Ireland's Decade of Centenaries, an initiative to observe significant events of the revolutionary period on their hundredth anniversary, has driven a renaissance in the study of the Irish Revolution. This has been achieved through a variety of modern mediums, including massive online open courses (MOOCs), magazine articles, and social media. Century Ireland, an online historical newspaper presented by RTÉ (Irish national radio and television) and Boston College, also provides brief but poignant observations of Ireland and Irish life one hundred years on, through short videos, editorials, and archival material—perfect for the commuting masses and other digital consumers. Such features have reached Ireland, its expatriates, and the global descendants of its diaspora in ways traditional scholarship cannot, and they have succeeded in making the complex more understandable. While there seems to be no shortage of traditional scholarship during the centenary, can printed text really achieve the same immediate impact in our 140-character world? Robert Lynch's Revolutionary Ireland, 1912–25 answers a definitive “yes.”
Lynch's concise volume contributes to the ongoing discussion of the Irish Revolution, a conversation that challenges participants to reconsider the chronology, scope, and meaning of the independence movement. This debate has prompted a number of questions and presents unique problems, many of which are engaged in Revolutionary Ireland. Did Ireland truly experience revolution? If so, did it begin in 1912 with Ulster's resistance to Home Rule, or in 1913 following the formation of the Irish Volunteers? Does it have distinctly political origins that stemmed from the People's Budget of 1910 and the Liberal Party's quid pro quo agreement with the Irish Parliamentary Party? How significant was the Irish Labor movement in articulating a distinct political trajectory, and to what degree did the cultural reimagination of Ireland set the foundation for its figurative resurrection? When did the Irish Revolution end? The Truce of July 1921, observed between Irish Republican Army and British security forces, has provided a convenient bookend for numerous studies. However, this date, in addition to the ratification of the Anglo-Irish Treaty in 1922, the cessation of civil war hostilities in 1923, and the release of remaining republican internees in 1924, evades arguments for a broader examination of the political and geographical implications of the treaty and the enduring legacy of republicanism.
Lynch identifies the many narratives that have constructed these artificial parameters, as well as the fluctuating peaks and valleys of nationalist activity from which revolutionaries of the period drew inspiration and channeled guidance. Acknowledging his study as a politically heavy analysis of individuals and events that contributed to the polarization and division of Ireland, Lynch nevertheless presents revolutionary Ireland in a digestible, though traditional format. His structure, synthesis, suggestions for further reading, and inclusion of essential primary source documents present a succinct and attractive work to casual readers and those seeking a foundation in the history of the Irish Revolution. The maps, chronology, and “who's who of the Irish Revolution” featured in the volume offer additional tools to students of history, in and out of university. While the book's direct structure and presentation demonstrate its utility as a textbook, sample essay and examination questions offered at the end of each chapter also challenge readers to consider issues indicative of current scholarly debate on the nature and significance of key events and stages of the revolution, and how it has been informed by an evolving historiography.
Refreshingly, the establishment and development of Northern Ireland, as well as its functions and personalities, is not resigned to afterthought or marginalized within the Irish Free State foundation narrative. Lynch situates Ulster within the broader context of revolutionary violence and political settlement. He highlights how the number killed there between 1920 and 1922 exceeded returns from Munster, traditionally viewed as Ireland's deadliest province, and how Dáil Eireann (the lower and principal chamber of the Irish Republic's legislature) was incapable of influencing events in the north.
Choosing to conclude the book in 1925 also illustrates Lynch's consideration of the Anglo-Irish Treaty and its far-reaching implications. He argues that partition was the definitive outcome of the revolution—a situation that allowed the Irish Free State and Northern Ireland to implement their own visions for Ireland, respectively—an outcome that failed, however, to provide a definitive answer to the Irish question and resulted in further sectarian violence (93).
A book of this size and presentation boasts numerous advantages. Lynch successfully liaises utility and scholarship, making Revolutionary Ireland, 1912–25 an essential introduction to the field and an attractive choice for university seminars. Contemporary voices, including accounts from statesmen, soldiers, clergy, and common observers, bolster an already vivid text, while primary source documents allow readers to explore the essential link between historical narrative and the archival material it interprets. Though wider discussion on the revolution and its international context would have broadened the scope of the volume, Lynch does not ignore episodes such as Roger Casement's Irish Brigade, Eamon de Valera's tour of the United States, or the impact of the First World War on Ireland's political evolution. Overall, this book is an essential contribution to the work being produced on the revolutionary period, both digitally and in traditional format.
