Books, Arts & Manners: Weep Not for the IRA

Biting at the Grave: The Irish Hunger Strikes and the Politics of Despair, by Padraig O’Malley (Beacon, 330 pp., $22.95)

THIS BOOK, along with O’Malley’s earlier Ireland: The Uncivil Wars, must be included in any list of the best works on modern Northern Ireland. The hunger strike of 1981, which ten Irish revolutionary nationalist prisoners followed to the bitter end, was undoubtedly the high point of world attention and sympathy for the IRA and for the cause of Irish unification. It was a powerful tactic, not easily repeated. And it was a tactic that required of its participants—regardless of what one may think of their cause—a remarkable sense of commitment, sincerity of purpose, and bravery.

JM

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John P. McCarthy

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Biting at the Grave: The Irish Hunger Strikes and the Politics of Despair, by Padraig O’Malley (Beacon, 330 pp., $22.95)

THIS BOOK, along with O’Malley’s earlier Ireland: The Uncivil Wars, must be included in any list of the best works on modern Northern Ireland. The hunger strike of 1981, which ten Irish revolutionary nationalist prisoners followed to the bitter end, was undoubtedly the high point of world attention and sympathy for the IRA and for the cause of Irish unification. It was a powerful tactic, not easily repeated. And it was a tactic that required of its participants—regardless of what one may think of their cause—a remarkable sense of commitment, sincerity of purpose, and bravery.