The Ivy Leaf

On 14 August, The Ivy Leaf: the Parnells Remembered, a volume of essays by Pauric Travers and Donal McCartney, was launched by Senator Martin Mansergh at Avondale, the Parnell ancestral home. The collection commemorates the Parnell’s and simultaneously uses the theme of commemoration to provide an insight into the shifting relationship between history and memory in the case of Charles Stewart Parnell and his family.

The essays explore Parnell’s career and how he has been viewed in Irish history since his death in 1891. Parnell’s nationalism is discussed and his political speeches, the political significance of his sojourn in Kilmainham, his American connections, his funeral and the rise and decline of ‘Ivy Day’ and other commemorations of his death. The lives of his mother Delia, his sisters Anna and Fanny, his brother John Howard and his wife Katharine are also explored.

Donal McCartney & Pauric Travers, The Ivy Leaf: the Parnells Remembered (UCD Press, 2006): ISBN 9781904558-59-0; ISBN 9781904558-60-6

Senator Martin Mansergh at the launch of the Ivy Leaf

Senator Martin Mansergh, at the launch of 'The Ivy Leaf, the Parnells Remembered' in Avondale, 14 August 2006

 

Last Updated: Thursday September 21 2006