The FitzGeralds and the rising.

Mulligan, William H., Jr.

DESMOND FITZGERALD.

Desmond's Rising: Memoirs 1913 to Easter 1916.

Foreword by Garret FitzGerald.

Dublin: Liberties Press. Chester Springs, PA: Dufour Editions, 2006

THIS IS A NEW EDITION of a work that was first published in 1968. This edition has an introduction by Desmond's (to avoid confusion with his son and wife, I will use first names) youngest son, former Taoiseach Garret FitzGerald, 'and several appendices, including earlier, brief reflections on the 1916 Rising by Desmond FitzGerald, correspondence between his wife, Mabel, and George Bernard Shaw, and correspondence between the Fitzgeralds while Desmond was in Mountjoy Prison. FitzGerald's memoir is an important part of the literature on the 1916 Rising and the events that preceded it. This new edition will be welcome by scholars, students, and those generally interested in Irish history. Desmond FitzGerald is among the higher-ranking leaders of the Irish Volunteers who were able to write a memoir for future historians to utilize and who did so.

In the introduction, Garrett FitzGerald provides some background information on how his father came to write his memoir, as well as how it came eventually to be published after the manuscript was lost for some years. He also discusses his father's reluctance both to write a memoir and, more importantly, to criticize former colleagues in any public forum. It is safe to say that Desmond was a reluctant memoirist and set rather severe limitations on himself in writing a memoir not only with his respect for former colleagues but with his decision to limit himself to discussing only those things of which he had first hand knowledge. Rumors of the time or information later gained do not appear here. These might seem like limiting premises for a memoir, but his candor and deep familiarity with those aspects of 1916 and events leading up it that he does discuss produces a remarkably engaging document, which offers myriad insights into the motivations and mindset of those who rose against British rule and insurmountable odds in 1916. Among other things, Desmond FitzGerald emerges as a reluctant supporter of the Easter Rising, convinced it had no chance of success. Yet he showed up and committed his life with no real hope for success. While not within the highest levels of either the IRB or the Volunteers on the national level, Desmond was an organizer first in Kerry and then in Wicklow--after authorities forced him and his family to relocate to one of several designated zones. The memoir brings out the constant pressure and various harassment techniques British authorities subjected those involved with the IRB and the Volunteers-arrest, frequent police visits or obvious observation, limitations on where individuals could live, and other harassment, some quite petty and others major.

Desmond FitzGerald offers a remarkable, series of insights into the thinking of those involved in the Irish Volunteers and the development of the organization between 1913 and the Rising as well as the interaction of Irish Volunteer leaders with British authorities. There is the added element of his relationship with his wife who was not only a committed nationalist but appears to have clearly been more committed to the 1916 Rising as it was developing than her husband, although he alone was the direct target of arrest and harassment. Her correspondence with George Bernard Shaw, for whom she had worked briefly as a secretary, included in an Appendix, reflects not only her knowledge of contemporary politics, but a strong commitment to advanced nationalist views. She was also ardently anti-treaty, criticizing de Valera for establishing Fianna Fail, and opposed the Cosgrave government while her husband was a minister in it. Unfortunately, she did not write a memoir of her own. There is much here that will repay a careful reading, but to summarize it would require many more words than are allowed.

Desmond's Rising is a compelling, convincing memoir by an author who appears to have no agenda other than to set out what he did and why he did it as best he could. The publishers should be thanked for making it available again.

--Murray State University