Our Heritage Is Not For Sale
The destruction of the O’Rahilly House in Herbert Park, Dublin has sparked outrage among Republicans and anyone who values the revolutionary history of this island. The destruction commenced on the morning of the 29 September 2020 to make way for a development by McSharry and Kennedy, despite the fact that Dublin City Council voted to preserve the historical landmark only two weeks ago. Apart from the greed and wanton vandalism of the historical house for profit, a more sinister motivation lies behind this pattern of destruction of historical sites. We must ask ourselves, why are these historical sites so important and why do both the Dublin and British governments want to see them bulldozed?
The Decade of Centenaries has thrown many questions about the history surrounding the events of 1912 – 1923 which for many in the British and Free State establishments poses difficult questions and uncomfortable truths. Revisionism has been commonplace since the 1970; an attempt to de-legitimise the struggle for freedom on the island of Ireland. This revisionism goes beyond the remit of the faux scholars who were bankrolled to undermine the Republican Movement and now is manifesting itself in the destruction of monuments and heritage sites.
In 2020 alone, Tánaiste, then Taoiseach Leo Varadkar suggested the removal of the statue of IRA Chief of Staff Seæn Russell in Fairview, over a historically inaccurate allegation of sympathy with Hitler and Nazism. The Tánaiste might want to look at his own party’s legacy on that front. The Croppies’ Acre in Dublin along with the 1798 centre in Wexford, have both come under threat as well. There is little doubt that these attacks are ideologically motivated and seek to erase tangible connections to Ireland’s history of rebellion. The famous line says, “who fears to speak of Easter week and the heroes of ’98?” It would seem the Free State establishment, alarmed by the electoral success of Sinn Féin and the rise of popular Republicanism in recent years, find themselves ideologically at odds with the aims and aspirations of our patriot dead.
The attempted demolition of 10 and 11 Moore Street, the final meeting place of the Provisional Government of 1916, laid bare the disdain of the Southern establishment for historical sites. The attempt to demolish it in favour of a shopping centre taught us that according to Fine Gael, everything is for sale and nothing is sacred. They know the price of everything and the value of nothing. There has been a clear attempt by the Free State government since 2014 and earlier to de-value and delegitimise the 1916 rising and subsequent Tan War period with more emphasis being placed on WW1 than our own revolutionary period. Look no further than the Wall of Shame in Glasnevin that equates those soldiers who carried out the North King Street Massacre to James Connolly and Pádraig Pearse.
This same practise of revisionism exists north of the border also. The spot in Belfast where Henry joy McCracken was executed is now a shopping with a statue of Henry Joy only being erected in recent years. The Unionist’s refusal to help deliver a museum at the Long Kesh site for fear it would become “a shrine to IRA terrorism” clearly conveys what is happening across all 32 counties and exposes the thinly veiled motives of the golden circles in the south.
For us as Republicans, commemoration is vital to our culture and understanding of our past, gives motivation and inspiration and paints a roadmap of our future. We all have a duty to defend our historical sites and show that there is an appetite to engage with our history and heritage. We need to visit museums more, visit more historical sites and take more tours. These places, buildings, sites, and prisons are central to our collective history and we have a duty to defend them, use them and value them. They are our tangible links to a past of resisting imperialism and colonialism and they are centres of inspiration to continue resisting British rule and Free State subservience.
40 Herbert Street must be the last place to fall and it is on all of us to defend these sites, because if we don’t, then our history will become less tangible and those who seek to de-legitimise our struggle will become emboldened and vindicated.
Le Naoise Ó Faoláin