David Fitzpatrick (1) (1948–2019)

Fitzpatrick's book presents a readable, believable and meaty portrait of Harry Boland. His family history and his near inheritance of his father’s former position in both the GAA and the IRB are explained. His friendships with his revolutionary colleagues during the Rising and subsequently during the War of Independence are also examined. He is a multi-faceted character, far from the one-dimensional protagonist portrayed in Neil Jordan’s “Michael Collins” and in Tim Pat Coogan’s “Michael Collins”, easily manipulated by others. Boland was his own man throughout his life, as demonstrated by Fitzpatrick, both at home in Ireland and during his sojourn in the United States. He was deeply involved in almost all the aspects of political intrigue to try and prevent the Civil War from breaking out into actual military violence and was far from a mere cipher, rather a complicated individual meriting studies such as this.… (meer)