The Open Secret of Ireland

Author Biography

Thomas Michael (Tom) Kettle (1880-1916) was born in Artane, Co. Dublin and qualified as a lawyer. He became a Tyrone MP for the Irish Parliamentary Party, and a writer and academic at University College Dublin. He was widely acknowledged as the leading constitutional nationalist of his generation. He became involved with the nationalist Irish Volunteers, although he supported the British war effort and died at the Somme. Senia Paseta is a Fellow and Tutor in St Hugh's College, Oxford, and the author of Before the Revolution, National, Social Change and Ireland's Catholic Elite, 1879-1922 and A Very Short Introduction to Ireland

Description

"The Open Secret of Ireland", published in 1912, consists of articles primarily focused on Home Rule, offering both historical and contemporary analyses. The collection includes three articles focused on Unionism, particularly on Ulster Unionism, and Kettle's description of 'The Hallucination of Ulster' provides a fascinating insight into nationalist ideas about the fragility of the unionist bloc and the unreasonableness of their cause. This revealing and intriguing collection offers many insights into the motivations of the old Home Rule generation, convinced that their day had come and utterly unaware of the radical course Irish politics were to take in the next ten years. This edition includes an original introduction by John Redmond. It contains a new introduction by Senia Paseta.