REMARKS BY PRESIDENT MARY McALEESE AT THE OPENING OF THE FR. JOHN MURPHY CENTRE
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT MARY McALEESE AT THE OPENING OF THE FR. JOHN MURPHY CENTRE, BOOLAVOGUE, CO. WEXFORD ON SATURDAY 30 MAY, 199
Firstly, I’d like to thank the Boolavogue 1798 Bicentennial Development Committee – for inviting me to perform the official opening of the Fr. John Murphy Centre – in commemoration of a man and a place that have been celebrated and commemorated in song – and have been synonymous with the events of that difficult year in Irish history.
The closing decades of the 1700s saw much change on the international stage – with American independence – and the French Revolution – popularising the ideals of republicanism – and the concept of liberty, equality and fraternity. What was happening in Ireland during the 1790’s was linked to those events – and was very much a part of the popular movement towards greater democracy. The United Irishmen drew on those events for inspiration – and promoted the ideal of a non-sectarian, democratic and inclusive politics - which could attract and sustain all Irish people in all their inherited complexities. Rather than grimly clinging to a divisive past, they sought to create a shared future. As they stated in their first declaration of principle - “We have thought much about our posterity, little about our ancestors”. In that process they succeeded in uniting Dissenter, Anglican and Catholic in a common political mission.
The events of 1798 echo to this day – and have only recently been recalled in the context of the Good Friday agreement – where the Republicanism and Loyalism of today – have their roots in that eventful period in this island’s history. The 1790’s is perhaps the pivotal decade in the evolution of modern Ireland – and because of that – the ’98 Rebellion - which precipitated the Act of Union in 1800 – and the divisions in Ireland along religious, political and ethnic lines - has continued to be invoked in Irish politics ever since. So it is timely – in the Bicentennial Year – to look closely at those momentous events – at the people who took part in them – at the influences and the underlying philosophies that brought the United Irishmen to rebellion in 1798.
The commemoration of 1798 which is taking place in many parts of Ireland this year - demonstrates how widespread the events of that year were. In a way - it was more a series of disparate events than a cohesive and structured campaign in the military sense. It involved great tragedy and suffering – and appalling occurrences - like the massacre - which was only recently recalled in a commemorative service at Scullabogue. In places it endured for some years – as in the case of County Wicklow – where it continued until the surrender of Michael Dwyer in 1803.
Part of the process of commemoration involves looking back to the basic ideals of the United Irishmen – and divesting ourselves of the baggage and interpretations that have ‘enhanced’ our reading of history since then. Taken in its proper context – and not as a sectarian and agrarian peasant uprising – it is not ‘owned’ by one tradition or culture – it involved the Presbyterian tradition as much as - and maybe more than any other – and Belfast was the ‘cradle’ of the United Irish movement. It was exciting and breathtaking in its modernity – and is strikingly relevant to events in Ireland today.
The Fr. John Murphy Centre - that we are opening today – will make an important contribution to our understanding of the plight of the people of Wexford at that time. In re-creating many of the typical farm buildings and dwellings – using authentic local materials as much as possible - and in the museum material on Fr.Murphy – you have created a physical link with the past – and with the 1798 Rebellion. There has been a wealth of new material published on the Rebellion – and a considerable amount of new research is being undertaken into the events and conditions which led up to ’98.
Many of the names of those who played key roles in the Rebellion come readily to mind – people like Thobald Wolfe Tone, Henry Joy McCracken, Beauchamp Bagenal Harvey, Thomas Russell, Robert Emmet, Lord Edward Fitzgerald, Miles Byrne, and Fr. John Murphy. They all played key roles in the events of 1798 – and are remembered in their areas. Fr. Murphy is the name most associated with events in Wexford in 1798. I commend you on this fitting tribute to his role in the Rebellion – and on your contribution to the process of re-discovery and re-examination. I hope that in the months and years ahead – the ambition of the United Irishmen for an Ireland comfortable with diversity – will be re-awakened and realised in the Ireland of the new millennium.