Studies in Arts and Humanities Journal - Vol 2, No 1 (2016)
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Item Item The Minister For Poetry Has Decreed(SAHKartell, 2016) Higgins, Kevin...after Zbigniew Herbert. A new poem by Kevin Higgins.Item Item The Making and Remaking of Irish History: An Interview with Vincent Comerford(SAHKartell, 2016) Comerford, R.V.; Doolin, DavidOn Tuesday, 26 April 2016, I sat down with former head of History at Maynooth University, Professor Vincent Comerford, to chat about the current state of the discipline, about changes within history over time and the telling of Irish history, and about the centennial commemorations of Ireland’s 1916 Rising. Prof. Comerford is originally from Tipperary and came to Maynooth in 1962, where he studied for his undergraduate and Master’s degree. He then attended Trinity College Dublin (TCD) and earned his PhD with the guidance and supervision of T. W. Moody. Subsequently, he became a lecturer in History at Maynooth in 1977, and was appointed Professor of Modern History and head of department in 1989, remaining in post until his retirement in 2010. At Maynooth he supervised more than thirty PhD theses on nineteenth- and twentieth-century Ireland, and oversaw a great expansion in the size of the History department and the scope of its activities. Professor Comerford’s bibliography includes: Charles J. Kickham: A Study in Irish Nationalism and Literature (1979); The Fenians in Context: Irish Politics and Society, 1848-82 (1985); and Ireland: Inventing the Nation (2003). Comerford also contributed the primary narrative for the period 1850-91 to A New History of Ireland. He has edited several collections and written numerous articles that focus on Irish nationalism and nineteenth century Irish history. The following is a transcript of our (just-over-one-hour-long) conversation. Author keywords: Discourse analysis; Irish history and culture; Ireland--History--Easter Rising, 1916; InterviewItem Staging the Easter Rising: Plays by W.B. Yeats, Sean O’Casey and Colm Tóibín(SAHKartell, 2016) Kao, Wei H.Despite the fact that the 1916 Easter Rising has given rise to many critical inquiries and occasioned heated debate among nationalist and revisionist historians, this historical event has been revered almost as a creation story for the Republic of Ireland. This paper will examine three plays that revisit the Rising and feature the generally neglected participation of women in the events. By illustrating women’s quandaries and antagonisms, the plays either reflect on the causes and effects of remote English rule in Ireland or delineate the immediate impact of the Easter Rising on different social strata. Their alternative perspectives often feature the conflicting consequences of the Rising and illuminate ignored yet credible facets that may serve to rebut the received interpretations. Although there is a relatively long time span during which these works were produced, the social contexts in which the playwrights lived and worked give rise to diverse portrayals of the same political turmoil. More significantly, these plays initiate a debate on the Easter Rising yet produce healing effects by restaging historical traumas. The three plays are Yeats’s less discussed play The Dreaming of the Bones (1919), Sean O’Casey’s The Plough and the Stars (1926), and Colm Tóibín’s Beauty in a Broken Place (2004). Author keywords: Ireland--History--Easter Rising 1916; Abbey Theatre; Yeats, W. B. (William Butler), 1865-1939; O’Casey, Sean, 1880-1964; Tóibín, Colm