Easter 1916; Family Remembrance and Identity: An Irish Studies Journey John MacDonough

‘MA’ Dissertation Research Impact of the 1916 Easter Rising on grandchildren of Patrick Rankin; a member of the IRB who took an active part in the Rising, and who wrote of his involvement in witness statements taken by the Bureau of Military History. Looks at how these grandchildren view their grandfather’s involvement in the Rising, and consequently how they view the Rising itself. It examines the notion of identity, setting out to discover to what extent the actions of their grandfather one hundred years ago have shaped identities today. – Involved background research – Interviews

Underpinning the Research: Irish Studies Researching modernities New perspectives in Irish history Modern Irish Literature Staging screen and Exile

What Is Known

‘Revising the rising’ can “be perilous, especially if cherished legends are debunked or heroes pushed off their pedestals” (Boyce & O’Day, 1997, p1).

What is as Yet Unknown

Interview Questions 1.What are your views on the 1916 Easter Rising? 2.What do you think of your grandfather’s involvement in the 1916 Easter Rising? 3.How does his involvement in the 1916 Easter Rising shape how you remember him and/or what you think of him? 4.How does his involvement in the 1916 Easter Rising shape how you view the rising itself? 5.How does your grandfather’s involvement in the 1916 Easter Rising shape your identity?

Conclusions “ My family’s history… came to me in bits, from people who rarely recognized all they had been told. Some of the things I remember I don’t really remember. I’ve just been told about them so now I feel I remember them.” (Deane, 1997, p225)

What Now? ‘The Anglo-Irish War, and the 1916 Easter Rising: Family Remembrance and Identity’

References Aughey, A. (1991) What is living and what is dead in the ideal of 1916?, in: Ní Dhonnchadha, M. & Dorgan, T. (eds) Revising the Rising, Derry: Field Day, pp Boyce, D.G. & O’Day, A. (1997) ‘Revisionism and the revisionist controversy.’ In Boyce, D.G. & O’Day, A. (eds.) (1997) The making of Irish history: revisionism and the revisionist controversy. London: Routledge, pp1-14. Deane, S. (1997) Reading in the dark. London: Vintage. Kiberd, D. (1991) The elephant of revolutionary forgetfulness, in: Ní Dhonnchadha, M. & Dorgan, T. (eds) Revising the Rising, Derry: Field Day, pp1-20. McBride, I. (2001) Introduction: memory and national identity in modern Ireland, in McBride, I. (ed) History and memory in modern Ireland, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.