Rebellion

Publication Instance Details #512

Publication Overview

Translation	Is Multilingual	Explicit Irish Context?	Ekphrasis	Has Paratext?	Reference to News, Media or Technology
No	No	Yes	No	No	Yes

Details

Human Rights Issues	War
War / Genocide Referenced	War: First World War
Irish Context	Political Independence (Ireland) Irish Language/Culture WW I (Ireland) Other Specific Irish place or place-name mentioned
Languages	Irish
Genre	Short Lyric
Medium	Print Collection
Notes	The speaker of the poem describes some of the origins of his own family line, and how his parents were supposed to have met at Irish classes run by Conradh na Gaeilge. The speaker outlines much of Irish culture and history of the contemporary era in the poem, referring to specific characters such as Parnell, Sheehy-Skeffington, Father O'Growney, and so forth. Of particular note are his mentions of Flanders in World War I, and of the poppies worn in commemoration of that conflict. His grandfather's reading of the paper highlights perhaps the German's attack on Belgium during World War I, and how the imperial powers of Europe profited from the killing of millions. The speaker notes how as time passes, the stories of the race change, and everyone creates their own mythologies. This is sardonically noted in the case of the RTÉ programme, 'Rebellion', based on 1916, which cost €6 million to produce and was described by many as 'ahistorical' and inaccurate.