Here’s an upcoming title from Mercier Press that really caught my eye! It is without surprise the amount of interest in Michael Collins both back in Ireland, and here in the USA. He was a larger than life character, “The Big Fella”, who had a profound impact on Ireland’s history. No matter what side of the De Valera/Collins fence you happen to be on, it’s undeniable the impact Collins had on Ireland’s freedom.
One sad difference between the USA and Ireland, in my own humble opinion, is the way in which stories of the most profound people in our countries’ history are portrayed to kids.
In the US, kids grow up reading and learning great stories of the founding fathers, such as George Washington’s cherry tree incident. Yet in Ireland, there is becoming a tragic lack of storytelling about our important historical figures. They are left to learn it instead in the considerably less exciting surroundings of history class, where a test on their knowledge follows shortly. This disappoints me greatly, as these men and women should be known to every Irish child, and should be the stuff of legend, not the stuff of continuous assessment.
That’s why I’m so glad to see this The Story of Michael Collins come along. I will warn you that I’m a native Corkman, so the name Michael Collins, for me, carries with it a reverence of almost biblical proportions. Even past my own county pride, I still think that we should be letting our children feel the sense of pride in how we got to where we are, and who the brave men and women were who got us there. Sadly, this sense of honor and heroism is so quickly becoming scarce, even though it hasn’t even been 100 years. I warmly welcome this book, and I sincerely hope it is followed by more.
Best,
Liam
