Issues include the Rising and its legacy; divisions and partition; censorship, the 1937 Constitution of Ireland and the role of the Catholic Church; the economy; the Emergency; poverty, disease and emigration; the Swinging Sixties and the Lemass/Whitaker era; the Troubles; as well as cinema, fashion, music, literature, sport, entertainment and the advent of T.V.
This is also a saga of how independent Ireland impacted on the ordinary, everyday lives of its citizens. Consequently, it is a social, personal and cultural celebration of Ireland.
Above all, this story of 20th century Ireland is laced through with the soundtracks of music and story that defined, reflected and influenced Irish life, heritage, culture, identity and destiny. All part of a veritable second national revival which, combined with an economic resurgence, went into the making of modern Ireland.
Whether it be A Woman’s Heart from some of Ireland’s most gifted musicians, A Nation Once Again from Thomas Davis, Brendan Behan’s The Laughing Boy, the songs of O’ Carolan, Patrick McCall, Thomas Moore or Percy French, the singing of John McCormack and The Dubliners, as well as the music of O’Riada, The Chieftains, Horslips, Thin Lizzy, Planxty, Altan, Clannad, Hothouse Flowers, Aslan, The Cranberries, Riverdance and U2, all contributed to the shaping of the Ireland we have today.
MAURICE CURTIS has written many books on Ireland and on Dublin in particular. These include The Liberties in Dublin; Steps, Stones and Stories; To Hell or Monto, The Story of Dublin’s Notorious Districts; The Little Book of Rathmines.