The Early Irish Stage Ito 1720). By William Smith Clark.
(O.U.P., 30s.) The Irish Exiles in Australia. By T. J. Kiernan. (Clonmore and Reynolds, 18s.)
Tan second volume of the Leinster corre- spondence, whose publication has been long delayed, is a disappointment. The early part consists of the letters of the young Lord Edward FitzGerald, up to the time of his aflaire with Mrs. Sheridan and, after her death, of his marriage to her double, the lovely Pamela. They are of interest only to students of that type of domestic involvement; and they stop
st at the time Lord Edward was becoming interesting. The bulk of the book is filled with the prattle of Lady Sarah Napier. There is a single interesting letter—the first, describing her introduction to George II and the future George III, who was greatly attracted to her; but having let this chance slip she settled down into a humdrum existence of quite remarkable tedium, faithfully reflected in her correspond- ence. It is diflicult to see why the Irish Maim- scripts Commission, with a wealth of important material crying out to be published, should have made this choice.
In view of the predominance of Irish play- wrights in the English theatre, it is odd that no serious attempt had been made before to examine the Irish theatre's historical roots. The Early Irish Stage assiduously performs the weary task of exploration. Professor Clark is painstaking in the accepted American manner : when he mentions, in passing, that all the world's a stage, he provides readers with a W111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 footnote to inform them of the act and scene from As You Like It, by W. Shakespeare, in which the quotation may be found. Still, in spite of the new pedantry, he is quite readable, and admirably well informed.
So is Professor Coonan, whose Irish Catholic Confederation must be accepted as the standard work on the 1641 rebellion. But is unlikely to be the definitive work, because—in spite of a conscious, almost painful effort to be fair— he has too often let his prejudices run away with him. He is ludicrously unjust, for example, to the Viceroy Ormonde. Ormonde may have wasted his abilities by putting them loyally at the service of a worthless king, but to deny that he, possessed ability is foolish. The author's attempt to drag in constitutional issues, too, on a legalistic basis, is a notable example of the way that historians, when they get really involved in a subject, can read history back- wards. Still, where Professor Coonan is dealing with the Confederation itself he Is more balanced; this part of his work is unlikely to be superseded. The Irish Exiles in Australia is, by compari- son, in the light-weight class. Its chief value lies in its collection of the correspondence of the Irish patriots who were sent out as convicts—Smith O'Brien, Mitchel, and the rest, whose influence on the growth of the Dominion was considerable. IVOR BRIEN
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