History's Daughter: A Memoir from the only child of Terence MacSwiney
4/5
()
Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this ebook
Máire MacSwiney Brugha is the only child of Terence MacSwiney, one of the greatest figures in Ireland's history, who died after seventy-three days on hunger strike in Brixton Prison on 25 October 1920. His death became worldwide news. MacSwiney is reputed to have been quoted by Mahatma Gandhi as the main inspiration for his own life's work leading to the downfall of the British empire in India; Ho Chi Minh said of MacSwiney: 'A nation which has such citizens will never surrender.'
At the time of his death Máire was a young child. Her mother, Muriel, a member of the wealthy Murphy distillery family, had made an extraordinary and controversial match in marrying MacSwiney. The young widow then abandoned Ireland for continental Europe, taking her little daughter with her. For nine years Máire was to live away from Ireland, mostly in Germany with occasional breaks in Paris with her mother. She grew up effectively as a German child, speaking the German language, skiing to school -- and forgetting all about her Irish background. This was truly an extraordinary upbringing for the daughter of one of Ireland's greatest heroes.
In the early thirties, when she was fourteen, Máire made a dramatic escape with her aunt, Máire MacSwiney, the sister of Terence, home to Ireland, against her mother's wishes. This was widely reported and led to a court case claiming that her aunt had 'kidnapped' her -- but Máire strongly refutes this in her account here.
Speaking no English or Irish, the young Máire now went to live in Scoil Íte, her aunt's school in Cork. For the young Máire this was a very strange world indeed. Now she had to learn both Irish and English, her Irish being perfected by long annual holidays in the west Kerry Gaeltacht near Dunquin.
And then, in 1945, she married Ruairi Brugha, the son of another famous republican, Cathal Brugha, thus uniting two of Ireland's most prominent and revered nationalist families. Throughout her life, both before marriage and later with her husband, Máire has handled a complex inheritance and forged her own strong identity. She and her husband have reinterpreted their unique inheritance in keeping their own time and their own mindset while retaining strong links to their unusual history.
Maire MacSwiney Brugha
Máire is the daughter of Terence MacSwiney, one of the greatest figures in Ireland's history, and Muriel, a member of the wealthy Murphy distillery family. Her fascinating life which dragged her from Cork to Germany, and then back to the gaeltacht where, as a teenager, she learned Irish before re-learning English. Throughout her life, both before marriage and later with her husband, Máire has handled a complex inheritance and forged her own strong identity.
Related to History's Daughter
Related ebooks
Mamie Cadden: Backstreet Abortionist Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEyewitness to War and Peace Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAgainst the Tide: The widely acclaimed autobiography of Irish politician and doctor Noël Browne Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Jessie's Journey: The True Story of a Gypsy Childhood Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Secret Well Kept: The Untold Story of Sir Vernon Kell, Founder of MI5 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsStage by Stage: Or a Spiral Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNo Ordinary Life: A Memoir of an Extraordinary Man Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Belfast Days: A 1972 Teenage Diary Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Story of Ireland's Only Steeplejill Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSummary of Bettye Kearse's The Other Madisons Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Poppy Lady: The Story of Madame Anna Guérin and the Remembrance Poppy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Luckiest Girl in the School: A School Story Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBROKEN: A Legacy of Abuse and Neglect Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Vindication of the Rights of Woman: With Strictures on Political and Moral Subjects Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Messines to Carrick Hill:: Writing Home from the Great War Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe First Day of the Rest of My Life: Surviving Childhood Sexual Abuse Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLights Out in the Valley Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHistory's Daughter: A Memoir from the only child of Terence MacSwiney Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Be True and Serve: Dorothea Gutzeit Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsUnspoken: A Father's Wartime Escape. A Son's Family Discovered Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Same Age as the State Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDetective: A Life Upholding the Law Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOur Lives Out Loud: In Pursuit of Justice and Equality Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Scariff Martyrs: War, Murder and Memory in East Clare Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Men Will Talk to Me: Clare Interviews: Clare Interviews by Ernie O'Malley Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Tiffins & Chanawallahs: A Childhood Journey Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBamboo and Bonsai: A Life Calling Shaped by Japanese Culture Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThis Land Is Mine Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLife Aboard a Sinking Ship: Mishaps and Mayhem on a Navy Tugboat Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Heart of the Mother Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
European History For You
The Dark Queens: The Bloody Rivalry That Forged the Medieval World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Short History of the World: The Story of Mankind From Prehistory to the Modern Day Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mein Kampf: English Translation of Mein Kamphf - Mein Kampt - Mein Kamphf Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Blitzed: Drugs in the Third Reich Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Psychedelic Gospels: The Secret History of Hallucinogens in Christianity Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Witches of Scotland (Fantasy and Horror Classics) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGreek Mythology: Captivating Stories of the Ancient Olympians and Titans: Heroes and Gods, Ancient Myths Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Mein Kampf: The Original, Accurate, and Complete English Translation Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Anglo-Saxons: A History of the Beginnings of England: 400 – 1066 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Violent Abuse of Women: In 17th and 18th Century Britain Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Forgotten Highlander: An Incredible WWII Story of Survival in the Pacific Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Learn French With Short Stories - The Adventures of Clara Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Discarded Image: An Introduction to Medieval and Renaissance Literature Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Anarchy: The East India Company, Corporate Violence, and the Pillage of an Empire Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Book of English Magic Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPutin's People: How the KGB Took Back Russia and Then Took On the West Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Quite Nice and Fairly Accurate Good Omens Script Book: The Script Book Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Rise of the Fourth Reich: The Secret Societies That Threaten to Take Over America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Galileo's Daughter: A Historical Memoir of Science, Faith and Love Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Celtic Mythology: A Concise Guide to the Gods, Sagas and Beliefs Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Great Mortality: An Intimate History of the Black Death, the Most Devastating Plague of All Time Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Witch: A History of Fear, from Ancient Times to the Present Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A History of Magic and Witchcraft: Sabbats, Satan & Superstitions in the West Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Discovery of Pasta: A History in Ten Dishes Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsKilling England: The Brutal Struggle for American Independence Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Time Traveler's Guide to Medieval England: A Handbook for Visitors to the Fourteenth Century Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for History's Daughter
1 rating1 review
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This biography of both the MacSwiney and Brugha families is very well written and informative. The book challenges the way that leading members of each family have been portrayed. The early childhood described by the author is particularly moving.