Cork University Press Research Articles

Review of Women in the Irish Film Industry, by Susan Liddy (ed.)

Review of Women in the Irish Film Industry, by Susan Liddy (ed.) (Cork: Cork University Press, 2020), 258 pp., ISBN: 9781782053736, $39 (Hardback)

Review of Staged Folklore: The National Folk Theatre of Ireland, by Susan H. Motherway and John O'Connell

Review of Staged Folklore: The National Folk Theatre of Ireland, by Susan H. Motherway and John O'Connell (Cork: Cork University Press, 2022), 318 pp., ISBN: 9781782055310, € 39 (hardcover)

Voltaire après la nuit: Paris, Moscou, Genève by François Jacob

Reviewed by: Voltaire après la nuit: Paris, Moscou, Genève by François Jacob Simon Davies Voltaire après la nuit: Paris, Moscou, Genève. By François Jacob. Ferney-Voltaire: Centre International d'Étude du xviiie Siècle. 2021. ii+186 pp. €40. ISBN 978–2–84559–150–9. François Jacob published his biography Voltaire in 2015 (Paris: Gallimard). His new book investigates Voltaire from a different angle, his reputation in post-Second World War countries until a Congress in 1963. The cities in his subtitle represent France, the Soviet Union, and one man, the 'savant anglais' Theodore Besterman. Besterman created the Institut et Musée Voltaire in Geneva, of which, years later, Jacob was to become the Director. The monograph's sources are wide-spread, published and archival. It explores primarily the image of Voltaire rather [End Page 243] than the reception of his works. This image is often situated in a political context. In France he could be portrayed as an anti-Semite during the German occupation to buttress the persecution of Jews. Simultaneously he was depicted as an 'anti-vychiste' and a 'résistant'. The two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of his birth was commemorated in 1944, yet the French Catholic Church continued to worry about his malign influence. French people were also anxious about his potential linkage to communism. The Soviets, while uncomfortable with his life as a landed gentleman, published a catalogue of his library and volumes of his marginalia. Nevertheless, it was the English-speaking world that did most to explore his life and works. Here, arguably unwisely, Jacob cites Kathleen O'Flaherty's Voltaire, Myth and Reality (Cork: Cork University Press, 1945). She views Voltaire as a bogeyman from the perspective of a conservative Irish Catholic. The extraordinary mood changer was Besterman. Winning support across the Atlantic, he championed Voltaire for spreading Enlightenment values, and Voltaire became more an international than a French figure. Besterman's edition of the patriarch's correspondence was ground-breaking in a positive and, for the French, a negative sense. He published the most comprehensive edition of the letters not in France, but in Switzerland (Voltaire's Correspondence, 107 vols (Geneva: Institut et Musée Voltaire, 1953–65)). If that was one affront to patriotic pride, a second was even more damaging: the missives were annotated in English. Besterman had a troubled relationship with the CNRS, with the result that the 'hexagone' was not involved in celebrating its Voltairean heritage. Moreover, the Englishman began publishing Studies on Voltaire in 1955—France was losing its 'patrimoine'. He organized the first international Congress on the Enlightenment in Switzerland in 1963, with a limited participation from French scholars. Having contacted Besterman, Nancy Mitford produced her account of Voltaire's love life in English (Voltaire in Love (London: Hamilton, 1957)). Voltaire's works could still inspire adaptations, particularly those of Candide. Leonard Bernstein's musical work is well known but the tale also encouraged film versions in France. However, it could be contended that these offspring did little to enhance the understanding of the qualities of Voltaire and his works. Although it is not pertinent to the time-frame of this study, Besterman was also instrumental in launching the edition of Voltaire's Œuvres complètes which was completed at the Voltaire Foundation in Oxford in 2022—an achievement marked at a reception in the British Embassy in Paris in June that year. Overall, Jacob's study underscores the importance of editorial decisions and their context. He highlights the difficulty of embarking on major projects on Voltaire which are free from 'toute empreinte idéologique' (p. 49). Voltaire has become a standard point of reference in the advocacy of tolerance—witness the 'Je suis Charlie' slogan created as the response to the terrorist attack on the offices of Charlie Hebdo in 2015. This publication succeeds in illustrating the fact that scholarly editing is not a value-free undertaking and that history and chance can play a significant role. [End Page 244] Simon Davies Belfast Copyright © 2023 Modern Humanities Research Association

Churches in the Irish Landscape AD 400–1100. By Tomás Ó Carragáin. Cork: Cork University Press, 2021. 520pp. €49/£45 hardback.

Churches in the Irish Landscape AD 400–1100. By Tomás Ó Carragáin. Cork: Cork University Press, 2021. 520pp. €49/£45 hardback.

Ireland's new traditionalists: Fianna Fáil, republicanism and gender, 1926–1938. By Kenneth Shonk. Pp 240. Cork: Cork University Press. 2021. €39.

Ireland's new traditionalists: Fianna Fáil, republicanism and gender, 1926–1938. By Kenneth Shonk. Pp 240. Cork: Cork University Press. 2021. €39.

Tracy Collins. 2021. Female monasticism in medieval Ireland: an archaeology. Cork: Cork University Press; 978-1-78205456-6 hardback €39.

Tracy Collins. 2021. Female monasticism in medieval Ireland: an archaeology. Cork: Cork University Press; 978-1-78205456-6 hardback €39.

Female Monasticism in Medieval Ireland: An Archaeology. By Tracy Collins. Cork: Cork University Press, 2021. xxviii + 644pp. €39 cloth.

Female Monasticism in Medieval Ireland: An Archaeology. By Tracy Collins. Cork: Cork University Press, 2021. xxviii + 644pp. €39 cloth.

Sacred Sisters: Gender, Sanctity and Power in Medieval Ireland

Sacred Sisters: Gender, Sanctity and Power in Medieval Ireland

Irish liberty and British democracy: the third Irish home rule crisis, 1909–14. By James Doherty. Pp. 308. Cork: Cork University Press. 2019. €39.

Irish liberty and British democracy: the third Irish home rule crisis, 1909–14. By James Doherty. Pp. 308. Cork: Cork University Press. 2019. €39.

The Alliance of Pirates: Ireland and Atlantic Piracy in the Early Seventeenth Century. By ConnieKelleher. Cork University Press. 2020. xxii + 408pp. $33.00.

The Alliance of Pirates: Ireland and Atlantic Piracy in the Early Seventeenth Century. By ConnieKelleher. Cork University Press. 2020. xxii + 408pp. $33.00.

Building the Irish courthouse and prison: a political history, 1750–1850. By Richard J. Butler. Pp 652. Cork: Cork University Press. 2020. €39 hardback.

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Richard J. Butler, Building the Irish Courthouse and Prison: A Political History, 1750–1850. Cork: Cork University Press, 2020. xli + 610pp. 327 plates and figures. Bibliography. €39.00 hbk.

Richard J. Butler, Building the Irish Courthouse and Prison: A Political History, 1750–1850. Cork: Cork University Press, 2020. xli + 610pp. 327 plates and figures. Bibliography. €39.00 hbk. - Volume 48 Issue 3

‘Flann O’Brien: Problems with Authority’ (2017), edited by Ruben Borg, Paul Fagan, and John McCourt

Review of Flann O’Brien: Problems with Authority, edited by Ruben Borg, Paul Fagan, and John McCourt (Cork University Press, 2017)

Sport, the Media and Ireland: Interdisciplinary Perspectives

Sport, the Media and Ireland: Interdisciplinary Perspectives

JamesDohertyIrish liberty, British democracy: The third Irish Home Rule crisis, 1909–1914. Cork: Cork University Press, 2019. 320 pp. €39.00 (hbk).

Nations and NationalismVolume 27, Issue 3 p. 911-912 BOOK REVIEW Doherty, James Irish liberty, British democracy: The third Irish Home Rule crisis, 1909–1914. Cork: Cork University Press, 2019. 320 pp. €39.00 (hbk). Emily Jones, University of Manchester, Manchester, UKSearch for more papers by this author Emily Jones, University of Manchester, Manchester, UKSearch for more papers by this author First published: 28 June 2021 https://doi.org/10.1111/nana.12693Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onEmailFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article. Volume27, Issue3July 2021Pages 911-912 RelatedInformation

Review of Irish Liberty, British Democracy: The Third Home Rule Crisis, 1909-14, by James Doherty

Review of Irish Liberty, British Democracy: The Third Home Rule Crisis, 1909-14, by James Doherty (Cork: Cork University Press, 2019) ISBN: 9781782053606,320pp. €39.00 (hardback).

Ernest Bylthe in Ulster: the making of a double agent? By David Fitzpatrick. Pp 275. Cork: Cork University Press. 2018. €39.

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James Doherty. Irish Liberty, British Democracy: The Third Home Rule Crisis, 1909–1914. Cork: Cork University Press, 2019. Pp. 308. $42.00 (cloth).

James Doherty. Irish Liberty, British Democracy: The Third Home Rule Crisis, 1909–1914. Cork: Cork University Press, 2019. Pp. 308. $42.00 (cloth).

Justice Daniel Cohalan, 1865–1946: American patriot and Irish-American nationalist. By Michael Doorley. Pp 312. Cork: Cork University Press. 2019. €39/£35.

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James Doherty Irish Liberty, British Democracy: The Third Irish Home Rule Crisis, 1909-14 (review)

Reviews James Doherty, Irish Liberty, British Democracy: The Third Irish Home Rule Crisis, 1909–14 (Cork: Cork University Press, 2019), 320 pages. What a pleasure it is to read a book on the Third Home Rule Bill which places it firmly in the politics of the state – the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland – in which it was by far the most important political issue in the years leading up to the outbreak of the First World War. This is in stark contrast to the current ‘decade of centenaries’ commemorations in Ireland, where the Third Home Rule Bill is portrayed as the beginnings of an ascent which, barring a few serious stumbles such as partition and civil war, leads inevitably and inexorably to the sunny uplands of Irish self-determination – an Irish nationalist version of the Whig interpretation of history. The struggle for Irish Home Rule in this period was a metaphor for the transformation of the United Kingdom into a fully-fledged democracy. To most British democrats, which included Liberal Party members, backbench Liberal MPs and the Labour Party, the passing of the Third Home Rule Bill was the test of whether the 1911 Parliament Act had, through emasculating the powers of the non-elected House of Lords, been successful. Viewed from this perspective, Irish Home Rule was the litmus test of Britain’s democratisation, far surpassing in importance other contemporary issues besettingAsquith’s Liberal government, such as women’s suffrage, industrial unrest and the naval race with Germany. Successful Home Rule legislation for Ireland would both symbolically and actually prove that the entire United Kingdom had made the transformation into democracy. The book is revelatory in many ways. The similarities between the structures and tensions of the Liberal Party and the Irish Party are remarkable. Both were loose coalitions and the strains and tensions inside both parties were at times at breaking point. The British Liberal Party and Liberal government were dominated by liberals who were not necessarily democrats. Men like Asquith, Haldane and Grey believed in liberty, but had substantial reservations about equality. They were leading a party which, by now, was heavily influenced by the philosophy of New Liberalism, that required the state to take a far more pro-active role in promoting a new era of equality and democracy. These social democrats were firm in their belief Studies • volume 109 • number 435 336 Autumn 2020: Book Reviews that the passage of the Third Home Rule Bill was totemic of their drive to democratise Britain and both Liberal Party members and backbenchers saw the Irish Party and their demands as advancing democracy throughout the entire United Kingdom. Even many Nonconformist Liberals, dubious about Irish Home Rule and its perceived threat of the resurgence of a rampant Roman Catholicism, were swayed by appeals to their reason, sense of justice and religious liberty, and these usually trumped any reservations they may have otherwise had. The New Liberals, now the majority in the party, regarded Home Rule as the battering ram for democratisation, even though they recognised that it took up valuable parliamentary time which could have been used for social reform. The author argues that by 1914 Asquith was under no illusion that defying radical Liberals, Irish nationalists and Labour on Home Rule would lead to the shattering of his party. The recipient of all this support from the radical wing of British politics – the Irish Party – was even more a broad church than the Liberal Party. For a start, the Irish Parliamentary Party was hardly a party. It was racked by residual rivalry and hostility dating back to the Parnell era, particularly between John Dillon, T M Healy and William O’ Brien. The Irish Party’s political dominance in Ireland arose practically in default of effective alternative movements. It was led by John Redmond, an imperialist at heart like so many others in the Irish Party, to whom there was no incompatibility between Irish nationality and imperial patriotism. These Irish nationalists wanted a self-governing Ireland to play a prominent role in the affairs of the Empire along the lines of the white settler dominions such as Canada and Australia. Rather than lead to the break...