Customer Reviews

Irish on the Inside: In Search of the Soul of Irish America

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4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(2)

 

 

This is a particularly good time to read Tom Hayden's Irish on the Inside, due to the gathering conflict between America's role in the war against terrorism and the Irish perception of that role. The book deals with the exodus of Irish people from their homeland following the Famine in the mid-19th century, and the efforts of the newly arrived immigrants to adjust to American cultural attitudes which were frequently anti-Irish. The resulting desire to become immersed in the anglo protestant population led to increasing political conservatism and greater distance from the more radical viewpoints common among the native Irish. Hayden believes that there is a suppressed liberalism among Americans of Irish descent which should emerge at this point to form a bond with oppressed and disadvantaged people throughout the world, but especially in Ulster.

The first part of the book traces Hayden's family's journey from Ireland to Michigan, where he was raised in a parochial school surrounding prior to graduating from the University of Michigan. The author attributes his conversion to radical dissent during the `60's to that vein of revolutionary thought which characterized the Irish struggle against the British for centuries, culminating in the uprising of 1916 and the subsequent Irish Civil War. The second part describes the time of the troubles in Ulster and the fate of those who participated in the political and paramilitary efforts to free the northern counties. The history outlined here is factual and will explain much in terms of not only the violence of the Bloody Sunday era, but the sacrifice on both sides which led ultimately to the Good Friday agreement.

Finally Hayden looks to the future and discusses the question of retention of native identities in the face of onrushing globalism. Are populations like that of Ireland, small and insular, going to be absorbed in the whole as Europe eliminates borders and moves to a common currency? He argues convincingly for renewed efforts to preserve traditions and languages while working to make the international community a place where justice and understanding prevail. Key to that aim will be the resolution of human rights issues in the world at large. Hayden suggests that a vital first step in that process would be an admission by the United States and Britain that arms are not the solution to every problem, and that it is long past time to bring peace to Northern Ireland.

I read Hayden's book as I travelled through the northwest of Ireland, in the Republic and in Northern Ireland, and found great insight within. Hayden takes a tremendously complex political and social quagmire and illuminates without oversimplifying. The people who hate this book are likely people who simply dislike everything about the social movements of the 1960s in which Hayden was so deeply immersed. But for those who still believe in fighting for what is right, and care about Ireland, Irish On The Inside will be a refreshing read that will have an impact.

I just finished reading Dan Sheehan's novel Irish American Hero. I wanted to learn more about Northern Ireland and picked up a copy of Irish On the Inside. It is a great book and I'd suggest that people pair up the two books to get a real feel for what has been going on in Northern Ireland!

IRISH ON THE INSIDE is a fast-paced, entertaining and lucid look by long-time activist Tom Hayden at the history of the Irish immigrant image and the role of the Irish in American politics/business as well as an excellent survey of the seemingly unsolvable schism between Northern Ireland and the country of Ireland as a whole.

Hayden is somewhat of a fanatic in his style of writing and that only adds a tasty morsel of Irish to the flavor! He is out to challenge misconceptions of the Irish image (drunken, wild living, fighting, wife beating, lower class citizens) that is a welcome addition to the literature. Though the numerous famous writers, playwrights, and poets from Ireland have tended to play up the Irish wild side, Hayden looks at history and fact and seeks to prove that though the Irish have definite life ties to their mother country no matter where they emigrate, their contribution to global welfare is a positive.

Hayden spends a lot of this book giving us insight into the history of the longstanding political fighting in Northern Ireland and does so in a manner that is more illuminating than most essayists. But it is Hayden's feisty commitment to restructuring the worldview of the Irish people that is the most heartwarming and entertaining aspects to this bubbly book. A worthy read, this, no matter what your previous opinions of Tom Hayden's own political career might be!

The title sums it up. This was one boring book. Almost got me drummed out of my bookclub! While there are a few interesting facts this is not a book to be read for just the enjoyment of reading. Good for research, but remember it is the authors views not fact. I gave it one star only because I did find it interesting learning a little about the author. Otherwise, it would have received no stars.

I come from the same people as the author and see things quite diferently.The book impressed me as a very windy and preachy screed of self-adulation and pseudointellectual posturing.Filled with nonsequitors,gushing kudoes to his liberal friends and the Kennedys,and all based on this laboriously contrived theory that
Irish-Americans possess cultural and personality traits that have their origin with the Potato Famine.There are a few.The dont tread on me attitude is one but then most people who have been oppressed(and that is most people)have the same trait.I admit to a certain bias.While Mr. Hayden was sleeping with Jane Fonda and getting arrested in Chicago in the 60s becoming somewhat of a political celebrity,I was starting a medical career on the southside of that city while raising 5 very young children.Nice try Tom but Robert Emmet your not.