Who were “the Men of the West”? Folk historiographies and the reconstruction of democratic histories
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 8931120 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Guy Beiner (0000-0003-3757-983X, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2004 |
| Volume | 115 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 201-221 |
| Publication date | 2004-07-27 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Folklore (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0015-587X • E-ISSN: 1469-8315 |
| Publisher | Routledge (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/0015587042000231282 |
| OpenAlex | W2088538330 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 12 |
In 1798, a French expeditionary force under General Humbert landed in County Mayo to support the United Irishmen's rebellion. Both the French and their local allies were eventually defeated by British and Yeomanry troops, but the memory of the events and personalities of “the Year of the French” was still strong when the Irish Folklore Commission started its collecting mission in the 1930s. This article suggests that the folk narratives of these events can be collated into an alternative, and more democratic, version of the rebellion. Popular interest rested not with the French general (except as a scapegoat for defeat) but with local men (and women) of less elevated status. The common people of Ireland were, in their own narratives, less directed from above and more agents in their own right. These are less a corrective to the supposedly “authoritative” histories written by professionals and diffused through the media and education system, than a coherent, alternative historiography.1 The ballad “The Men of the West” was composed by William Rooney, one of the most enthusiastic organisers of the centenary commemorations of 1798. The ballad was set to the air of “Eoghan Cóir,” a song attributed to the eighteenth‐century Mayo poet Richard Barrett [Riocard Bairéad], who was implicated in the Rebellion
Art · Ballad · Democracy · Folklore · Historiography · Irish · Literature · Narrative · Poetry · Political science · Politics · Reign · Scapegoat · Folklore, Mythology, and Literature Studies · History · Law · Philippine History and Culture · Philosophy · Vietnamese History and Culture Studies
CHAPTER VIII. Memory and Naming in the Great War
Sites of Memory, Sites of Mourning
Fallen Soldiers
Richard Hayes, Seanchas-Collector Extraordinaire
Traditions of 1798
Tricking the Fairy Suitor (ML 6000)
Aṁráin Ó Iorrus
Wicklow Traditions of 1798
Irish Political Street Ballads and Rebel Songs 1780-1900
Principles for Oral Narrative Research
| Citations per year | 0.13 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2018 - 2018 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |