Reply to Professor David Fitzpatrick and to Dr Eve Morrison’s response to criticism of Terror in Ireland 1916-1923 (plus consideration of Dr Brian Hanley on 'The Good Old IRA')

Terror in Ireland, 1916–23 is the fifth Trinity College Dublin History Workshop publication. Edited by Professor David Fitzpatrick, who also contributes a chapter, this well-presented volume publishes research from 14 undergraduate and postgraduate students, doctoral researchers and established historians. The book examines British and Irish violence (mainly the latter) from the 1916 Easter Rising through the Civil War. The terms ‘terror’ and ‘terrorist’ are loosely, often selectively, applied. According to Fitzpatrick, ‘Terrorists are those who perpetuate any form of terror; Terrorism implies a sustained and systematic attempt to generate terror’ (p. 5). This conceptualisation is not so much taut as tautological. It is difficult to envisage military or quasi-military activity that does not induce terror among combatants and an affected civilian population. Brian Hanley’s compelling first chapter exposes the problems in Fitzpatrick’s construct. Hanley notes that even under current US State Department categorisations, IRA attacks on Bloody Sunday (21 November 1920) and at Kilmichael (28 November 1920) cannot be defined as terrorist (p. 11). Nevertheless, two chapters are devoted to Bloody Sunday and one to Kilmichael. Throughout the collection republican forces are often ‘Irish terrorists’ or simply ‘the terrorists’. Their British opponents are not similarly identified, suggesting that the words have a pejorative rather than descriptive function. Drawing upon the work of the late Peter Hart (who died in 2010 at the age of 46), whose analysis ‘called into question the morality and sincerity of the republican movement’, the editor asserts that republicans set out ‘to threaten and marginalize “deviants” within the community that the terrorists claim to represent’ (p. 6). Their suspicions were ‘based on categorical assumptions’ (p. 4). As the volume is dedicated to Hart’s memory, Fitzpatrick is intent on defending his reputation from ‘outraged readers’ for whom ‘the integrity of the revolutionaries from 1916–21 was an article of faith’ (pp. 4, 6). The ‘article of faith’ formulation is carefully chosen. ...... For more.... click on title, go online, or download attached PDF Review includes separate responses from Editor, David Fitzpatrick (p.19), and Eve Morrison (pp.20-26, author of chapter on Peter Hart's treatment of the Kilmichael Ambush of 28 November 1920.) See also: Reply to Professor David Fitzpatrick and to Dr Eve Morrison’s response to criticism of Terror in Ireland 1916-1923 (plus consideration of Dr Brian Hanley on 'The Good Old IRA'), http://www.academia.edu/1994527/

2012

The discussion of this important 1985 publication is a by-product of my review of David Fitzpatrick (ed.) Terror in Ireland, 1916-1923 (2012), at https://www.academia.edu/1871818/, plus response by David Fitzpatrick and Eve Morrison. Further comment from me is at https://www.academia.edu/1994527/ - the latter also addresses 'The Good Old IRA' pamphlet.

"An analysis and critique of the controversy and debate surrounding the publication in 1998 of a history of the War of Independence in West Cork. The allegation that sectarianism was a feature of Irish republican ideology and action during the period 1920-22 is examined in the context of claims made in Peter Hart's 'The IRA and its Enemies' (OUP 1998). Niall Meehan's essay examines problematic anonymous interviews. By comparing Peter Hart's 1993 PhD thesis 'The Irish Republican Army and its Enemies' (TCD 1993) with Hart's 1998 book 'The IRA and its Enemies', some anonymous interviewees cited by Hart may be identified. Problems arising out of this identification are discussed, for example whether two IRA veterans of the the November 1920 Kilmichael ambush were alive when Hart claimed to have interviewed them anonymously. The cover of 'Troubled History' features the 18 November 1989 'Southern Star' coverage of the death of Ned Young, the last Kilmichael veteran to die. Hart's thesis and book claim an interview with an anonymous Kilmichael veteran one day later. On the chapter, 'Taking it out on the Protestants', questions are posed with regard to information in the thesis that is withdrawn from the book. For instance a possible perpetrator of the 'April killings', April 26-29 1922 near Dunmanway West Cork, is named in the thesis, but excised from the book. Other significant changes are noted, also. The essay is part of a projected larger study, examining the effect of the Troubles post 1968 in Northern Ireland intruding on the history of the War of Independence between 1919-21. In addition, the ramifications of censorship perfected by Conor Cruise O'Brien in the 1970s in southern Ireland will be examined in this wider context. [See also, under 'papers': Distorting Irish History [One], the stubborn facts of Kilmichael: Peter Hart and Irish Historiography, Nov 2010 Distorting Irish History Two, the road from Dunmanway: Peter Hart’s treatment of the 1922 ‘April killings’ in West Cork, May 2011] [Download PDF below]"

Crime, Histoire & Sociétés/Crime, History & Societies, 2002

This is a review article on David Fitzpatrick's edited collection, 'Terror in Ireland, 1916-1923'. It features an extended discussion of Eve Morrison's article on Peter Hart and the Kilmichael Ambush controversy.

Twentieth Century British History, 2009

History Ireland, 2020

REVISIONISM Fearghal Mac Bhloscaidh discussed revisionist distortions of Irish history (HI 28.6, July/Aug . 2020, Platform) that base themselves on the alleged neutrality of the British state and a correspondingly mistaken view that 'Irish republicanism is inherently violent , irrational and sectarian'. I agree that that is generally the case. However, established historians reject the suggestion of a common, never mind a revisionist, approach. In Fatal path the late Ronan Fanning showed how imperial British state violence made Irish resistance inevitable . He also famously admitted that revisionist history-writing about the 1910-22 period sought to undermine the post-1968 IRA. .... See PDF for the rest, including Mac Bhloscaidh article; plus Andreas Boldt letter; John Regan on Peter Hart and the Kilmichael Ambush...