THERE are thousands of books about the 1916 Rising and no doubt as we head towards the centenary year we will see a fair few more.
Some will be just reprints but others will shed new light on that time when Ireland placed its name among the nations of the world.
The 16 Lives series edited by historians Lorcan Collins and Dr Ruan O’Donnell falls into the later category and gives readers a valuable insight into the men who were executed for their part of the 1916 rising.
All of the books in the series are written by historians and, in some cases, by descendants of the 16 men. The first three books were launched in the GPO last month and they make great reading for anybody interested in what motivated each of the men to go out on Easter Monday 1916 and fight for independence.
Collins sets a high tone with his own book about James Connolly, which commences the series. Written in an entertaining, educational and assessable style, this biography is an accurate and well-researched portrayal of the man.
Collins is no stranger to his subject and will be known to many readers as the man behind the 1916 Rebellion Walking Tour, which has been running in Dublin for over 14 years.
Honor O Brolchain, a grand niece of Joseph Mary Plunkett does a remarkable job in her book about her famous relation. She became involved in her family’s history when she inherited the considerable papers of her grandmother relating to the Plunkett clan.
This timely biography includes the latest archival evidence and is an accurate, well-researched portrayal of the man and the uprising. Joseph Plunkett, one of the leaders of the Rising designed the military plan and was the youngest signatory of the Proclamation. A poet, he was dying of TB when he married Grace Gifford in Kilmainham Gaol, just before his execution on May 4 1916.
And finally but by no means least, Michael Mallin by Brian Hughes explores what brought a socialist, a devout Catholic, a temperance advocate, husband to a pregnant to wife, and father of four young children – a man with much to lose – to risk his life and wage war against the British in 1916.
This is the first book, to my knowledge, about Mallin and is a great read and a credit to the author.
?¢ The 16 Lives series is published by O’Brien Press and is available from all good bookshops.