Customer Reviews

Ireland and the Irish: Portrait of a Changing Society (Penguin Non Fiction)

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I may have had a slightly older edition of this book since the last dates refered to were 1995 and Amazon lists this as 1997. ...Ardagh doesn't hesitate to put forth his own personal opinions, which are very British. But it takes an outsider eye to write a book such as this that looks at the general character of a people and their changing history. An insider would find many things, such as the casual mixing of classes, not worth mentioning. But to an outsider, those are the very things that set the Irish apart as a people.

As a reader from the United States, his use of pounds and constant camparisons to the British political system weren't very helpful, and his use of the term "wetback" was disconcerting. I'm not sure he meant it to be a colorful word or an offensive word. However, Ardagh clearly loves Ireland and has spent plenty of time there. He shows political trends and the changing role of the church unflinchingly -- complete with all the scandals. I remember reading about Miss X, a 14-yr old rape victim who was stopped from going to England for an abortion, when it happened. What you get from this book that wasn't in the U.S. Newspapers was this mixed reactions of the Irish people. Ardagh makes it very clear that although there are generalizations that can be made about the Irish, they are certianly not "One Voice."

I also appreciated the 100 pg chapter on Northern Ireland. He managed to write about "the troubles" without taking sides other than that of anyone who wanted a lasting peace. He did defend the British role in a way that reflected his native heritage, but at the same time he openly admitted that some of the actions of the British Army and the Royal Ulster Constabulary have fanned the fires. I understood and respected the more recent British approach in a way I hadn't before. I had not been aware that the IRA and UDN were both involved in vigilante activities in their own communities, and that extorting collection money was common practice. I shouldn't have been surprised, but I was. For some reason, I thought the paramilitary groups spent their time and energy on each other and didn't have time for these sideline, ganglike activities.

It was also interesting to read the postscript that was written during the ceasefire and peace attempt during John Major's premiership. Ardagh had spent many, many pages talking about different Irish-led ventures that brought Protestants and Catholics together to foster peace. I found myself asking, with so many people working towards peace, how come it isn't happening? And the description of the Mid-90s peace attempt sounded so similar to the more recent attempt under Tony Blair & Bertie Ahern's premierships, that it was both interesting and frustrating. I followed the last round very closely, as an Irish American yes, but more because "the troubles" is my first memory of war. I remember my father answering questions like "what is a hunger strike." I remember watching buildings in London coming down on the nightly news. But I wasn't old enough to connect the two. I was eager to see a war that had been in the background all my life, wrapped up and ended. Alas. When I was reading Ardagh's hopeful postscript, I wanted to throw the book against the wall because I knew the violence still continues.

In summary, worthwhile read, but there are probably more current books available. And I still hope for peace in Northern Ireland.

The Ardagh book has been in my collection since it came out. I found it very intelligent and fair in its depictions of Ireland. It presented a good overview and Ardagh seems to have a sense of affection for the country. He has a good grasp on the role of the Catholic church in Ireland and,all in all, was respectful of others' beliefs although he was puzzled by them I travel there often and only wish that with the tremendous social and economic changes, almost upheavals, which have occured in Ireland in the last 10-12 years that he would do an update on the book. This book, although outdated today, is well worth reading for the insights which can be gained.

Highly Recommended!

John Ardagh has written a number of highly praised books on modern European societies, and this book is as good as the others. Once you read an Ardagh book, you will walk away with a good understanding of what really makes a country tick. Please realize that this is not a history book (although it does provide the necessary historical background). If you need to know ANYTHING about modern Irish society, look no further. "Ireland and the Irish" is a complete and unbiased profile of a rapidly changing nation.

I found the book very informative, providing a great deal of background to contemporary Irish politics and cultural life. Just what I was looking for. The story of the Irish constitutional amendment to prohibit abortion was an eye-opener. If the Republic of Ireland, being 90% anti-abortion, had such a hard time with the issue, how can people in a more socially divided country like the US think they can institute government control?

This book, perhaps uniquely, attempts to present a comprehensive study of modern Ireland, covering every live cultural and political issue in the country ranging from the conflict between Church and State, growing secularism in Ireland, Irish Gaelic versus English, town planning legislation, the increasing centralization of Irish government, taxation and welfare policies in Ireland, etc. But this book is fundamentally a work of journalism rather than cultural study, and derives most of its conclusions from interviews with people in Ireland rather than serious efforts on the author's part to immerse himself in Irish culture. It is also marred by embedded British prejudices: Ardagh, for example, claims that government in Ireland is far more centralized than in Britain, even though Britain (where local taxes are collected by the London government and then distributed to the local councils) is one of the most centralized countries in the world. Ardagh also compares Ireland to other European countries such as France and Germany but totally ignores North American contributions to Irish heritage--such as the diamond-shaped, yellow-background warning signs on Irish roads, or the role official bilingualism in Canada plays as a model for attempts to make Ireland a fully bilingual Gaelic/English-speaking country.

The language issue illustrates most of the shortcomings of this book. Ardagh dismisses Irish Gaelic as an unimportant feature of life in Ireland, and in so doing fails to observe nuances in how bilingualism functions, or rather fails to function, in Ireland: for instance, he fails to observe that (unlike in Canada) the Irish names of many government agencies and other organizations are often very free translations of the English names--for instance, 'Failte go hAontas mac Leinn' does NOT mean, 'Welcome to Queen's Student Union', as he seems to think. He contents himself with merely dismissing the Irish names of government agencies as "strange." He also fails to observe that while official bilingualism is in theory mandatory in the Republic, it is often not followed in practice even on government sites; and finally, that while in the Republic Irish is distinguished from English on road signs by a different typeface and capitalization rule, in Catholic districts of Northern Ireland it appears on some signs according to rules developed for bilingual signage in Wales (same face and capitalization for both languages). Ardagh is also insensitive to the role Irish Gaelic plays in the policing issue in Northern Ireland--he does not seem to understand, for instance, why a Northern Ireland police force with a bilingual name would be preferable to the current Royal Ulster Constabulary. He says Irish is a "difficult language," but seems not to have realized that much of the difficulty comes from the rules surrounding eclipsis and changes in consonant quality, which reflect a concern with how the language SOUNDS when it is spoken and are responsible for giving Irish its musical qualities. One gets the impression this book would have been much improved if Ardagh had bothered to look in an Irish grammar, or even purchased an Irish dictionary so as to check some supposedly "bilingual" signs.

Finally, this book is dead to the simple "poetry" of life in Ireland--for instance, Ardagh does not observe (as others could) that anti-clericalism has not taken root in Ireland in the same way it has in other Catholic societies, such as Mexico, because the Irish clergy has been careful to reserve the "best stories" unto itself--the telling of parables is a very common device in Irish homilies and in a country such as this, which is very sensitive both to narrative movement and the sheer sound of words, it is an extremely powerful one.

As an introduction to the economic problems facing Ireland (both N.I. and the Republic) I suppose this book is necessary--but otherwise it is a dreary, lifeless compilation.

I think some of the Irish protest too much! As a South African working in Ireland I found the book a good source of information about Ireland, and especially the recent history of the country. It also confirmed a lot of things I had noticed myself, for instance that the Irish are lacking in a sense of tidiness. I have to agree, though, that it is not very engaging. I also found the author's use of conversations with normal people as evidence of trends or widely held views excessive and, at times, irritating.

Also, the book probably needs to be updated to take the effect of the Celtic Tiger on the Irish way of living into account. The country seems to be in the grip of materialism. The author also glosses over the issue of alcohol abuse. It seems to be a very real problem among students and young working people, but most Irish seem to view it as charming and part of their culture.

As with other books of the Ardagh series on Europe, this book is useful to all those who are totally ignorant about Ireland. However, Ardagh's prescritions for Ireland and its future are all modernistic. Basically, he hopes Ireland will abandon its cultural past and join the grim narcissistic future that is in store for the rest of the modern world. Traditions are to be gladly abandoned. After reading three of Ardagh's series now, I am sure he is not a good man. His future world is a vulgar, crass, materialistic one in which a New Class and theuraputic state takes care of the citizen's needs and desires. I am sure he is a fan of the Clintons and the Blairs and Ireland's Mrs. Robinson.

Though the book is a somewhat useful read, Ardagh does not like much of the Irish past especially Ireland's social conservatism. He seems to say that Ireland's future can be bright if the Irish only reject their past. Since the publishing of this book, Ireland has lept into the future by electing Bertie Aherne Prime Minister. Mr. Aherne has dumped his first wife and family and openly lives with a girlfriend. Mr. Ardagh must be grinning from ear to ear.

This book is nothing more than an insult to the Irish people. It paints terrible steroeotypes and does nothing else but put down all this Irish. This book should be burned.