Book Review: Malachy McCourt's History of Ireland

Malachy McCourt's History of Ireland by Malachy McCourt

Irishman Malachy McCourt recounts the history of Ireland by writing mini-biographies of people throughout the past 2,500 years. He starts with legendary characters from B.C. times like Finn McCool (or Fionn Mac Cumaill, if you like the more Irish spelling). The book weighs a little heavier on more modern characters. The first half covers 400ish B.C. to the Great Famine in the 1840s. The second half covers the 1850s to 2000 (the book was published in 2004), ending with Bono from U2. The book covers the artistically significant as well as the historically significant.

McCourt is an entertaining storyteller and makes the people come to life. The island had lots of newcomers who more or less took over, usually by force. The natives constantly struggled for their independence; the new people integrated with the locals and became the next people to be disenfranchised by another wave of newcomers. Relations with England were always strained (England was the closest source of newcomers, I suppose). The "troubles" of the 1900s have both roots and mirror images throughout earlier centuries. The personal stories make the history more real and immediate. The homey writing style makes the book read more like stories from a pub rather than lectures on a campus.

The book suffers a bit from overlapping stories. The same events are told two or three times with only a little shift of emphasis. For example, the Easter Rising is described three separate times in fewer than twenty pages. He also has a chip on his shoulder about the Catholic Church, leading him to the silly claim that Saint Brigid was a bishop or to blame Irish misogyny on church influence, as if bad men can't come to misogyny on their own. Even with these flaws, the book is still an entertaining read.

Mildly recommended.