Between the Risings

Jacobin #21

by Jacobin

Genres: Politics, Nonfiction

111 pages, Unknown Binding

Published January 1, 2016

About the author

Jacobin is a leading voice of the American left, offering socialist perspectives on politics, economics, and culture. The print magazine is released quarterly and reaches over 10,000 subscribers, in addition to a web audience of 600,000 a month.

Reviews

[Timothy Riley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of my favorite issues to date. I came into this not knowing a ton about Irish politics, save some IRA stuff and of course Irish Potato famine and how brutal the British were the entire time they ruled Ireland-and probably since.
The 100 year anniversary of the Irish uprising of 1916 should have received much more fanfare, however, since it was on Easter most of the Irish and Irish Americans were busy at church. A small group made up of even smaller sub organizations came together to take over Dublin and declare Ireland and free nation. Led by Patrick Pearse a school teacher and James Connolly a union leader, these guys made an incredible sacrifice. The rebellion was put down after about a week by British artillery and the leaders were all executed. This historical context of this couldn't be more dramatic being during the First World War. Many Irish signed up to fight in the trenches because it was their way to get skills, food and consistent pay. Some probably did so out of patriotism even if they were in favor of independence-war does strange things to people. Others were looking to conspire with the Germans, which obviously didn't work too well. The amazingly poor treatment of Irish soldiers in the British Army highlights the need for independence. They made up only 4% of the British Army but were about 50% of all army executions.
The recent developments are that Sinn Fein has just won a larger margin of the Irish vote and the two Conservative/moderate parties have only combined for 45% of the vote. We will see what happens, Sinn Fein has hardly been of the radical Socialist type of party but Ireland has developed some national programs even while its been in the minority. The Catholic Church has been a real conservative force keeping true socialist thought contained through outright vocalizations against it from the pulpit. Without that Ireland has always been a ripe place for rebellion against the British and now the ruling classes of the island.

[Jason]

With the 100th anniversary of the Easter Rising as its backdrop, this issue focuses on the Irish revolutionary movements of the past century and the unique conditions on the island (relationship to UK, role of Catholic Church, etc.) that led to the ebb and flow of successes and failures in fundamentally transforming the social order. Highlights include an interview with Bernadette Devlin, the influence of the Paris Commune on James Connolly and other Irish revolutionary leaders, and a haunting look at the church-ran institutions that forcibly housed impoverished women and their newborns.