IA.Letters_IA Template 3/19/16 8:07 AM Page 10
letters | readers forum
The Poets’ Revolution
Dr. Christine Kinealy’s “The Poets Revolution,” was one of Poet Dora the most comprehensive articles Sigerson I have read anywhere on the poetic elements of 1916. Thanks and well done.
Noel Shine, submitted online
Feminism, Equality, and the Rising
Great to see the [Waking the Feminists] movement cross the Atlantic. The women of 1916 like Constance Markievicz, Helena Maloney and Grace Gifford would be well pleased to see a new generation of female playwrights, directors, actresses and stage designers fight for the right for their voices to be heard. The commemoration of the centenary of the 1916 Rising is sparking a feminist rebellion of its own.
Robert Emmet: A Symbol for Independence
A very nice tribute to Robert Emmet and Jerome Connor. Consequent to further discussions with the National Park Service and Smithsonian, the re-dedication will be held on April 27, 2016.
Peter Kissel, Irish American Unity Conference
Michael Flatley releases Charity Single, “The Rising”
Beautiful and haunting. Love it. Just sad it had to be.
Pauline B. Anderson, submitted online
Marita Conlon McKenna, submitted online
I was very happy to read Mary Pat Kelly’s “Women of the Rising” article in the 1916 issue of Irish America. It’s easy to forget how significantly women were written out of official histories on the development of the Irish state, and I am glad to see they are being reinstated here. It is telling that several of the key figures mentioned were new to me. One small query: Do you know where one might find a copy of the original photograph of Pearse’s surrender that includes Elizabeth O’Farrell, before she was literally airbrushed out of the record?
Sarah Cochran-Gonzalez, submitted online
Editor’s Note: We haven’t been able to find the original, but we’ll keep trying.
Eoin MacNeill
The Man Who Cried Halt!
What could have been! Maureen Murphy’s article on Eoin MacNeill was superb. I often wonder what the result of the Rising would have been if the original strategy had gone to plan. Shame MacNeill gets the blame though, as it was Casement who couldn’t get the guns to the Volunteers.
Pete Swift, Wilmington, DE
10 IRISH AMERICA APRIL / MAY 2016
Robert Emmet statue in Washington, D.C.
Dear Editor-in-Chief,
In the most recent issue of Irish America you wrote that “This special issue is a launch pad for our readers to begin their own investigations into the 1916 Rising.” I have done that. My mother Nora O’Leary Crean was born and raised on a small island in Tralee Bay, County Kerry. In 1916, her brother Murt O’Leary, a member of the Irish Volunteers, was asked by Tadhg Brosnan, the leader of the local Volunteers, to pilot the arms vessel The Aud into Fenit Harbor on Easter Sunday night. Like his father, Murt was a ship’s pilot for Fenit. I recorded his factual account and recollections of the days after Easter
Sunday including the visit of the RIC to the island on Easter and the arrival of the British soldiers on the following Tuesday. While I lived in Ireland, I taped Murt, my mother and many people who talked, not only about 1916 but about life on the island, and the Dingle Peninsula. I listened to stories of long go from people whose lives were entwined with the land and the rhythm of the sea. Their voices are silent but their words live on in my novel, And They Belonged to the Island, which is narrated from the points of view of 22 year-old Murt and his 17 year-old sister, Nora.
Joan Crean O’Leary, St. Charles, IL.
Visit us online at Irishamerica.com to leave your comments, or write to us: E-mail (submit@irishamerica.com), send a fax (212-244-
3344), or write to Letters, Irish America, 875 Avenue of the Americas, Suite 201, New York, NY 10001. Letters should include the writer’s name, address and phone number and may be edited for clarity and length.