Madam, – As a young boy in the late 1970s, my parents took me to see my great-grandparent's yacht Asgard; then in its temporary home in the Navy docks. This was before it went to Kilmainham. I was only eight, but it was a moment that is burned into my memory. I remember running my hands across the barnacles on the long wooden hull and along the carefully shaped planks on the deck. I remember walking to the the edge of the bow and then to the stern. Those were important moments, which as children we all tend to cherish: being suddenly awoken to the difference between lore and reality, between the imaginary and the tangible. That day is also memorable for the splinter that the boat left in my hand. A poignant splinter if there ever was one. A moment that still resonates with me, decades later.
I was very pleased to see the recent remarks made by the Taoiseach, Brian Cowen in his speech at the British-Irish Studies conference on “A Decade of Centenaries: Commemorating Shared History” (Home News, May 21st). The Taoiseach underscored the critical point that must be remembered in the years to follow and that is to recognise revisionism for what it is, and not to get overrun by its wake.
Waves of nostalgia are tricky to navigate. Nostalgia can often reveal as much as it can easily conceal. As the Taoiseach put well, “Commemoration, of course, is a selective act.” That said, so is separatism, but we shouldn’t ever drive backwards down roads from whence we came.
One of the elemental tragedies of the 20th century is that humanity couldn’t ever see past its pursuit of vengeance and redress. The nationalistic colours that historians have chosen to paint over the lives lost in the balance will always remain as such; simply colours. The honoured names that line the graves throughout the countryside, and the limestone at Glasnevin, fought and died, and should be commemorated.
The Asgardis now in its final months of restoration in the hands of Dr Patrick Wallace, John Kearon, Brendan Tracy and Oliver Ward; all at the National Museum. The restoration is a humbling commemoration, and overwhelming in and of itself. The yacht's role in Ireland was but one small part in a stream of brave and inspired events, by men and women of character and courage, that fought for things we now take for granted.
Centennials are very important and valuable, so long as we don’t let them colour our inspiration for the future. – Yours, etc,