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Sept. 10, 2004 • Volume 13 Number 1

Eire and the Empire: Another View

Prof. Kevin Kenny (History) makes no bones about it: He has helped produce a book, and a companion lecture series, he says "is guaranteed to annoy everyone" with an interest in Irish history.

Kenny is editor of Ireland and the British Empire, a volume of essays that questions the enduring - and often fervently held - view of Ireland as victim of unrelenting British subjugation, what Kenny says can be summed up as a belief in "800 years of tyranny."

Yet the book is not a 180-degree revisionist turn, either, he adds: "No one is suggesting that Ireland was not a British colony, because clearly it was. But it wasn't a colony like Nigeria or India, for a variety of reasons.

"So we're asking here, what exactly was Ireland's colonial status and, secondly, what role did Ireland play in the British Empire?" said Kenny, who contributed a chapter to the book as well as its introduction. "While it's true that many Irish resisted and fought against the Crown, many others willingly participated in the Empire in a variety of ways, as migrants, soldiers, administrators and missionaries, among others. This definitely added a dimension to Irish history that has not been considered very often."

This Monday, Kenny will kick off a nine-part lecture series based on Ireland and the British Empire, in which the book's contributors - including Adj. Prof. Vera Kreilkamp (English) and former Burns Visiting Scholar in Irish Studies Alvin Jackson - will present talks geared around their essays. Sponsored by the Boston College Center for Irish Programs and the Irish Studies Program, the lectures will take place at 4 p.m. in Connolly House; the schedule is available at the Irish Studies Web site, www.bc.edu/centers/irish/studies/.

While Ireland's role within the British Empire is hardly a new topic of debate, Kenny says, the book and lecture series shows how the discussion has evolved.

"There's a certain level of cultural self-confidence needed to examine these questions openly, and Ireland's new-found economic prosperity is certainly relevant in that respect," he explained.

"But at the same time, it's important to note that two generations of historians have chipped away at the popular orthodoxy about Irish-British relations. It's no longer the case that we have to choose starkly between two poles: Ireland as Britain's oldest colony or Ireland as not a proper colony at all. Now a new group of scholars can step in and say 'Let's get beyond the "either-or" and take a broader view.'" -Sean Smith •