The Troubles

While we try and overcome our dearth of new material -- and having rejected one proposal from sources close to the blog that we veer into celebrity blogging from an Irish perspective -- we point those of you with audio capability to an interesting episode of BBC Radio 4's 90 part history of the British Empire. Yesterday's episode [link good rest of this week only] was devoted to Irish Home Rule in the early 20th century.

While the basic facts are of course well known, the programme had 2 noteworthy points of emphasis. First, the Curragh Mutiny, the obvious counterpoint for anyone who thinks that there was a peaceful glide path to Home Rule in the absence of the Easter Rising. Second, some quotes from Lenin at the end to show how he saw the Rising as a premature example of a working class uprising -- a reference to the participation of James Connolly and Irish socialists in the Rising.

There's also a line in the narrative that goes something like "The Irish Troubles didn't begin in 1969 ... more like 1169" -- a line sure to gladden the people at 1169 and counting.