Irish Eyes

By Mattie Lennon

Born and reared in Townsend Street Dublin in 1908, N.P. Kennedy witnessed first-hand the events leading to Irish freedom in the first decades of the last century. So did Sean O’Casey but he wrote plays about it. Did Kennedy write anything?

After his death in 1978 His daughter Ailis, who found the manuscript of The Tragic Isle, says, "This spans some of the recruitment of World War 1 veterans as auxiliaries to the RIC (the infamous Black and Tans), through the rebel resistance, the post- treaty Civil War and final declaration of peace. It is a story of civil and personal conflict, of love and despair plus courage and commitment. The book is a valuable legacy for our family, which we would like to share with you."

The author himself lived through and suffered because of the turbulence of those troubled times portrayed in the book. His parents were obliged to close their shop in Townsend Street because of it.

The main character, a British Army WWI veteran, Bernard Thompson, like many survivors of that terrible conflict, finds himself down and out on the streets of London, jobless, hungry and homeless. He is given an opportunity to “serve in Ireland”. The details of his posting were scant and untruthful. He found himself operating as an auxiliary to the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) during Ireland’s War of Independence and was disheartened and appalled by the actions of his fellow “recruits.” He is left for dead after his patrol is ambushed and he is rescued by the same rebel forces that he is expected to suppress. Bernard is brought to a rebel household, where he is brought to, and slowly regains his health. As he recovers, he acquires an understanding of the situation and can see things clearly from the rebels’ viewpoint and becomes sympathetic to their cause. From his first day in Ireland he was aware of how he was misled as to the role to which he had been enlisted.

Bernard Thompson is eventually trusted by the rebels, joins them, and becomes one of “the men who fought the Auxies and beat the Black and Tan”, and later during the Civil War he is told, “My God, Thompson! If only our own flesh and blood had stood by the country as you have done, we'd have won outright by now.”

The Tragic Isle is a historical novel and Bernard Thompson is a fictional character who, like many of the other people portrayed, fits the profile of people on both sides.

The events also are merely transplanted from real conflict with names of people and places given different names. The reprisals of Balbriggan in county Dublin are faithfully based on real atrocities.

Thanks to The Manuscript Publisher, Ailis Kennedy and her family we are able to get this well written and informative work of historical reading, and it’s available online.

Jarrah Regan is a legend in comedy circles and around the world. He was the auditor of the Literary and Historical Society in UCD when he was a student there.

His stand-up comedy career started in 2003 and a year later he was a finalist for three major UK comedy newcomer awards: So You Think You’re Funny, BBC New Comedy Awards, and the Chortle Student Comedian of the Year. Then in 2006, he performed as part of the first ever Irish gala at the Just for Laughs festival in Montreal, Canada. Regan's shows have included 2007's Edinburgh Fringe show "Nobody Knows..." Jarlath Regan", 2018/19's "Organ Freeman", which chronicled his experience as a live-organ donor, and 2019/2020's "Notion's Eleven", which was recorded in Vicar Street for online release in late 2020.

Regan wrote and performed sketches on Scope, an Irish science television programme for teenagers and was a regular panellist during the 2008–2009 season of The Panel. In 2010, he co-presented The Rumour Room, a teen entertainment series part of TRTÉ on RTÉ Two television.

The Gobshite, The horsey set in the plains of Kildare, may not be all that impressed by his account of his native heath: "I always call the Curragh Ireland's desert, because it's so flat, green, vast, and isolated. A lot of my memories are of being on my bike and cycling into a gale force wind attempting to get to Newbridge to see my friends.” The latest string to his bow will make us all proud of him. I was on a committee once and my function was to deal with the media. I called myself "The Gobshite in charge of Bullshit." I was joking, or thought I was. But it seems I wasn’t. In Regan’s hardback recently published, "The Gobshite Guidebook," I won’t admit how many of the 28 pieces in the 183 pages in which I am described. From Celebrity Goshutes, to Gob Shiites in Relationships, to How Goshutes React in Emergencies, it’s all there. This is a funny book written by a very funny man but it contains some very sound serious advice. For instance how to Spot When a Gobshite Is Lying; Seven of the most commonly used Gobshite lies:

1. ‘It was like that when I got here.’

2. ‘I heard about a guy who had a similar problem.’

3. ‘There seemed to be a bit of confusion/nobody was clear on that.’

4. ’I tried but they wouldn’t let me. I swear.’

5. ‘I was just thinking the same thing.’

6. ‘Will you relax? I definitely checked before I left.’

Some of you have been reading my column for more than twenty years and no doubt many of you thought that I was a Gobshite. Well, thanks to Jarlath Regan I’m in a position to tell you that you were right.

If you have a friend who is a Gobshite give them "The Gobshite Guidebook for Christmas" and allow them to see themselves as others see them. And there are others who you are not sure if they fit the profile. It is an ideal present for them also. Details at;www.gillbooks.ie

HAPPY CHRISTMAS.

I'll see you next year!