In this article we are going to delve into the fascinating world of Revisionism (Ireland). Throughout history, Revisionism (Ireland) has captured the attention of millions of people around the world, awakening endless emotions, opinions and debates. For centuries, Revisionism (Ireland) has played a crucial role in various cultures and societies, influencing the way we live, think and relate. Through this article, we will explore the multiple facets of Revisionism (Ireland), from its impact on society to its evolution over time, with the aim of offering a broad and enriching vision of this exciting topic.
Revisionism in Irish historiography refers to a historical revisionist tendency and group of historians who are critical of the orthodox view of Irish history since the achievement of partial Irish independence, which comes from the perspective of Irish nationalism. For opponents, Revisionists are regarded as apologists for the British Empire in Ireland, proponents of a form of denialism and even in some cases advocates of neo-unionism, while the Revisionists on the other hand see themselves as positing a progressive cosmopolitan narrative opposed to a "narrowly sectarian" viewpoint.
The revisionist school of Irish history can be said to have originated in the 1930s when it was championed by Robert Dudley Edwards, D. B. Quinn and T. W. Moody.
Brendan Bradshaw, Fellow and Director of Studies in History at Queens' College, Cambridge, stated that there has been an "iconistic assault" on nationalist martyrs. Examples include Ruth Dudley Edwards' criticisms of Patrick Pearse and Tom Dunne's criticism of Wolfe Tone in his book Theobald Wolfe Tone: Colonial Outsider.
One trend is to link the violence of people like Patrick Pearse and the Easter rebels to the violence of the Provisional IRA by saying Pearse provided a template for the ideology of the Provisionals.
The President of the Republic of Ireland Michael D. Higgins has criticised this calling it "loose revisionism" and "tendentious". He followed up: “This was of course a somewhat simplistic and ideological assumption, and contemporary historians are more interested in the human rights breaches and the political and social basis of conflict and exclusion as a source of violence in the Northern Ireland of the 1970s.”