{"id":7574,"date":"2021-11-25T08:22:04","date_gmt":"2021-11-25T08:22:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/?p=7574"},"modified":"2021-11-25T08:22:05","modified_gmt":"2021-11-25T08:22:05","slug":"irish-history-a-dance-in-the-reel-of-the-flickering-light","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/2021\/11\/25\/irish-history-a-dance-in-the-reel-of-the-flickering-light\/","title":{"rendered":"IRISH HISTORY: a dance in the reel of the flickering light"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

IRISH HISTORY:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

a dance in the reel of the flickering light<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

by Norman Warwick<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is no logical reason that I can think of for my mind always associating the film Michael Collins with the Christy Moore recording of Dance In The Reel Of The Flickering Light, other than my response to those clues in any one-word association game would be \u00b4Irish.\u00b4 So firmly fixed is that association, however, that I take pleasure in applying it in our headline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was reminded of the film Michael Collins once again recently when reading a piece by Clara Moloney, published in Paste on-line magazine in October 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u00a8In Ireland\u00b4,<\/em> Clara reminded us, \u00b4The film biography of Michael Collins (left)<\/strong> remains a cornerstone of both pop culture and popular history: We\u2019ve all seen it, probably lots of times, so it\u2019s a big part of how we understand our nation and its history. For me, and I\u2019m sure millions more, when I picture some of the most significant figures in Irish history they look like Liam Neeson or Alan Rickman.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Michael Collins<\/em> begins with the Easter 1916 uprising before following Collins (Liam Neeson)\u2014Michael, Mick, the big fellow\u2014through the Irish War of Independence, where he leads the Irish Republican Army in a guerrilla war against the British state. Mick is charismatic, funny and endlessly passionate about Ireland\u2019s freedom. Neeson is electric, playing Mick as a clear-eyed strategist even as he lets us glimpse the toll it takes on his soul to send young Irish men\u2014boys, really\u2014out with rifles in their hands.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Anglo-Irish Treaty, which falls short of creating an Irish Republic, brings the War of Independence to an end but leads to the Civil War between those who support and oppose the treaty. Mick is pro-treaty, opposite to many of the men he\u2019s been fighting alongside. There\u2019s president \u00c9amon de Valera (Alan Rickman), who frequently clashed with Mick on matters as substantial as military tactics and as ephemeral as personality, and there\u2019s Harry Boland (Aidan Quinn), Mick\u2019s dearest, dearest friend. It seems like the only person who he hasn\u2019t lost is Kitty Kiernan (Julia Roberts), a sweet girl both he and Harry were in love with.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019d been idle consideration of making a film about Michael Collins for a while\u2014at one point, Michael Cimino (The Deer Hunter) was going to direct Gabriel Byrne in the role; at another, Kevin Costner was interested\u2014but Jordan must have pitched the hell out of it, because\u00a0Michael Collins\u00a0is a\u00a0big\u00a0film, full of movie stars, with the kind of Hollywood sheen that comes with Hollywood budgets. It\u2019s 1996, and you\u2019ve got Liam Neeson, Julia Roberts, Aidan Quinn (shown on our cover picture)<\/strong> and Alan Rickman as the leads. I imagine that Jordan convinced Warner Bros. it might even make them some money.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In most of the world, it flopped. It got some minor Oscar nominations\u2014score and cinematography\u2014and even won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, but largely didn\u2019t make much of a ripple, critically or commercially. But if to the rest of the world it\u2019s a vaguely remembered, decidedly minor work, the opposite is true in Ireland.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Michael Collins<\/em> was the highest-grossing film of all time in Ireland when it was released, grossing four million Irish pounds. Though it was rated R in the U.S. and 15 in Britain, it was released here with a PG certificate, with the Irish Film Censor stating, \u201cbecause of the subject matter, parents should have the option of making their own decision as to whether their children should see the film or not.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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That historical importance \u00a0of Michael Collins, the man, (right)<\/strong> is a big part of its popularity, of course: It\u2019s a part of Irish history that we all know intimately, perhaps more so than any other piece of our history. But on top of that, at a time when Ireland\u2019s film industry had hardly begun to develop\u2014only three years after the re-establishment of the Irish Film Board\u2014Michael Collins\u00a0was the biggest film ever produced here. And unlike the legion of stage-Irish top-of-the-morning rubbish that had passed for Ireland in American films,\u00a0Michael Collins\u00a0wasn\u2019t plastic or inauthentic. While I love, say,\u00a0The Quiet Man\u2014John Ford\u2019s 1952 film starring John Wayne and Maureen O\u2019Hara, made in Cong, Co. Mayo\u2014I am keenly aware that it\u2019s not \u201cfor\u201d me. It\u2019s for Americans and the false, romantic Ireland of their imaginations.\u00a0Michael Collins\u00a0doesn\u2019t feel that way for a single second.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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It\u2019s remained a key fixture in Irish culture in the 25 years since. I\u2019ve seen it dozens of times, minimum every Christmas for as long as I can remember. I\u2019ve seen it re-released on the big screen for the centenary of the Easter Rising. I own a paperback copy of the screenplay for no particular reason. I was shown it in school many, many times. (My history textbook had a big yellow box saying that one of the film\u2019s most notorious deviations from reality\u2014it implies \u00c9amon de Valera (left)<\/strong> was involved in Collins\u2019 death\u2014has no historical basis.) Stephen Rea-as-Ned Broy, writing in his notebook, is the definitive\u00a0<\/em>meme<\/em><\/a>\u00a0of\u00a0<\/em>Irish Twitter<\/em><\/a>, the go-to response to any and all West Brit-ery.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

And so Michael Collins ends up falling between two stools: Outside of Ireland, it\u2019s too insignificant for much consideration; inside Ireland, it\u2019s so significant that it becomes hard to think about as a movie, to separate out from everything that surrounds it. Talking about Michael Collins means talking about how we imagine our own history, quickly devolving into arguments about historical accuracy or the quality of non-Irish actors\u2019 accents. (For the record, it\u2019s become a bit of a truism that Julia Roberts does a bad Irish accent, but to my ear, she sounds so much like Sin\u00e9ad O\u2019Connor that the O\u2019Connor songs included in the film feel like Kitty Kiernan (Roberts\u00b4 character), is singing them. It\u2019s a shame, because it really is a great film, worth taking on its own terms\u00b4.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My education has always been acquired not from school curricula in childhood but from artists and narrators, reliable or unreliable, and as a born and bred Yorkshire man I would unashamedly admit that my first awareness of the history behind the Irish troubles of my generation was gained through music, fictive literature and film.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Clara Moloney describes the significance of the film quite perfectly. She seems resigned that it hasn\u00b4t made a more global impact than it did but she should not be down hearted by that. Teachers are adept at identifying a pupil\u00b4s preferred method of learning. During the first fifteen years of my life I had never been to Radcliffe, five miles down the road from where I lived. And yet, through songs like Last Train to Clarkesville, tv series like Rawhide, films (and books) like A Day In The Life Of Ivan Denisovitch, and books by Tolkien, I knew far more about American railway time tables, cowboy folk-lore, Russian labour camps of the nineteen fifties and the geography of Middle Earth at the age of fifteen than I ever did about the Industrial Revolution era of the region I lived in. Dry, factual re-tellings of The Peterloo Massacre, or the old cotton mills that still, in utter dilapidation, dotted my local landscape, never captured my imagination<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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There is a danger, of course, of learning only through the arts. For example, I have always felt the most impactful character in the biopic of Michael Collins was his best friend, played by Aiden Quinn (left) . Perhaps because he starred in both I always associate in my mind the Billy Collins film with The Legends Of The Fall a piece of fiction set in the Prohibition era in America. Essentially the films tell the same story of an odd love-threesome set in turbulent times, with the two triangles having a wild, gung-ho, edgy protagonist in one corner and a more\u00a0 cautious, conservative thinker in the other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I guess the truth is that really I have not so much learned through the arts but have instead allowed the arts to lead me to where I might learn more from reliable historians, because history, as we know from our statues, never mis-represents the facts !<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The primary source for this article was written by Clara Moloney for Paste on line magazine.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In our occasional re-postings Sidetracks And Detours are confident that we are not only sharing with our readers excellent articles written by experts but are also pointing to informed and informative sites readers will re-visit time and again. Of course, we feel sure our readers will also return to our daily not-for-profit blog knowing that we seek to provide core original material whilst sometimes spotlighting the best pieces from elsewhere, as we engage with genres and practitioners along all the sidetracks & detours we take.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article was collated by Norman Warwick, a weekly columnist with Lanzarote Information and owner and editor of this daily blog at Sidetracks And Detours.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Norman has also been a long serving broadcaster, co-presenting the weekly all across the arts programme on Crescent Community Radio for many years with Steve, and his own show on Sherwood Community Tadio. He has been a regular guest on BBC Radio Manchester, BBC Radio Lancashire, BBC Radio Merseyside and BBC Radio 4.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a published author and poet he was a founder member of Lendanear Music, with Colin Lever and Just Poets with Pam McKee, Touchstones Creative Writing Group (where he was creative writing facilitator for a number of years) with Val Chadwick and all across the arts with Robin Parker.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

From Monday to Friday,<\/strong> you will find a daily post here at Sidetracks And Detoursas and should you be looking for good reading over the weekend you can visit our massive but easy to navigate archives of over 500 articles.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The purpose of this daily not-for-profit blog is to deliver news, previews, interviews and reviews from all across the arts to die-hard fans and non- traditional audiences around the world. We are therefore always delighted to receive your own articles here at Sidetracks And Detours. So if you have a favourite artist, event, or venue that you would like to tell us more about just drop a Word document attachment to me at <\/strong>normanwarwick55@gmail.com<\/strong><\/a> with a couple of appropriate photographs in a zip folder if you wish. Beiung a not-for-profit organisation we unfortunately cannot pay you but we will always fully attribute any pieces we publish. You therefore might also. like to include a brief autobiography and photograph of yourself<\/strong> in your submission. We look forward to hearing from you.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile we are grateful to our regular correspondent Michael Higgins and occasional reporter Steve Bewick and the sharing of information by such reliable sources such as<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hot Biscuits Jazz Radio                      www.fc-radio.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

AllMusic  <\/strong><\/a>                                          <\/strong>https:\/\/www.allmusic.com<\/p>\n\n\n\n

feedspot                                              https:\/\/www.feedspot.com\/?_src=folder<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jazz In Reading                                  https:\/\/www.jazzinreading.com<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jazziz                                                 https:\/\/www.jazziz.com
<\/a>Ribble Valley Jazz & Blues                https:\/\/rvjazzandblues.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rob Adams                                         Music That\u00b4s Going Places<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lanzarote Information                        https:\/\/lanzaroteinformation.co.uk<\/p>\n\n\n\n

all across the arts                                 www.allacrossthearts.co.uk<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rochdale Music Society                     rochdalemusicsociety.org<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lendanear                                           www.lendanearmusic<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Agenda Cultura Lanzarote<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Larry Yaskiel \u2013 writer<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Lanzarote Art Gallery                  https:\/\/lanzaroteartgallery.com<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Goodreads                                        https:\/\/www.goodreads<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

groundup music                                  HOME | GroundUP Music<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maverick                                             https:\/\/maverick-country.com<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joni Mitchell newsletter<\/p>\n\n\n\n

passenger newsletter<\/p>\n\n\n\n

paste mail ins<\/p>\n\n\n\n

sheku kanneh mason newsletter<\/p>\n\n\n\n

songfacts                                           en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/SongFacts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

correspondents                                Michael Higgins<\/p>\n\n\n\n

                                                            Steve Bewick<\/p>\n\n\n\n

                                                            Gary Heywood Everett<\/p>\n\n\n\n

                                                            Steve Cooke<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Susana Fondon<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

as a born and bred Yorkshire man I would unashamedly admit that my first awareness of the history behind the Irish troubles of my generation was gained through music, fictive literature and film.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7582,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[71],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7574","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture-and-tradition"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7574","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7574"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7574\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7583,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7574\/revisions\/7583"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7582"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7574"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7574"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7574"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}