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REVIEWS
HISTORY AND LITERATURE IN NORTHERN IRELAND: CRITICAL REFLECTIONS
ON THEIR JOINT AGENCY
DOI: h ps://doi.o g/10.14712/2571452X.2025.69.11
Ma ilynn Rich a ik, Ge ing o Good F iday: Li e a u e and he Peace P ocess in
No he n I eland. Ox o d: Ox o d Uni e si y P ess, 2023. 274 pp. ISBN 9780192886408.
“Did ha play o mine send ou / Ce ain men he English sho ?” W.B. Yea s asks
in he la e poem “The Man and he Echo,” which akes accoun o he ques ions
pes e ing him mos bu ningly a he end o his li e when “all seem[ed] e il.”1 Tha
play was he highly popula Ca hleen ni Houlihan (1902), co-au ho ed wi h Lady
Augus a G ego y, which con inued o be a sweeping success om i s
e olu iona y i s nigh h oughou I eland’s s uggle o independence and
beyond. In 1938 Yea s’s ques ion sounded a s ill alid one, implying e e ence o
he de ea ed Eas e Rising o 1916 and he ma y dom o i s leade s in an e a when
his o y, poli ics and li e a u e became s ongly aligned in I eland. Decades la e ,
he e appea ed a compa able alignmen in No he n I eland, pa o he island o
Éi e ha ing emained unde B i ish ule whe e, as a esul o pa i ion, he
accumula ing ension be ween he wo main communi ies, P o es an s and
Ca holics, led o open con lic s and he des uc ion o bo h human li es and he
en i onmen on a massi e scale. The “T oubles,” as he con lic - idden,
gene a ion-long pe iod las ing om 1968 o he Good F iday Ag eemen o 1998
was euphemis ically called, induced a numbe o unsuccess ul a emp s o disa m
he pa amili a y o ganiza ions and b ing peace o he popula ion o No he n
I eland. As i is no unusual in like ci cums ances, li e a u e esponding o he
social, cul u al and psychological auma, g ie and in ole able absu di ies
gene a ed by he deadlock o he si ua ion was lou ishing, ich in i al hemes
and o mal expe imen ing. In his Nobel P ize Speech (1995), Seamus Heaney
c edi s poe y and, by ex ension, li e a u e in No he n I eland h ough analogies
when men ioning “images and s o ies” which had hei ole in “ he e osion o he
So ie egimes […] by he shee pe sis ence, benea h he imposed ideological
con o mi y, o cul u al alues and psychic esis ances o a kind ha hese s o ies
and images ensh ine.”2
1 W.B. Yea s, “The Man and he Echo,” in The Collec ed Poems o W.B. Yea s (London:
Macmillan, 1965), 393-95.
2 Seamus Heaney, “C edi ing Poe y,” h ps://www.nobelp ize.o g/p izes/li e a u e/1995/
heaney/lec u e/.
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In 2023, he Good F iday Ag eemen had i s 25 h anni e sa y, commemo a ed
and celeb a ed by se e al p og ammes. Ma ilynn Rich a ik, he au ho o he
monog aph unde e iew he e, joined he celeb a o y e en s in he own schola ly
way, w i ing and publishing Ge ing o Good F iday: Li e a u e and he Peace P ocess
in No he n I eland, which explo es he s ong links be ween li e a y p oduc ion
and i s poli ical backg ound. Rich a ik, a dedica ed schola o No he n I ish
li e a u e, cul u e and hea e, is in e na ionally ecognized o he olume on
Field Day (Ac ing be ween he Lines: The Field Day Thea e Company and I ish Cul u al
Poli ics 1980-1984, 1994) and he biog aphy o S ewa Pa ke (S ewa Pa ke : A
Li e, 2012), which unques ionably se e as indispensable sou ces o any c i ical
inqui y in o he ields hey co e . This book begins wi h a de ailed ch onology o
e en s and publica ions om 1980, when Republican p isone s wen on hunge
s ikes, up o 10 Ap il 1998 when he Bel as Ag eemen was app o ed and signed
by all nego ia o s. Th oughou , one impo an me i o Rich a ik’s wo k emains,
which is p o iding he eade wi h p ecise in o ma ion abou he unusual con ex
o and poli ical embedding o he li e a y ex s she has chosen o sc u iny.
In he au ho ’s wo ds, he book “cen es on li e a y eac ions and con ibu ions
o p og ess owa ds peace in No he n I eland du ing he i een yea s p eceding
he 1998 Bel as /Good F iday Ag eemen , which o icially ended h ee decades o
sec a ian iolence” (4). Impo an ly o he en e p ise, Rich a ik “con end[s] ha
li e a u e as li e a u e ( ha is, in i s o mal p ope ies, in addi ion o any hing i migh
ha e o ‘say’ abou a gi en subjec ) can en ich ou his o ical unde s anding” (4).
Undoub edly, i is a huge challenge o achie e a balance in he in e wining o
li e a y and his o ical explo a ions o enhance unde s anding o he cul u al and
his o ical complexi ies o No he n I eland. Ge ing o Good F iday: Li e a u e and
he Peace P ocess in No he n I eland comp ises i e chap e s be ween i s
“In oduc ion” and “Conclusion,” gi en espec i e one-wo d i les e e ing o
cul u al, psychological and emo ional p ocesses. In each chap e , “S o y elling,”
“Unde s anding,” “G ie ing,” “Repea ing” and “D a ing” he li e a y wo ks
selec ed by Rich a ik display a g ea a ie y showing he ichness o he li e a y
p oduc ion cha ac e is ic o hose yea s.
The chap e “S o y elling” add esses B ian F iel’s play, Making His o y (1988),
in a sense con inuing Rich a ik’s esea ch published in he book on he Field Day
Thea e Company. Relying on a chi al ma e ial she explains why he w i ing o
Making His o y ook long yea s amid he changes in he poli ical managemen o
No he n I eland which signi ied his o y cu en ly happening. F iel was inspi ed
o w i e ic ionalized s o ies abou ha his o y, wi h he i le o he play ap ly
e lec ing his duali y. His p og ess wi h he play, Rich a ik claims, in ensi ied
when he Anglo-I ish Ag eemen was signed in 1985, a e which ou aged
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Unionis s made he “ma ching season” o July uncommonly h ea ening o he
Ca holic popula ion (25). In his con ex , he d ama ised his o ical cha ac e s o
Hugh O’Neill and his hi d wi e, he English Mabel Bagenal, can be seen as
ep esen ing he wo con lic ing cul u es o No he n I eland. The chie no el y o
Rich a ik’s analysis lies in explo ing a gende ed connec ion be ween his unusual
lo e s o y and modes o s o y elling in he d ama, a connec ion unde s udied in
schola ship. The chap e sugges s ha beside Hugh’s and Lomba d’s pa allel bu
di e gen na a i es abou he his o ical signi icance o Hugh’s choices and deeds,
he d ama i sel also embodies a way o s o y elling. C ucially, F iel changes he
da e o Mabel’s dea h o la e , hus keeping he “ali e om he audience’s
pe spec i e h ough he ecoun ing o a ious de elopmen s ha indica e he
opinion o he wa ” agains which she wa ned he husband, he c i ic says (33).
Rich a ik iden i ies his de ia ion om he eco ded ac s as a de ice allowing o
he in e p e a ion ha F iel’s Hugh was de ea ed by he English a my a Kinsale
mos ly because he ejec ed Mabel’s hough ul, p agma ic ad ice o de end na i e
I ish igh s and he Gaelic cul u e by peace ul means. Rich a ik’s conclusion abou
he anach onis ic and his o y making ea u e o he play s esses i s “ob ious
applica ion o I eland in he la e 1980s, whe e con empo a y epublicans had a simila
decision o make be ween poli ical engagemen wi h he enemy and con inuing
he wa , e en a he expense o hei own people and ul ima e goals” (33).
Ch is ophe Mu ay’s F iel monog aph which Rich a ik d aws on a poin s, along
wi h An hony Roche’s, is wo h quo ing o a succinc ly ph ased summa y abou
he ole o Mabel: “O’Neill is locked in o a his o y o which Mabel alone, he O he ,
had he key.”3 I is also he key o he agic ending o he play, a (nega i e)
“his o y lesson” in Rich a ik’s wo ds (33).
Ti led “Unde s anding,” Chap e Two o he book encompasses he pe iod
beginning in 1986 and unning up o he cease i e announced by he IRA in 1994,
he add essed li e a y wo ks being The Cu e a T oy (1990), a d ama by Seamus
Heaney, and he poem “Cease i e” (1994) by Michael Longley. The Cu e a T oy,
i s pe o med by he Field Day Thea e Company like Making His o y wo yea s
ea lie , sha es hema ic links wi h F iel’s d ama h ough a dilemma conce ning
he employmen o mili a y ac s. Rich a ik claims ha in he analysis o The Cu e
a T oy she in ends o pu “in o conc e e e ms” he usually abs ac idea o Heaney
schola s ha he play is in close ela ionship wi h he peace p ocess (45). So
Rich a ik akes he oad o answe ing he “whys” she implici ly aises abou he
genesis and poli ical embedding o The Cu e a T oy, o se e he gene al ocus and
3 Ch is ophe Mu ay, The Thea e o B ian F iel: T adi ion and Mode ni y (London:
Bloomsbu y, 2014), 103.
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aims o he p esen book. An inspi a ion o he play, she sugges s, was he
“de eloping pe sonal ela ionship” be ween John Hume, “leade o he
cons i u ional na ionalis Social Democ a ic and Labou Pa y” and Ge y Adams,
“P esiden o Sinn Féin” who sha ed Republican aims wi h he IRA and “ e used
o condemn he use o o ce” by ha pa amili a y o ganisa ion (40). Hume had
been an in ima e iend o Heaney, who knew abou he sec e con e sa ions
be ween he wo poli icians. The e o e, Rich a ik’s iew ha “Hume i s nea ly
in o he media ing ole o Neop olemus” while Philoc e es’s posi ion “can sui a
Sinn Féine ,” seems o be well es ablished, also because Adams “had e used o
ake his sea a Wes mins e ” (53). The c i ic’s poli ical eading o hese d ama ic
cha ac e s, howe e , does no lead o in e p e ing hem in allego ical e ms: hei
associa ion wi h he peace p ocess in eal li e is alid all he mo e so ha he
analysis o Heaney’s inse ion o “an o iginal long speech” in poe ic o m by he
Cho us a he closu e o The Cu e a T oy looks upon i as an exp ession o hope o
peace in he u u e (54-55). The desi ed u u e a i ed when a e many alks and
dedica ed e o s made by poli icians, he IRA announced cease i e in 1994.
W i en in he a mosphe e o empo a y elie , Michael Longley’s poem
“Cease i e” deploys aspec s o he T ojan Wa o o e pa allels wi h he con lic
in No he n I eland like Heaney’s wo k, shaped in o a ou -pa sonne which
a icula es he emo ional complexi y o de eloping a non-an agonis ic iew o he
enemy. Abou he poe ’s choice and me hod Rich a ik w i es: “Longley knew ha ,
in isola ing in ima e momen s om he Iliad o d aw a en ion o he human cos
o wa , he was me ely ampli ying wha was al eady in he o iginal” (79).
Unde he i le “G ie ing” Rich a ik discusses li e a y exp essions o g ie o e
loss and dea h as well as he long-las ing pain ul memo ies o ic ims and hei
amilies. W i e s Dei d e Madden and Seamus Deane we e bo h wo king on
no els in he pi o al yea o 1994. As Rich a ik asse s, “These books, Madden’s
One by One in he Da kness and Deane’s Reading in he Da k, would no be published
un il 1996, ye he cease i es did li le o mi iga e hei somb e ones” (86). In a-
communal di isions in pe spec i es on mani es a ions o he ongoing iolence,
known om Heaney’s play oo, a e o eg ounded in Madden’s no el, wi hin he
ex ended amily o he Ca holic Quinns whose membe s expe ience and cope wi h
he pa alysing cons ain s o he T oubles in di e en ways. The na a i e,
Rich a ik a gues, “gains poignancy h ough being elayed om he poin o iew
o ma u ing child en, who acqui e much o hei knowledge and awa eness […]
ia o e hea d and impe ec ly unde s ood adul con e sa ions” (90). S uc u ally,
al e na e ende ings o psychic expe iences dis up linea i y he e, while “ il e ing
he iolence h ough he con olling desi es and d eams o he p o agonis s,
Madden e eals he a chi ec u e o he g ie ing p ocess” (93), Rich a ik con ends.
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148
The inclusion o Deane’s book, Reading in he Da k, in Rich a ik’s selec ion may
s ike he eade as a cuckoo’s egg, gi en ha i co e s he yea s be o e he
ou b eak o he T oubles and only he las , e y sho igne e in i is da ed 1971.
Howe e , i i s in wi h he hema ic line because o ein o cing his o ical
connec ions: Rich a ik’s go e ning idea in he chap e is ha “[w]hile Madden
concen a es on he la e wen ie h-cen u y T oubles, Deane examines he bela ed
e ec s o he T oubles o he 1920s, e ealing he wo con lic s o be pa o a
con inuum” (97). The selec ion o Reading in he Da k can also be linked o Rich a ik’s
conce n wi h Field Day in he i s book, since Deane was one o he di ec o s o
ha company and gene al edi o o The Field Day An hology o I ish W i ing (1991).
She iden i ies he no el as loosely au obiog aphical and he main ocus is on he
young p o agonis ’s suspicions ha some deeply bu ied sec e plagues hei
amily ela ions. Acco ding o Rich a ik, he “cen al con lic in Reading in he Da k
is ha be ween he p o agonis ’s o e whelming u ge o unco e amily sec e s
and his pa en s’ equally e en desi e o conceal hem” (105). I can be ega ded
is a ‘coming-o -age’ book, ep esen ing he pi alls o becoming an adul in he
ex emely s ess ul socie y o No he n I eland. The na a o ’s ques ions abou he
pas emain unanswe ed, and he eade s’ expec a ions a e also un ul illed. “The
discom o hus c ea ed, hough, may be he book’s p o oundes commen on he a e -
e ec s o loss: los ime, los oppo uni y, los lo e, los li e,” Rich a ik no es (115).
The ou h chap e is i led “Repea ing.” Bel as -bo n Be na d MacLa e y’s
no el, G ace No es (1997) is in he ocus which, like Deane’s Reading in he Da k,
ook yea s o be w i en and he au ho changed he i le a ew imes be o e he
managed o inalize he ex . Pa allel wi h he accoun o he pos -1994 poli ical
s alema e Rich a ik in oduces Da id T imble, who became p esiden o he UUP
(Uls e Unionis Pa y) and a key igu e in he peace alks on he P o es an side.
G ace No es is a no el di icul o pin down as a piece o T oubles li e a u e; on i s
eading, i seems o be a sensi i e po ayal o a young woman, Ca he ine
McKenna, who le he Bel as home o he pa en s, s udied music in B i ain, ga e
li e o a daugh e ou o wedlock and su e ed om pos -na al dep ession.
Rich a ik’s analysis no only places he no el in he poli ical con ex bu also iews
i as a wo k sugges ing he possibili y o p og ess, albei on a small scale, h ough
i s p o agonis ’s g oping owa d sel -exp ession in he composi ion o music.
“Like The Cu e a T oy, G ace No es is an a i ma i e ex w i en in de iance o i s
con empo a y con ex ” Rich a ik claims, no ing ha “b oken ela ionships and
awkwa d con e sa ions” in he no el “se e as me apho s o he ense poli ical
si ua ion and wha would be equi ed o imp o e i ” (136-37). As an example, she
unde sco es he sligh change in he de elopmen o he ini ially e y ense
mo he -daugh e ela ionship. The i le o he chap e , “Repea ing,” e e s o he
seemingly unal e able elemen s o sec a ian cul u e which, howe e , can assume
some new meaning, as Rich a ik sugges s in he analysis o Ca he ine’s wo-pa
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149
symphonic wo k Ve nicle wi h a Lambeg d um changing i s one om h ea ening
o joy ul. “In p esen ing he wo k as he does, MacLa e y o e s eade s a memo able
illus a ion o how a is s can con ibu e o he ongoing en e p ise o c ea ing a
mo e inclusi e sense o No he n I ish iden i y” Rich a ik concludes (146-47).
“D a ing,” he i le o Chap e Fi e, e e s o he collabo a i e c ea ion and
signing o he documen which is known as he Good F iday Ag eemen , a esul
o many mon hs’ nego ia ions and ha d wo k o conside a ions and e-conside a ions.
He e Rich a ik chooses o discuss a no el, Colum McCann’s T ansA lan ic (2013),
a chap e o which p esen s a pe sonalized iew o he las wo, e y hec ic weeks
o he peace p ocess as expe ienced by Geo ge Mi chell, he Uni ed S a es Special
En oy o No he n I eland, who joined and se p inciples o he eam o
ep esen a i e poli icians in ol ed in composing and inalizing he epoch-making
ag eemen . As Rich a ik sees i , “McCann’s ea men o he peace p ocess in
T ansA lan ic acco ds wi h au obiog aphical and his o ical accoun s o i in he
emphasis placed upon ex ual issues” (175). Howe e , he book does no end on
an ele a ed no e. I s concluding pa , unde he subheading “T u h Seeking,”
examines he no el The T u h Commissione by Da id Pa k (2008) in me iculous
de ail o show how he Good F iday Ag eemen opened he doo o di e en and
con lic ing na a i es as pa o i s a e ma h.
The specialness o w i ing a book abou a e y di icul his o ical pe iod along
wi h some pieces o he as easu y o li e a u e esponding o i which Ge ing
o Good F iday: Li e a u e and he Peace P ocess in No he n I eland unde akes, has i s
isks, hough. Fo he his o ian o s uden o his o y he book may no p esen
o iginal enough in e p e a ions o he ele an e en s and p ocesses, while he
li e a u e-minded eade would like o see a mo e a ied spec um o he li e a y
ex s add essed. I is especially he chap e “D a ing” whe e his o ical de ails a e
o e whelming compa ed wi h commen s on McCann’s no el. Su p isingly as
a schola o F iel and Pa ke , Rich a ik does no include mo e plays in he chap e s,
and she ocuses on only one woman au ho ’s (Dei d e Madden’s) wo k, sidelining
issues o gende o an ex en . Plays by Ch is ina Reid o Anne De lin migh
ui ully ha e added o he discussion o he alignmen be ween poli ics and
hea e. On he o he hand, he pe sonal na a i es and pe sis en ension
d ama ized by Owen McCa e y’s Quie ly (2012) migh ha e u he elucida ed
he no ion o “ u h commissioning” beside Pa k’s no el. These no es aside, he
book emains a inely esea ched and aluable s udy o i s complica ed subjec ,
which should de ini ely ind i s way o bo h ins i u ional and pe sonal lib a ies.
Má ia Ku di
Uni e si y o Pécs
