Synopses & Reviews
In this book, Richard Kirkland explores the history of Northern Ireland through the biography of one of its most unusual and talented personages—the legendary musician, IRA activist, poet, and Catholic mystic, Cathal OByrne. OByrnes fascinating life, as Kirkland shows, is part and parcel of the extraordinary story of this fractured island.
Both gay and Catholic in Protestant-dominated Northern Ireland, OByrnes circle of friends included Roger Casement, Maud Gonne, and Patrick Pearse. Despite his outsider status, OByrnes work was indicative of major shifts in public opinion, as OByrne moved from Home Rule politics to an eventual commitment to arms during the Irish War of Independence.
Kirkland uses the story of OByrnes life to delve into that of his colleagues during the Northern Irish cultural revival, making illuminating connections among the Ulster Literary Theatre, Belfasts music hall culture, the Casement trial ,and the devastating Belfast pogroms of 1920 and 1921. Just as important, Kirkland brings to light the hidden history of gay Belfast and the fate of Northern Irelands Catholics in this previously neglected period after Partition but before the Troubles.
About the Author
Richard Kirkland is a lecturer in the English Department at Kings College, London. His previous books include Identity Parades: Northern Irish Culture and Dissident Subjects, also published by Liverpool University Press.
Table of Contents
Preface and acknowledgementsPrologue1. Cathal O'Byrne and the Northern Revival2. The political and cultural origins of the Northern Revival3. The genres of the Northern Revival4. F. J. Bigger and the Ardrigh coterie5. 1916, partition and the end of the Northern Revival6. Roger Casement7. Exile, return and the life of a
shanachieAfterword: The legacy of the Northern RevivalBibliographyIndex