ignored. This view got a new lease of life after 2009, when Irish banks went bust and the government handed the bill for bailing them out to the taxpayers. The socialism of Connolly came to seem like 'the road not taken'.
In this excellent book, Sean O'Callaghan examines this tradition and its legacy more closely to warn against romanticising. It was, O'Callaghan argues, just as toxic as any other.
In this excellent book, Sean O'Callaghan examines this tradition and its legacy more closely to warn against romanticising. It was, O'Callaghan argues, just as toxic as any other.
January 29, 2019
Easter Monday, 24 April 1916: James Connolly, a 47 year-old Edinburgh - born Marxist and former British soldier, stood at the top of the steps of Liberty Hall, Dublin.
'We are going out to be slaughtered' Connolly told his comrades, and with this he set in train the Easter Rising of 1916.
Two weeks later, in a scene that has haunted Nationalist Ireland ever since, he was carried to his place of execution having been badly wounded. Placed on a chair, he was shot dead by soldiers of the army he had once served in.
This is not a traditional biography; it is a book about Sean O'Callaghan's relationship with a man who was to deeply influence his formative years;it is about the politics of violent extremism that O'Callaghan subsequently became caught up in; and it's about the kind of individuals who are willing to sacrifice everything, including their lives, for a holy cause.
'We are going out to be slaughtered' Connolly told his comrades, and with this he set in train the Easter Rising of 1916.
Two weeks later, in a scene that has haunted Nationalist Ireland ever since, he was carried to his place of execution having been badly wounded. Placed on a chair, he was shot dead by soldiers of the army he had once served in.
This is not a traditional biography; it is a book about Sean O'Callaghan's relationship with a man who was to deeply influence his formative years;it is about the politics of violent extremism that O'Callaghan subsequently became caught up in; and it's about the kind of individuals who are willing to sacrifice everything, including their lives, for a holy cause.
October 23, 2020
I was expecting a standard biography about one of the East Uprising leaders I knew little about. Was very pleasantly surprised to discover Connolly’s life is covered in the first third and the book continues unpacking the Troubles right through to the Belfast agreement. Positioning the current ideologies back to Connolly and his radical socialism was unexpected but very interesting. The late author’s writing is very smooth and precise. A good swift read
December 30, 2018
O'Callaghan's handlers were speaking through him all through the book. Undercover Police deceive themselves recognizable ways, and typically, when they 'handle' an informant, they transfer their belief-system to him.
One of these beliefs is 'the government is always right,' hence to oppose the government is a form of mental illness.
To go straight to the most glaring example: during World War One, the British Government (among others) was engaged in deceiving and pressurizing young men to to their slow, agonizing deaths and horrendous injuries in the trenches by the HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS.
Yet according to O'Callaghan (or his handlers) it is the men who RESISTED this horror who had the mental problems.
An interesting read - but it is NOT history.
One of these beliefs is 'the government is always right,' hence to oppose the government is a form of mental illness.
To go straight to the most glaring example: during World War One, the British Government (among others) was engaged in deceiving and pressurizing young men to to their slow, agonizing deaths and horrendous injuries in the trenches by the HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS.
Yet according to O'Callaghan (or his handlers) it is the men who RESISTED this horror who had the mental problems.
An interesting read - but it is NOT history.
June 12, 2018
11/20.
April 11, 2021
Just could not get into this book. And I rarely give up on a book but this one I did.
April 16, 2016
I think the concept and insights of discussing how personally the Connolly legend impacts the notion of revolution in Ireland is really interesting. The lessons about the dangers of the cult of personality are hugely relevant to the modern world. I just didn't have enough Irish history to keep everything straight with all of the jumping around and unfamiliar name after unfamiliar name to follow the narrative well.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews