This book, written
in 1903, gives a very good background to Irish history, beginning
with the Celts arrival in Ireland around the dawn of time and ending
with Second Home Rule Bill and the passing of the Land Bill at the
turn of the nineteenth century. McCarthy does not go into unnecessary
detail, but he provides a platform for further study and
investigation. He ends his book on a positive note, and, indeed,
relative to all that had previously happened in Ireland, the passing
of a Home Rule Bill was positive. However, in 2014 with the
added awareness of everything that has happened in Ireland since
1903, it is possible to see just how relative a word like 'positive'
can be. The fact that McCarthy was born in 1830 means that he was
writing about many issues contemporary to himself which gives the
book an integrity and an authenticity which is both refreshing and
extremely valuable from the point of view of understanding the Irish
situation.
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