Modes of Memory

Memory Ireland, edited by Oona Frawley (Syracuse University Press, 2011), vol 1: History and Modernity, pp. 66-82.

Modes of Memory

67

dialectics of remt:mbrance and forgetting. Yet it is only relatively recently that the memory of 1798 has been recognized as a topic of critical scholarly

j

inquiry, and the detailed mechanics of remembrance remain to be explored. In his conceptualization of Les lieux de memoire, Pierre Nora identified in contemporary France a "reflexive turning of history upon itself," whereby

Modes of Memory

"the entire discipline of history has entered its historiographical age, consum-

Remembering and For;getting the Irish Rebellion of 1798

mating its dissociation from memory-which in turn has become a possible object of history" (1989, 10-12). It would seem that a similar postmodern historiographical consciousness emerged in Ireland around the 1798 bicentennial. At a time when Ireland and Irish diaspora communities engaged in

GUY BEINER

intensive commemoration of Ninety-Eight, involving participation of numerous historians while also attracting criticism from others, academic discourse

n

cast a cold eye on previous acts of remembrance. Particular attention was inety-Eight" is a quintessential Irish lieu de memoire. The Great Rebel-

directed at the massive centennial commemorations in 1898. By and large,

lion of 1798, which was the bloodiest outburst of violence in late-modern

the centenary has been portrayed as a classic example of "Invention ofTradi-

Irish history and inflicted lingering traumas, stands out in the commemorative culture of modern Ireland as a landmark .that cast long shadows.

tion" along the lines defined in Eric Hobsbawm's seminal essay, "Mass Pro-

Although the leadership of the United Irishmen, the revolutionary secret

solidarity, which swept Ireland and Irish communities worldwide,

society behind the Rebellion, were lionized as the iconic founding fathers

oration of Ninety-Eight in 1898 brought together republicans, home rul-

of Irish republicanism, militant republicans did not have a monopoly on the

ers, socialists, Irish language revivalists, Catholic devotees, and Gaelic sports

interpretation of the historical events. Subject to continuous contestations,

enthusiasts, partly reconciling the political divisions rendered by the Parnell

the memory of the Rebellion was repeatedly revived and evoked. The year

Split. Acrimonious rivalries were eventually overcome as a central centenary

1798, as demonstrated by Kevin Whelan in a seminal essay, "The Politics

committee orchestrated the main events and spread its influence through a

of Memory," "never passed into history, because it never passed out of poli-

".spider's web" of local committee branches (O'Keefe 1988, 1992; Kinsella

tics" (1996, 133-75). Preoccupation with "The Memory of the Dead," as

1998; Pas eta 1998; Foster 2001; Collins 2004).

ducing of Traditions" (1983). In an overwhelming display of Irish nationalist ~ommem­

memorably phrased in John Kells Ingram's anthemic ballad, has featured

Whereas Hobsbawm principally focused on the manipulations of rul-

prominently in Irish popular culture. The ubiquitous evocations of the

ing elites who utilized commemorative events and fabricated traditions in

Rebellion responded to attempts to silence and suppress, insinuated in the

order to consolidate their power over nation states in the context of emer-

famous defiant opening verse of Ingram's ballad, "Who fears to speak of

gent mass societies, the Irish case was indicative of the rise to prominence

Ninety-Eight?" so that memory has been repeatedly reconstructed through

of a nationalist counterhegemony that set out to reclaim the public sphere from the domination of imperial-unionist commemoration (represented by

The research for this essay was supported by fellowships from the Irish Research Council for the Humanities and Social Sciences, the National Endowment of the Humanities, the

Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee of the previous year, against which the 1798 centenary was pitted). Perceived in neo-Marxist terms as an exercise in

Keough-Naughton Institute ofIrish Studies at the University of Notre Dame, and the Israel

manufacturing "false consciousness," the centenary has been accredited as

Science Foundation (grant no. 810/07).

the source for most subsequent memory of Ninety-Eight. However, such a 66

68

Modes of Memory

Remembrance and Forgetting in Early and Premodern Irish Culture

69

top-down homogenizing construal of the centenary is overly schematic and

invention of traditions relating to the memory of 1798, a time in which the

at least partly misleading.

Hierarchy had actually opposed insurrection (Whelan 1996, 171; Whelan

The centenary's highlight was the massive demonstration in Dublin on 15 August 1898, attended by an estimated hundred thousand people. An

1998, 127). Although the Rebellion in the East affected several counties, public

impressive procession culminated in a meticulously staged ceremony at the

memory primarily focused on the core area of Wexford (and neighboring

top of Grafton Street, during which veteran Fenian John O'Leary dedicated

Wicklow). In 1798, rebel victories at Oulart (27 May), Enniscorthy (28

the foundation stone of an intended monument for the preeminent United

May), and Three Rocks (30 May) resulted in the astonishing taking of Wex-

Irish leader Theobald Wolfe Tone, an initiative ultimately not brought to

ford town, which ignited general elation, soon punctured by rebel defeats

fruition. Joyce's Stephen Dedalus "remembered with bitterness that scene

at Newtownbarry (1 June), New Ross (5 June), Arklow (9 June), and the

of tawdry tribute" (Joyce 1916, 214). Such irreverent childhood recollec-

final crushing blow at Vinegar Hill (21 June). The violent sectarian char-

tions, in addition to a wry comment in Ulysses in which Bloom describes

acter of the unraveling events, which included rebel atrocities at a barn in

the site as "where Wolfe Tone's statue was not" (Joyce 1961, 229), sug-

Scullabogue and at Wexford Bridge, alongside numerous outrages perpetu-

gest a critique calling attention to questions concerning popular reception of

ated by government forces, was heavily politicized in post-Rebellion polem-

contrived commemoration imposed from above. In particular, the conven-

ics (Whelan 1996, 27-29; Donnelly 2001; T. Dunne 2004). In particular,

tional conceptualization of centennial commemoration as a straightforward

Sir Richard Musgrave's ultra-loyalist 1801 Memoirs of the Different Rebel-

case of invented memory proves questionable when examined at a provincial

lions in Ireland, which emphasized anti-Protestant violence perpetuated in

level. A more diversified approach to cultural remembrance in Ireland is sug-

1798 by Catholic rebels (Musgrave 1995;

J. Smyth 1998), was enthusiasti-

gested here. By distinguishing between legacies of 1798 in the Rebellion's

cally adopted as a founding text of modern British and Irish conservatism

three main arenas, it is possible to identify three distinct, if also interrelated,

(Kelly 2003) and soon became, in the words of Kevin Whelan, a "matrix

modes of memory: public memory in the East, folk memory in the West, and

of memory" that had a seminal influence on Ninety-Eight historiography

social amnesia in the North. Initially these may seem to be local variants of

(1996, 135-45). Evidence has been uncovered in Leinster of 1798 memories from the

invented collective memory, yet investigation allows for more complicated observations, which may serve to problematize our understanding of practices of remembrance in Ireland.

pre-Famine period (T. Dunne 1998; Cronin 2001), but, if we accept the invention of tradition model, such recollections were supposedly erased wholesale during the nineteenth century and replaced around the time of

PUBLIC MEMORY

the centenary with a newly constructed collective memory. The case for this argument can be illustrated through the pervasive influence of Father Patrick

In 1898 a historical portrait of the legendary Wexford rebel hero Father

Kavanagh's Popular History of the Insurrection of 1798, first published as The

John Murphy of Kilcormick parish, which had been preserved in his home

Wexford Rebellion in 1870 and reissued in a centennial fourth edition, which

village of Boolavogue, was sent to Dublin for restoration in preparation for

was purportedly the predominant interpretation of 1798 in 1898 (Kinsella

the centennial celebrations. The painting was restored but also altered in one

1996; Whelan 1996, 169-72).

seemingly small but substantial detail, which signified a conscious revision of

There are clear indications that this text reshaped memory. Traditional

memory. The cravat of the rebel priest was substituted with a Roman collar, a

Wexford mummers' rhymes, for example, were rewritten in the late nine-

clear sign that he was first and foremost a Catholic clergyman. This alteration

teenth century by a local schoolmaster so as to feature the pantheon of

was indicative: late nineteenth-century Catholic nationalism promoted the

Ninety-Eight heroes as described by Kavanagh. The revised rhymes were

70

Modes of Memory

Remembrance and Forgetting in Early and Premodern Irish Culture

71

then circulated by a local printer and soon became the standard version in

rebels at the Tholsel in New Ross or the Bullring in Wexford town openly

folk performances (Whelan 1996, 171-72; Whelan 1998, 127); the two

defy this interpretation. Metropolitan directives promulgated by national

powerful agents of national school education and popular print combined to

organizers of commemoration were contested at local levels and each com-

facilitate an invention of tradition. Similarly, the cult of Father John Murphy

munity endorsed its own interpretation. Hence "collective memory" was not

was bolstered by Father Kavanagh's book. Patrick Joseph McCall's ballad

uniform and not really collective. Understanding the grassroots dynamics

"Boulavogue," which versified Kavanagh's version, was originally composed

of cultural remembrance is further complicated through awareness of the

for the centenary (Irish Weekly Independent, 18 June 1898). Reproduced

recycling, rather than dispossession and complete replacement, of earlier

massively on printed sheets and in song collections, it rapidly entered nation-

memories. Father Kavanagh, who was himself a descendent of a 1798 rebel,

alist singing repertoires as the classic Wexford Ninety-Eight ballad and as

admitted extensively consulting oral sources when writing his Popular His-

such supplanted earlier songs. It is also plausible that oral traditions collected in the 1930s in Wexford about a local heroine named Anne Flood, said to

tory (noting in the title page that it was "derived from everyday record and reliable tradition") and was therefore reproducing older traditions. Hence, at

have single-handedly overcome a brutal Hessian mercenary, were informed

least in some aspects, the centenary facilitated the regeneration, or reinven-

by Kavanagh's description of "How a Wexford woman slew a Hessian Cap-

tion, of memory.

tain" (Kavanagh 1898, 334-37). On the face of it, this would appear to be

Public memory, as demonstrated by John Bodnar in a contemporary

yet another example of how "booklore" generated folklore. The conviction

American context, can be located at the "intersection of official and vernacu-

of a Wexford newspaper at the end of the centennial year that Father Kava-

lar cultural expressions" (1992, 13-15). As the critical work of the Popu-

nagh had done "more than any other man to perpetuate the spirit of the men of '98" seems to ring true (Wexford Independent, 2 Nov. 1898).

lar Memory Group at Birmingham's Centre in the 1980s showed, public

However, the centenary was not a consensual undertaking amenable to

groups confront those of subordinate and oppositional groups; it is dialec-

hegemonic dictates. Rather, it was riveted by heated political infighting and

tically constructed through interactions between popular and dominant,

memory functions as a battleground in which memories of dominant social

contestations of memory. As Timothy O'Keefe notes, "the actual historical

alongside public and private, memories (R. Johnson et al. 1982, 205-302).

events commemorated received a wide variety of interpretations from ora-

An indication of these complexities can be found in problems of chronology,

tors, pamphleteers and propagandists" (1992, 75-77). By portraying the

which challenge the notion that commemoration of Ninety-Eight began in

Rebellion in Wexford as a Catholic affair, Father Kavanagh deliberately

1898, with provincial communities taking their cue from the capital, and

belittled the United Irishmen, presenting them as an untrustworthy secret

suggest that the centenary had a long gestation and, to some extent, grew

society. This "Faith and Fatherland" version of 1798, vehemently opposed

out of grassroots initiatives grounded in earlier local traditions. In 1875,

by republicans, was a polemic in the conflict between Catholic nationalism

more than two decades before the outburst of centennial "statuemania,"

and revolutionary Fenianism, each vying to dominate late-nineteenth-cen-

in Maurice Agulhon's term (1978), during which over forty monuments

tury nationalist popular opinion through the medium of commemoration.

to 1798 were constructed around Ireland, a memorial was erected "to the

Conflicts are apparent in local choices of centennial commemorative rep-

memory of the patriots of '98" at St. Mary's cemetery in Newtownbarry

resentation, with republican, essentially secular, depictions of pikemen

(near Bunclody), County Wexford, to mark the reinterment of skeletons that

competing against the clerical figure of Father Murphy (N. Johnson 1994;

in accordance with local tradition were believed to be the remains of rebels

Turpin 1998; Hill 1998, 118-36). If the statue of Father Murphy directing

from 1798 (de Vii 1966). Conflicts over the political character of commem-

a young insurgent at Enniscorthy's Market Square epitomizes the narrative

oration were also already apparent. In 1878, a Celtic Cross, "In Memory of

of Kavanagh (who unveiled the monument on 31 May 1908), statues oflone

Rev. Father Murphy and his heroic followers who nobly shed their blood for

72

Modes of Memory

Remembrance and Forgetting in Early and Premodern Irish Culture

73

Ireland's freedom in the year 1798," was erected by Fenians in Boolavogue

which, according to lore, their leader, General Humbert, had first stepped

in the face of staunch clerical opposition. Although this initiative was orga-

when reaching shore. It was expected locally that in the following year

nized by a Dublin-based '98 Club, its members hailed from Wexford, and at

crowds of visitors would flock to the site (Connaught Telegraph) 11 Sept.

the unveiling ceremony a procession of bands from Dublin and Kingstown

1897). But by 1903, as folk historian and Gaelic scholar Michael Timoney

was headed by the local St. John's Independent Band from Wexford (Kin-

noted, the stone was no longer in its original location (Delargy Centre for

sella 1996, 146-48). Such events not only antedate centennial commemora-

Irish Folklore, National Folklore Collection, MS 1649 f. 6). Probably hop-

tion but call into question the model of top-down memory formation and

ing to cash in on prospective centennial tourism, a publican from the nearby

undermine unreconstructed notions of collective memory disseminated by

townland of Banagher had dragged the stone with a horse and float and

metropolitan elites to provincial peripheries. The highly charged political stakes of the public memory of Ninety-Eight

then, with the help of a cart, placed it outside his pub. Fifty years would pass

in Wexford overshadowed vestiges of folk memory, which did not disappear

when people attending the 1798 sesquicentennial celebrations in Killala vis-

and were periodically documented. In the 1840s and 1850s, the Carmelite

ited Humbert's stone (Mayo News) 28 Aug. 1948). Although the original

Brother Luke Cullen collected oral testimonies from former rebels in Wex-

pub, the General Humbert, was demolished in the mid-1950s, it was suc-

ford and Wick low (O'Donnell 1998). However, for political concerns ("the

ceeded by the Kerryman's Inn, outside of which the stone (since split in

revival of Fenianism in Ireland"), W. J. Fitzpatrick-an influential mid-nine-

two by a local blacksmith) remains (Lavin 1986, 42). The status of this folk

teenth-century historian of 1798-decided to censure this work, noting "we

monument was maintained in oral tradition. In 1938 elderly locals could

have deemed it more prudent not to use, in the present volume, the excit-

recall the stone being pointed out by a grandson of an eyewitness to the

ing details collected by Mr. Cullen" (1869,263). Cullen's papers (described,

French landing (Delargy Centre for Irish Folklore, National Folklore Col-

with exaggeration by Whelan, as "the first oral history project in Ireland")

lection, Schools' Scheme MS 141, ff. 303-4). Its relocation and revalidation

languished unpublished for over a century (1996, 169-70). In the 1850s the

was, however, a local reaction to the erection of monuments and upsurge of

pioneering folklorist Patrick Kennedy collected oral traditions from around

popular interest in 1798 during the centenary.

before the heritage pedigree of the stone would be publicly acknowledged,

the border of Counties Carlow and Wexford and included among them an

The Rebellion in the West centered on the ill-fated French invasion of

anecdotal section on "politics and poetry of 1798" as casually related by an

the late summer of 1798. Following the suppression of the Rebellion in

elderly woman to her neighbors (H. Whitney 1855, 4; 130-37). But such

the East, a small French expeditionary force headed by General Humbert

folklore was dismissed and mostly unrecognized in public memory. Although

sailed into Killala Bay' and occupied the small diocesan town of Killala (22

outside of Dublin, Wexford was always at the center of Ninety-Eight com-

Aug.) and the neighboring market town of Ballina (23 Aug.). Recruiting

memoration, and so public memory stifled folk memory, as opposed to other

thousands of local Irish rebels, the insurgents won a startling victory at the

provincial areas that did not bask in such commemorative limelight.

"Races of Castle bar" (27 Aug.), occupying the county's main town and proclaiming a "Republic of Connaught." Heading eastward, the Franco-Irish

FOLK MEMORY

army hurriedly marched through south County Sligo and crossed County Leitrim but were ultimately checked and defeated by the north Longford

In 1897, an English lady of Irish descent visited Killala in County Mayo and

village of Ballinamuck (8 Sept.). This short-lived campaign was enshrined

asked to see sights associated with Ninety-Eight. She was taken to a seaside

in local memory as "Bliain na bhFrancach," or "The Year of the French,"

spot by the village of Kilcummin where French soldiers sent to assist the

though in national historiography it has been eclipsed and marginalized by

United Irishmen in 1798 had landed and was shown a large stone, upon

the focus on Wexford (Hayes 1939; Beiner 2006).

74

Remembrance and Forgetting in Early and Premodern Irish Culture

Modes of Memory

75

As in the East, centennial commemoration in the West may seemingly

were still battling each other) into centennial organization. A "national dem-

be read along lines of invention of tradition. In response to a call issued in

onstration" attended by a reported ten thousand people was held in Castle-

April 1897 by the central centenary committee in Dublin, local commit-

bar on 9 January 1898 (Irish Independent, 10 Jan. 1898; Connacht Tribune,

tees were established throughout Connacht. By the end of the year, police

15 Jan. 1898). That January, several events were held in County Sligo (Free-

reports listed nine such committees in the province: one in East Galway, Ireland [hereafter NAI], Crime Special Branch, file 15200/2). Membership rapidly increased during the centennial year, and additional branches were

man)s Journal, 1 and 5 Jan. 1898; Sligo Champion 5 and 8 Jan. 1898), in February a large procession headed by the Longford Fife and Drum Band marched to the site of the battlefield at Ballinamuck (Rehill1998, 126); and 13 March featured a self-proclaimed "monster meeting" in Ballina (NAI,

formed-by May 1898 Connacht had forty-two clubs with 4,328 members

Crime Special Branch, file 15787/S and Box 13 [1898]). These demonstra-

two in West Galway, three in Mayo, and three in Sligo (National Archives of

(NAI, Crime Special Branch, file 16235/S). In turn, these local clubs sent

tions, which served as templates for subsequent celebrations, show that pro-

representatives to participate in the main Dublin event on 15 August 1898

vincial commemoration was primarily the product of local agency.

(Freeman)s Journal, 16 Aug. 1898). Shortly after, major commemorative

Whereas such interactions between local and metropolitan commemo-

ceremonies took place throughout the West nearly weekly: the founding

rative initiatives are characteristic of public memory, the origins of com-

stone for a statue in Ballina, County Mayo was laid on 21 August (Con-

memoration in Connacht and the north midlands are more deeply rooted in

naught Telegraph, 27 Aug.); a large ceremony took place at French Hill

a bedrock of folk memory. In comparison to Wexford, where local memo-

near Castlebar, County Mayo on 28 August (Connaught Telegraph, 3 Sept.

ries were constantly subject to external political influences, the 1798 experi-

1898); another was held in Ballinamuck, in Longford on 4 September

ence in the West had been relatively neglected in prominent historical works.

(Westmeath Examiner, 10 Sept. 1898); an intended monument in honor of the United Irishman Bartholomew Teeling was dedicated outside Colloo-

Father Kavanagh's Popular History, for example, does not even mention the French invasion and the rebellion in the West. As a result, folk memory took

ney, County Sligo on 5 September (Sligo Champion, 10 Sept. 1898); and a

center stage and was in a more formidable position to assert itself in the pub-

foundation stone for a monument was laid in Sligo town in early October

lic sphere and subsequently to influence centennial commemoration.

1898 (Sligo Champion, 8 Oct. 1898). Less encumbered by the politicking

A prime theater of folk memory was landscape folklore, which featured

that ultimately undermined the initiative to erect the Wolfe Tone monu-

hundreds of place-names through which an unofficial commemorative map

ment in Dublin and thanks to fundraising by dedicated local activists, the

of local sites associated with the Rebellion was preserved (Beiner 2003). In

construction of provincial monuments was, astonishingly, completed in less

1876, the validity of one such site-French Hill outside Castlebar, County

than a year. During 1899, statues were unveiled in Ballina (Western People,

Mayo-was publicly reaffirmed. Oral tradition identified the precise loca-

11 May 1899), Collooney (Sligo Champion, 8 July 1899), and Sligo town

tion of the grave of a party of French dragoons killed in a skirmish, and

(Sligo Champion, 9 September 1899). This rapid sequence of events might give the impression that Dublin called the shots and local commemorations subserviently, albeit enthusiastically, followed suit. However, this was not

Preparing the ground for the foundations, they discovered a grave in which

Castle bar residents formed a committee to erect a monument in their honor. remains of corpses were allegedly still clothed in fading blue uniforms. They

quite the case on the ground. Prior to the main provincial ceremonies in the late summer and autumn

also found brass tunic buttons, a bayonet, and three republican French coins

of 1898, local initiatives instigated numerous spontaneous commemora-

foot granite pyramid, "in grateful remembrance of the gallant French sol-

tive events. Local planning was a year ahead of the national commemora-

diers who died fighting for the Freedom of Ireland," was unveiled in July

tive enterprise and in a way pressured Dublin (where competing committees

1876. Two decades later, the provincial 1798 centennial commemorations

(The Nation, 13 May 1876). A monument consisting of a cross atop a thirty-

76

Modes of Memory

Remembrance and Forgetting in Early and Premodern Irish Culture

77

in Connacht were launched from this site (Irish Independent, 10 Jan. 1898;

public memory, seems to lie in the balance of power that tips more visibly

Connacht Tribune, 15 Jan. 1898), which would also host subsequent provin-

in favor of local agency. Provincial memory, however, was not only about

cial commemorations (Irish Independent, 2 Aug. 1948; Mayo News, 7 Aug.

remembering local traditions and resisting political and cultural pressures

1948). When visiting dignitaries from Dublin attended these ceremonies,

emanating from the center, which sought to transform or erase vernacu-

invented tradition was not being imposed; rather, local tradition was being

lar popular culture. Forgetting and self-censorship could also be instigated

validated and at the same time reformulated or reinvented. It would be naIve to suggest that folk memory is devoid of the strug-

from within local communities.

gles over hegemony that are characteristic of public memory and somehow

SOCIAL AMNESIA

constitutes a self-contained subaltern discourse, isolated from the external influences of popular print, national education, and official commemorative

In May 1898, the Reverend Dr. O'Loughlin of Lurgan delivered a talk

culture. Although the distinction between the two may not be clear-cut,

in Belfast's Queen Victoria Hall entitled "1798 in Ireland," in which he

there is a discernable qualitative difference between public and folk memo-

declared that "no party in it was blameless; that many sad and bitter memo-

ries that stems from the centrality of the former and the marginalization of

ries were connected with it, and that it would be well for the nation if

the latter from a national perspective. Nationalist popular culture was not

they could safely be forgotten" (Belfast News-Letter, 10 May 1898). Shortly

oblivious to the resonance of the Year of the French. W. B. Yeats and Lady

after, on 20 May 1898, the Grand Master of the Grand Orange Lodge in

Gregory chose to situate Cathleen Ni Houlihan (according to Yeats "the first

Belfast, Reverend Dr. R. R. Kane, gave a talk at the Clifton Street Orange

play of our Irish School of folk-drama") in the "interior of a cottage close to

Hall, "1798: Its Lessons for Irishmen." The lecture, subsequently printed

Killala" at the time of the French landing, and to borrow motifs from folk

and circulated among Orange brethren, described its subject as "full of

tradition (Yeats 1902). The Rebellion in the West also appeared in works

the most painful memories" and, instead of commemoration, advocated to

of nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century historical fiction, most notably

"rather have that terrible year forgotten and forgiven" (Belfast News-Letter,

Emily Lawless and Shan F. Bullock's The Race of Castle bar (1913). The cul-

21 May 1898). This peculiar rhetoric, through which Orangemen marked

tural memory projected in literature had an impact on local remembrance

the centennial of Ninety-Eight by advocating the imperative to forget, indi-

but, despite modernizing theories of memory that claim that print and lit-

cates the ambiguous nature of remembrance in Ulster. It also responds to

eracy wiped out oral culture (Matsuda 1996), popular print was subject to

what was perceived by unionists as a particularly offensive form of invention

popular reception-it did not overwhelm folk memory and in many cases

of tradition, whereby the memory of the Rebellion had been co-opted by

was influenced by it (Beiner 2006, 276-91). The terms "center" and "periphery" are not fixed geographical cate-

nationalist Catholics.

gories, and they can prove to be misleading. In the late nineteenth cen-

Belfast, evidenced in the distribution networks of their principal organ, The

tury, Connacht, and particularly County Mayo, became a central arena

Northern Star (established 1792 and suppressed in 1797), which was pub-

of the nationalist agrarian politics of the Land War. Key players in Land

lished in Belfast and primarily circulated throughout Ulster (Curtin 1998,

War campaigns were also organizers of provincial centennial commemora-

esp. 202-11). The area would be remembered as the cradle of revolution,

tions, which were attended by high-ranking politicians who recognized the

as Wolfe Tone later reminisced, because McArt's Fort on Cave Hill over-

importance of the local constituencies and were interested in re-forming

looking Belfast was where a handful of radical firebrands (including Uls-

their historical identities in accordance with present concerns. The differ-

termen Thomas Russell, Robert Simms, Samuel Neilson, and Henry Joy

ence between the negotiations that characterize folk memory, as opposed to

McCracken) had taken a "solemn obligation" in 1795 "never to desist in our

The original powerbase of the United Irishmen in the 1790s was around

78

Remembrance and Forgetting in Early and Premodern Irish Culture

Modes of Memory

79

efforts, until we have subverted the authority of England over our country

from Cave Hill. The returning trains of Belfast contingents were attacked

and asserted her independence," symbolically marking the transition of a

upon arrival, and rioting and stone throwing ensued again, pitting "Orange

reformist movement to a revolutionary organization (Tone 1826, 128). Sedi-

rowdies" (Irish News, 16 Aug. 1898) against "Toners and Stoners" (Belfast

tious activities in the North were suppressed by a ruthless counterinsurgency

News-Letter, 16 Aug. 1898). These clashes were not simply an attempt to

campaign culminating in the infamous "dragonnade of Ulster" under Gen-

prevent commemoration and silence memory, but also reflect a struggle

eral Gerard Lake in 1797. Nonetheless, following the outbreak of Rebellion

over ownership of memory.

in Wexford, large-scale United Irish mobilization in Counties Antrim and

As Ian McBride perceptively observed, despite a forceful policy of "remembering to forget" promoted by Presbyterian church leaders, a "hid-

Down in early June 1798 resulted in uprisings that were rapidly crushed with defeats in Antrim town (7 June) and Ballynahinch, County Down (13 June)

den history" of Ninety-Eight survived in the Ulster countryside (2003,

(A. Stewart 1995).

478-96). Upon reviving the Ulster Journal ofArchaeology in 1894, the poly-

Although there is evidence of Catholic (alongside Episcopalian and

mathic Belfast antiquarian Francis Joseph Bigger corresponded with local

various nonestablished Protestant) participation, republican insurgency in

informants to collect remnants of family and local traditions of the 1798

the northeast was characterized by the predominance of Dissenters, that

Rebellion in the North and encouraged other talented antiquarians to fur-

is, Presbyterians (Elliott 2000, 249-61). However, following the Rebel-

ther explore this field. Although the wealth of oral history collected by Big-

lion's repression and the passing of the subsequent Act of Union (1800),

ger remained mostly unpublished (and can be found in manuscript form in

Presbyterian communities that had been strongly implicated in insurrection

the Belfast Central Library), in the years leading up to the centenary several

against the Crown appeared to realign their political allegiances en masse

substantial publications show that the memory of "The Turnout," as the

with unionism and Orangeism. With avowed loyalists ostensibly interested

Rebellion was popularly known in Ulster, was still very much alive (Young

in erasing traces of historical memories that recall their former disloyalty

1893; W. Smith 1895; Latimer 1897). With this in mind, it is worth revisit-

(or the disloyalty of their ancestors), the case of Ninety-Eight in the North

ing objections to commemorating Ninety-Eight in 1898, when its legacy was

exhibits the trappings of "collective amnesia" par excellence. It is then little

associated with the cause of a predominantly Catholic nationalism and pub-

wonder that in 1898, centennial demonstrations in Belfast (attended mainly

licly renounced by northern Protestants. The complexities of this issue can

by Catholic nationalists) unleashed violent responses from Protestant loyal-

be shown through the example of commemoration and de-commemoration

ists and that resolutions calling for restraint passed by the Grand Orange

(in the sense of negating commemoration) of the rebel heroine Betsy Gray,

Lodge of Belfast failed to prevent such outbreaks. On 6 June 1898, a parade

often labeled "Ulster's Joan of Arc" (McCoy 1987).

commemorating the Battle of Antrim along the Falls Road to Hannah-

Describing the Northern participation at the central Dublin centennial

stown Hill was described in the nationalist press as "a peaceful and impos-

ceremony on 15 August 1898, a nationalist reporter remarked: "certainly the

ing display" (Irish News, 7 June 1898), but depicted in the unionist press

most picturesque figure in the procession was the girl in green and gold who

as a provocation "beyond endurance" (Belfast News-Letter, 7 June 1898). "Serious rioting" broke out on the Shankill Road and spread to other Prot-

personated the dauntless Betsy Grey" (The Shan Van Vocht 3, no. 9 [5 Sept.

estant neighborhoods. The military was called out and rioting continued

lower at the Battle of Ballynahinch, subsequently hunted down by yeomen

for several days undl finally subdued by "strong repressive measures." Later

and murdered at nearby Ballycreen alongside her brother George Gray and

that summer, Belfast nationalists traveled in great numbers to Dublin on

sweetheart William Boal, began in the aftermath of the Rebellion. There

15 August to participate in the central centennial ceremony, bringing with

are records of contemporary oral accounts recalling her involvement in the

them the foundation stone of the intended Wolfe Tone monument, hewn

Rebellion (Trinity College Dublin, R. R. Madden Papers MS 873 f. 163),

1898] 161). The mythographic valorization of Elizabeth Gray, a camp fol-

80

Remembrance and Forgetting in Early and Premodern Irish Culture

Modes of Memory

81

and of poetry composed in her honor (Teeling 1828, 258-60; McComb

visit offended religious sensibilities of devout Presbyterians (whose piety had

1861, 132), but the most significant text in establishing her popular reputa-

been affected by the evangelical revival of the mid-nineteenth century) as it

tion was Wesley Greenhill Lyttle's bestselling novel Betsy Gray or) Hearts of

was considered a violation of the Sabbath (McCoy 1987, 26-27).

Down) originally serialized in the North Down Herald (1888) and reissued in

The "wrecking of the monument" remained in local memory. Seventy

multiple editions. Informed testimony to its popularity can be found in the

years later, James Mills (born 1882) of Ballynahinch could vividly recall the

words of Aiken McClelland, former curator of the Ulster Folk Museum, who noted that "for many years after its first publication, this was a standard book

events he had witnessed as a teenager, noting that local Protestants "didn't like these people claiming Betsy, and they became so enraged that they

in almost every County Down home" (Lyttle 1968, preface). This romantic

decided to prevent the ceremony from taking place, and they smashed the

tale, heavily informed by oral traditions (and so not to be too readily con-

monument with sledge hammers." But he also observed that the vandals

ceived as a literary invention of tradition), was also directly responsible for

showed sentimental attachment to the remains of the defaced monument and

instigating commemoration at the heroine's gravesite. The "mournful fate

that "pieces of the granite stone were removed as souvenirs and taken all over

of the beautiful Betsy Gray" aroused "universal sympathy," resulting in a

the world, and the railings from the grave were fashioned into horse-shoes"

subscription campaign for a centennial monument (preface to the 1894 third

(Mourne Observer) 19 July 1968). Over the years, the smashed plinth of the

edition of Lyttle's Betsy Gray). The monument was financed by a James Gray

monument was further reduced by souvenir hunters who chipped off bits.

of London, who claimed to be the heroine's grandnephew, and was erected

Clearly, local Presbyterians had not disowned the memory of Betsy Gray.

in 1896 on the private property of a local Presbyterian farmer in an area that

In a very different context of Holocaust commemoration in America, Peter

had long become a staunch unionist stronghold. On Sunday 1 May 1898, a party of twenty-two ladies and five gentlemen

Novick introduced a concept of commemorative "possession," whereby cer-

representing various Belfast Ninety-Eight clubs traveled to Ballynahinch with

memory of events dear to them are represented, as opposed to the commem-

the intention of decorating the grave and paying tribute to the monument.

orative "envy" of groups who feel their claims receive less recognition (2000,

tain groups uphold a monopolistic approach in regard to the ways in which

Their arrival resulted in a clash with a "hostile mob" of local loyalists-

192; 197). It would seem that social amnesia of Ninety-Eight in Ulster was

described in the nationalist Irish News (2 May 1898) as "Orange rowdies"-

not just about rejection of an embarrassing past but entailed a struggle over

who expelled the visitors and then proceeded to destroy the monument,

ownership of a contested past.

tearing down nationalist banners, removing the emblems, and smashing the

Eighty years after its initial appearance, the serialization of Lyttle's Betsy

headstone; "their desecration went so far as to have mock pikes to plough

Gray or) Hearts of Down by a provincial Ulster newspaper in the 1960s was

into the graves of the heroes of '98" (Irish News) 3 May 1898). This ram-

received with great enthusiasm. Passionate responses poured into the edi-

page would appear to be a perfect example of damnatio memoraie) to use a

torial office, revealing numerous stories, local commemorative traditions,

term associated with the destruction of statues in late antiquity, though one

and relics kept in private houses, demonstrating that memory of Betsy Gray

should bear in mind that scholarship has shown that in ancient times such

and of the Turnout had persisted into the twentieth century (Lyttle 1968,

acts did not result in the obliteration of memory but were actually "a highly

appendix). In essence, social amnesia was not a form of collective forget-

symbolic, universal display of pantomime forgetfulness" (P. Stewart 1999,

ting. Such a concept is in itself problematic; although it may be psycho-

167). From close reading of the local newspapers, it is possible to discern

logically possible to instigate "intentional forgetting" (Golding and McLeod

two causes of the violence. On the one hand, loyalists evidently perceived

1998), the marking of certain recollections for disregard identifies them as

the decoration of the grave site with "seditious emblems and mottoes" as a

objects of curiosity and so inadvertently ensures that they will be remem-

political affront (Down Recorder) 14 May 1898). Simultaneously, the Sunday

bered. Rather, social amnesia is a form of ambiguous remembrance that can

82

Remembrance and Forgetting in Early and Premodern Irish Culture

mediate transitions between the more intimate spheres of folk memory and commemorative expressions of public memory. A straightforward separation between public memory, folk memory, and social amnesia would be overly schematic, as the three are dearly interconnected. Aspects of each can coexist although, more often than not, one of them will assume dominance and define the overriding character of memory in a specific provincial context. There are ample residues of folk memory of

6 Women and the Survival of Archaeological Monuments in Nineteenth-Century Ireland

Ninety-Eight in the East, but on the main stages of the public sphere they were filtered through the prominence of public memory in Wexford. The

MAIRIN NI CHEALLAIGH

French invasion of Connacht was recognized nationally, yet the pervasive demotic folk memory of Bliain na bhFrancach was sufficiently formidable throughout the West to be influenced but not subsumed by an official public memory of 1798 in which it was pigeonholed. As shown above, social

Jn the 1840s, while famine and disease gnawed at the lives of large sec-

amnesia in the North played a contentious public memory of 1798 against a

tions of Ireland's poor, Irish antiquarians increasingly turned their attention

recalcitrant folk memory of the Turnout. Generally speaking, the three clas-

to the study of prehistoric and other archaeological remains. Inspired by

sifications-public memory, folk memory, and social amnesia-are of course

the visit of the Danish antiquarian Worsaae and his account of the develop-

not necessarily confined to the specific locations with which they became

ment of the chronological framework known as the "Three Age System"

associated in the case of1798. Although they all involve dialectics of remem-

(Worsaae 1845-7, 312-14), members oflearned societies and students of the

bering and forgetting, they represent three distinctive modes of memory and

past visited and described a variety of mounds and megalithic constructions.

as such may prove to be useful categories for deeper insight into the mne-

They may also, consciously or unconsciously, have been mirroring Worsaae's

monic culture of Ireland, which goes beyond simplistic notions of national

observation that "It was immediately after great national calamities, that

collective memory and invented tradition.

the attention of the Danish people was turned to that early period of their history, as a time from the contemplation of which their spirit of nationality might gain support, and in whose memories they found the hope of a new and equally glorious era again" (312). The attention paid by mid-nineteenthcentury antiquarians to the remains of the prehistoric Irish past may therefore have been an attempt to replace narratives of poverty and sudden death with accounts of past glory that were attached to places that had endured for centuries, if not millennia. The success of their efforts led eventually to the incorporation of archaeology into the heart of later-nineteenth-century nationalism and the codification of their visions of the past in legislation and in school curricula. These midcentury endeavours were tinged by an awareness not only of the erosion of "traditional" life-ways, but also by an often romantic and negative perception of the effects of "modernity" and agricultural improvement 83