The
Same Age as the State by Máire Cruise O’Brien
Published by The O’Brien Press Ltd., Dublin, 2003
Máire
Cruise O’Brien, or Máire Mhac an tSaoi, was born in
1922, shortly after the Irish Civil War broke out. This book is
a collection of her memories and musings on her own life and the
parallel development of the fledgling State of Ireland. As she says
“The era for which I speak was no mean era, and the people
who inhabited it no mean people.” She was born in interesting
times and to interesting people. Both her parents were active in
the fight for Irish freedom and subsequently in the anti –Treaty
side. When the Civil War ended in May 1923 her father, Seán
Mac Entee was a founder member of the Fianna Fáil party and
served in various Ministries in Fianna Fáil Governments until
the ‘60s.
This
is a warm, funny, and anecdotal stroll through the traditions, culture
, politics, religion and language of the emerging Ireland of the
twentieth century. Máire Cruise is an erudite and interesting
woman, a poet and diplomat and Celtic Scholar. She was reared between
Dublin and Dunquin, where one of her eminent uncles had a house.
Reading this book one meets the great and the good (and not so good)
of Irish society in the twentieth century. Through her uncles she
had access to the highest Church circles and her father’s
position as Government Minister ensured that she rubbed shoulders
with the political personages of the day. Her own career as a Diplomat
with the Department of Foreign Affairs, where she was the first
woman administrative officer to be recruited by competitive examination,
was not without incident.
She
met her husband Conor Cruise O’Brien, who also worked in Foreign
Affairs, and became embroiled in scandal because he was already
married.
His political career, both in the United Nations and the Irish Labour
Party led to more interesting times for his family.
This
is a lovely book – it reads like a nice cosy chat with an
intelligent, sweet, little old lady, so that it is easy to forget
the formidable brain behind the genuine sweetness of this lady.
Máire Cruise O’Brien sets out her principles very firmly,
criticises what she believes to be cant and hypocrisy without ever
being bombastic or preaching. This is a book which is well worth
reading.
Reviewed
by Marie, a Clare County Library staff member. |