Click HERE to hear full recording
recorded @ the Allingham Festival, Abbey Centre, Ballyshannon 6pm Sat 9 Nov
Arthur Griffith made this exhortation from his Gloucester Prison cell in January 1919. But how did the arts (literature, film, the visual arts, music and song) affect the Irish Revolution? How in turn did the Revolution affect the arts? History Ireland editor Tommy Graham was joined for a wide-ranging discussion by Paul Delaney (literature), Ciara Chambers (film), Roisín Kennedy (visual arts) and Fintan Vallely (music & song).
Supported by the Commemorations Unit of the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht.
1671 Irishman Col. Thomas Blood stole the Crown Jewels of England from the Tower of London. Having switched sides during the English Civil War, during which he gained a reputation for intrigue and espionage, Blood lost most of his lands with the Restoration and thereafter conducted a terror campaign against the Stuart establishment. None of his operations were remotely successful. A conspiracy to take Dublin Castle and stage a coup d’état was easily foiled, forcing him to flee to the Continent with a bounty of £1,000 on his head. A year later he reappeared in a kidnap attempt on the duke of Ormond in London, which was also unsuccessful, as was an attempt to assassinate the king as he was taking a dip in the Thames. The theft of the royal regalia was similarly botched. Pursued by the guards, with the crown, globe and sceptre stuffed under their clothing, he and his accomplices were promptly arrested. Yet in terms of outcome the botched robbery was his one big success. Refusing to speak to anyone except the king himself, he admitted to all of his conspiracies and warned the king that he had many friends who would ‘expose his majesty … to the daily fear and expectation of a massacre’. On the other hand, were he free to use his experience in the spying profession as a secret agent for the royal administration, he could prevent such attacks. And his arrogance prevailed. Charles was won over and accepted his offer. Blood lived in comfort on a generous royal allowance for another decade. Whether his services were of any use is not known.