精东影业

Burns Library Visiting Scholar in Irish Studies Fearghal McGarry in the library's Irish Room. (Lee Pellegrini)

Jimmy Gralton (1886-1945) might seem a quirky, and dubious, footnote in Irish history. A Leitrim native who twice emigrated to and returned from the United States, Gralton was an ardent Communist and combatant in the struggle for independence against Britain, and later turned a hall he built on his property into a hub of political activism and a venue for jazz, arousing the wrath of Catholic priests and local authorities who denounced him for being a Communist. In 1933, he became the only Irishman ever to be deported from Ireland.

But Fearghal McGarry, the Burns Library Visiting Scholar in Irish Studies at Boston College this semester, sees Gralton鈥檚 story as reflecting the tensions that wracked the still-young Irish nation as it sought to establish itself. According to McGarry, it wasn鈥檛 just Gralton鈥檚 radicalism that troubled the civic and religious leadership, but his promotion of activities鈥攕uch as listening to jazz or going to dance halls鈥攖hey believed to be immoral.

McGarry explains the larger significance of Gralton鈥檚 story in 鈥淐ommunism, Sex, and All That Jazz: The Struggle Against Modernity in Interwar Ireland,鈥� presented March 31 as part of the Burns Lecture series. (Watch the video below.)

鈥淏etween the world wars in Ireland, there was a lot of anxiety about modern culture, modern trends, as represented by Communism, jazz, and cinema,鈥� said McGarry, a professor of modern Irish history at Queen鈥檚 University Belfast. 鈥淲hat鈥檚 interesting is, you have all the clerical and nationalist denunciations of these things, but a lot of them are very popular with ordinary men and women: The cinemas are full, people love dancing, and so on.

鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of hostility to these modern influences beyond Ireland: For example, Nazi Germany depicts jazz in anti-Semitic, racist terms, while in the Soviet Union it鈥檚 denounced as a symbol of decadent capitalism. But in Ireland, a lot of these concerns are expressed in terms of Catholicism, and in the desire to protect Gaelic culture. So in a weird way, there鈥檚 almost a positive element to this repressive, censorial atmosphere, because it鈥檚 about the idea of constructing an Irish identity.鈥�

McGarry is the latest in a long line of distinguished academics, writers, artists, journalists, librarians, and notable public figures whose significant contributions to Irish cultural and intellectual life have earned them the position of Burns Scholar. Appointees teach courses, offer public lectures, and use the University鈥檚 John J. Burns Library in their ongoing research, writing, and creative endeavors related to Irish history, art, and culture.

A member of the Royal Irish Academy, the Dublin-area native has written or edited 11 volumes on Irish history. His earlier work, including studies of Ireland and the Spanish Civil War, explored Ireland in an interwar-European context. His recent research, presented in publications including 聽The Rising and The Abbey Rebels of 1916: A Lost Revolution, focuses on the Irish revolution and the cultural and political revival from which it emerged.

McGarry needed little in the way of introduction to Boston College when he arrived to begin his Burns Scholar appointment. He鈥檚 done research at the Burns Library and spoken at the University several times, including at the 2016 conference organized by 精东影业鈥檚 Irish Studies Program to commemorate the centenary of the Irish Easter Week Rising. McGarry also has worked with Boston College Ireland on , an online historical newspaper that details events in Irish life from a century ago.

鈥淚 had a big ambition to come here,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he Burns Scholar chair is a very prestigious, sought-after honor in Ireland. The facilities at 精东影业 are outstanding, particularly the resources at the Burns Library. But it also gives you a lot of space and time to advance your research and write your book, and there鈥檚 the opportunity to teach as well, which is fun.鈥�

McGarry鈥檚 class, Modernity and Tradition in Interwar Ireland鈥攐pen to undergraduate and graduate students鈥攁long with the theme of his forthcoming lecture, reflect his longstanding interest in using a more expansive research lens on the Irish Revolution, which encompasses the 1916 rising and subsequent war for independence from Britain, as well as the 1922 Irish civil war.

As McGarry notes, perspectives about this crucial period in Irish history have shifted in recent decades. In past generations, including his schoolboy days, the focus was on the heroism and sacrifice of Irish rebels such as Padraic Pearse, and Ireland鈥檚 eventual success in winning independence. Over time, there has been an increased desire for a more thorough, diverse, and nuanced reading of the Irish revolution, including the important role women played and the range of radical ideologies among those involved.

McGarry, for his part, explored a trove of nearly 2,000 previously unreleased witness statements in writing The Rising, which he describes as 鈥渁 social history from below鈥濃�攔ecollections of rank-and-file revolutionaries. For Abbey Rebels, he relates the stories of seven unlikely rebels, all connected with Dublin鈥檚 famed Abbey Theatre, including actors, a carpenter, an usherette, and the composer of Ireland鈥檚 national anthem.

鈥淭his rising was a revolutionary movement,鈥� said McGarry. 鈥淭here were socialists, labor activists, feminists, and others whose vision of Ireland was quite different than that of the nationalists and conservatives. The revolution ended with the civil war, when the government felt compelled to enforce its legitimacy, which involved a close relationship with the Catholic Church and promoting a narrow cultural vision without radical experimentalism.鈥�

But McGarry sees a need to look beyond Ireland to get a better grasp of Irish history. 鈥淚t鈥檚 important to note how events outside Ireland during that period shaped what happened in Ireland, but also how events in Ireland resonated elsewhere. The Irish revolution took place at a time when the age of empires was ending and a new world was starting to take shape. So this meant there was far more attention being paid to Ireland than before. For example, when Terence MacSwiney鈥攑laywright, author, and lord mayor of Cork鈥攚as arrested and imprisoned by the British for sedition, he went on a hunger strike and died after 74 days. This caused international outrage, especially in America, which became a key pillar of Irish support.鈥�

This transnational and global context of the Irish revolution is at the heart of 鈥淎 Global History of Irish Revolution 1916-1923,鈥� a project on which McGarry is collaborating with 精东影业 Irish Studies Program Interim Director Robert Savage and faculty at Edinburgh University. The project features museum exhibitions, educational resources, and special publications, and will culminate with an international conference held at Boston College planned for this September.

Sean Smith | University Communications | March 2021