Patrick Pearse: The Triumph of Failure [Paperback]

Ruth Dudley Edwards (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 2006 | ISBN-10: 0716528355 | ISBN-13: 978-0716528357

There has always been argument about whether Pearse's leadership of the Easter Rising in 1916 represented a failure or a triumph. Pearse, who found himself on Easter Monday proclaimed President of the Provisional Government and Commander-in-Chief of the Army of the Republic, took on himself the most bitter of roles at the finish: he was the first to make the move to surrender - and he was the first to be executed. In this re-issued major biography Ruth Dudley Edwards has placed Patrick Pearse in his historical, political and cultural context: she discusses his involvement with the Gaelic League, his role as a military leader in the nationalist movement and his claims as a socialist. Her account of his life does full justice to the story, recording its irony, absurdity and courage. This book will do much to arouse fresh interest in Patrick Pearse; it is sympathetic, balanced, meticulously researched, and above all highly readable.

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Irish Academic Press (March 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0716528355
• ISBN-13: 978-0716528357
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,375,717 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Patrick Pearse: The Man, July 3, 2006

By 

Alfred L. Hathcock (Lenoir City, Tennessee United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Patrick Pearse: The Triumph of Failure (Paperback)

This 1977 biography has been reissued this year, the 90th anniversary of the Rising, in its original form. It is difficult to imagine a subject for a biography which would be more capable of stiring controversy. It is also difficult to imagine an author taking a more scholarly yet not altogether detached approach to their subject.

This biography manages to humanize a man who is often reduced, in character and deed,to a faceless political icon. The book is thorough in relating his work in the Gaelic League, his writings, his tenure as a schoolmaster, and the development of his political philosophy and activism.

Finally, the book allows the reader a firm basis with which to independently evaluate Pearse the man. This is not to say that the work is inchoate, for the very title itself, The Triumph of Failure, reveals a frame upon which the facts are sculpted. By this it is meant that the book intends to give fair treatment to a subject rather than obscure it by an ideological or euhemeristic approach.

The author notes in the 2006 preface that she has been constantly in controversy with those who use or condone the use of violence to accomplish political ends. The author does make judgments about Pearse with respect to his character and the Rising. She notes that Pearse was an exponent "...of a romantic morality which sanctined the the sacrafice of self and others in the pursuit of self-realization." It is clear that the Rising was in the author's eyes an undemocratic insurrection.

It is also clear that the author has attempted to produce a balanced and fair biography of Pearse the man which in some respects must be fairly described as sympathetic.


It is well worth the time and it is written in a clear and reader-friendly style.

3.0 out of 5 stars The only Book on Pearse I could find, April 22, 2011

By 

Elle "Beer Goddess" (Dallas, TX) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Patrick Pearse: The Triumph of Failure (Paperback)

I named my son after Padraic Pearse. He is a very inspirational figure to me. While I was pregnant with my son I read this book, and while it doesn't paint a "horrible" picture of him, it doesn't paint the "best" picture of him either. I knew this when I bought the book, so I took it all with a grain of salt. I feel like I do have a better understanding of his life and times, and who he was after reading the book, which is exactly what I wanted. I'm still looking to read more about this incredible man, so if anyone has suggestions let me know.