Language, Resistance and Revival

Reviews

Dr Ruan O’Donnell

Lecturer in History at University of Limerick and author of Special Category: The IRA in English Prisons.

The most comprehensive and accessible account of the relationship between the Irish language and the Long War in the Six Counties. Essential reading for anyone interested in the dynamics of political and cultural revival in a revolutionary context. Mac Ionnrachtaigh makes skilful and extensive use of interviews with many of the principal actors to document this phenomenon with great authenticity.

Dr Fionntán De Brún

Head of Irish language and Literature, University of Ulster.

This fascinating new study examines an essential part of the story of language revival and political conflict in Ireland. The interviews and analysis undertaken by the author promise to be of great interest to a wide readership.

Dr Féilim Ó hAdhmaill

Republican ex-prisoner and Lecturer in Sociology and Social Policy in University College Cork.

An important contribution to our understanding of the impact of colonialism on minority languages, and attempts to revive those languages. It also explores a rarely documented aspect of the lives and struggles of political prisoners in Ireland and shows their contribution to the Irish language revival.

 

CWCNewLogoGrey
This fascinating and most original study is to be warmly welcomed. We have here a work which should appeal to a wide readership both among the general population and among students of a variety of academic disciplines, including Irish, sociology, sociolinguistics, modern history, education, law, and conflict and peace studies.
(Dr Nollaig Ó Muraíle, Senior Lecturer in Irish, National University of Ireland, )
Galway
‘This is an original and thought-provoking work, in which the combination of an author engagé and a rich body of primary evidence has produced a study that challenges many conventional features of ethnographic research’
Prof Gearóid Ó Tuathaigh, Historian and former Emeritus Professor of History in National University of Ireland, Galway and Member of Council of State for President of Ireland,
Michael D O’Higgins
Fascinating study of the Irish language and its core place in the politics that have emerged from the prisons and protests of recent history.  This is a strong and valuable contribution to our understanding of language and politics in contemporary Ireland.
Cathal Goan, Founder and former Director of Irish Language Television channel, Teilifís na Gaeilge, later Tg4 and former Director-General of
RTE (Raidió Telilfís Éireann)