Israeli-born Guy Beiner's interest in Irish history began while he was hitching, hiking and working his way around the world, following military service in Israel. He returned to Tel Aviv University to study history.
On his return to Ireland 18 months ago, he enrolled on a MPhil in Irish studies at UCD.
"During my primary degree, my main interest was the history of popular culture and by chance I heard of the archive of the department of Irish folklore at UCD," he explains. This archive, which contains transcriptions of oral history taken from people throughout Ireland, was collected by the Irish Folklore Commission, established in 1935. "It is an unbelievably rich archive," Beiner says, "which has been neglected by historians. There are hundreds of thousands of pages of fascinating material. It is a privilege to work with it."
Much of the archive, he says, is in Irish. This forced Beiner to learn the language. A crash course in Irish history was also necessary; "I had to train myself to work with the material," he notes. "I also spent time reading about oral history and how it can be incorporated into history. I had to look to other countries where there is a greater awareness of folk history. "I am interested in how history is changed by a community and how people's beliefs in their past develop."
Like historian E H Carr, Beiner defines history as "an unending dialogue between the present and the past". He is fascinated by the French invasion of Ireland in 1798 and the fact that it was largely neglected by historians during the bicentenary last year. He asserts that the last major piece of work to be written on the event was in 1937: "Richard Hayes, the author of The Last Invasion of Ireland - How Connacht Rose, did something unusual for an Irish historian: he went to the region and interviewed local people and incorporated his findings into the text. Since then, Irish historians have pushed folklore away." The archival material collected in the 1930s and '40s gives a picture of how people at that time perceived their own history. "You can see different layers and how memory changes and develops and is influenced by the present day."
For many people in the 1930s, he says, 1798 was a very real issue - they could remember their grandparents talking about it, Beiner says. Interestingly, very little mention is made of the great heroes of 1798 - people like Wolfe Tone and Napper Tandy - in the material Beiner has examined. Even Captain Kane - Father Henry O'Kane, a Mayo priest who escaped to France, returned as aide-de-camp for the French and was immortalised in a local ballad of the time - proved less of a local hero than he at first seemed.
"When you look at the local stories, you find very local heroes who are remembered for their valour. You realise that local history is very democratic and that official history - where information is taken from government documents - is very elitist and ignores the voices of people in the communities.
"It's a fascinating way to look at history. It gives you an insight into subjectivity - into how the historical consciousness of a community is constructed. It enriches our images and understanding of the past. I hope to incorporate mentalite - a direction pioneered by French historians which looks at both what happened and people's thoughts in the past - into Irish history." Beiner will present a paper at UCD's arts faculty research day, Who Speaks of '98: Alternative Folk Histories of Ireland; he recognises that his views may be controversial. "It could raise a lot of opposition - I look forward to hearing the response."
