Author: Fintan O’Toole
Title: We Don’t Know Ourselves: A Personal History of Modern Ireland
Narrator: Aidan Kelly
Publication Info: Highbridge Audio, March 15, 2022 
Summary/Review:
Irish journalist Fintan O’Toole takes the Billy Joel approach to the history of his nation by starting with the year of his birth. In 1958, when O’Toole was born, the republic was lead by conservative veterans of the Irish war for independence who prioritized cultural causes over all else. The even more conservative Catholic church leaders aimed to make Ireland the model of their form of Christianity. As a result, Ireland was an economically depressed and isolated nation among the most impoverished in all of Europe facing a crisis of massive emigration.
Coincidentally, the Irish government initiated plans for modernizing Ireland in 1958. Over the course of O’Toole’s life the country has gone through remarkable change that’s seen the fall of solid institutions and the people of Ireland voting to legalize abortion and same sex marriage. Part of the change comes from looking to the United States, makers of Western films the Irish saw themselves in leading to the popularity of Country music. The presidency of John F. Kennedy and his visit to Ireland also stirred a feeling of Irish pride. American investment in tech companies also propped up the success of the Celtic Tiger economy and the inevitable crash of 2008. Looking to Europe also helped as Ireland worked their way through the process of joining what would become the European Union.
But the biggest change is in the Irish people themselves. One of O’Toole’s recurring themes is the unwillingness to talk about the rot in the system that everyone knew was there. In politics, the fantastically corrupt taoiseach Charles Haughey’s governed through the 1980s and into the early 90s before scandals finally damaged his party. The Church would be rocked by learning of the secret families of famed bishops, the abuse and incarceration of children in Christian Brothers Schools and Magdalene Laundries, and worst of all the hierarchy turning a blind eye to priests’ sexual abuse of children. The Troubles broke out in Northern Ireland in 1968 and endured for 30 years adding a daily toll of violence to Irish life. For generations a united Ireland was the only officially acceptable solution, but decades of violence changed the mind of people to support the peace agreement of 1998 that allows for a gradual reunification if the people of Northern Ireland chose it.
O’Toole observed many of the events he describes in the book from afar as a child and young adult (sometimes just watching on TV). But as he becomes a journalist he’s often in the thick of things and is a first person witness to the historical changes in Ireland. While not an autobiography, O’Toole uses his personal experience to enhance the history. For example, he talks about how his family and community felt in 1972 that the Irish republic wouldn’t inevitably have to fight in a war in the North, which thankfully didn’t come to pass. They also thought suspension of the unionist government in Stormont that year meant the Troubles were over, which unfortunately also proved to be false. All told it makes for a fascinating and detailed history of modern Ireland.
Recommended books:
- Whoredom in Kimmage: Irish Women Coming of Age by Rosemary Mahoney
- The Troubles: Ireland’s Ordeal 1966-1996 and the Search for Peace by Tim Pat Coogan
- Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland by Patrick Radden Keefe
- Biting At the Grave: The Irish Hunger Strikes and the Politics of Despair by Padraig O’Malley
Rating: ****
Panorama of the Mountains 