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Post by kj on Dec 22, 2020 11:32:46 GMT
Gript has a short appreciation piece on Fennell. A Voice that should be heard
By the way, archive.org has a few Fennell books available for free reading. I was amazed to see Karl Rahner contribute a foreword to one written in the 60s. |
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Post by kj on Dec 23, 2020 8:48:29 GMT
I’ve started reading Fennell’s Connacht Journey. I must say it’s incredibly engrossing. It recounts a trip around the province he made in 1987. Being Fennell, he enjoys making his presence felt: as soon as he lands at Knock airport, he gets suss about the Irish language names used and after consulting some locals cycles straight back to the airport to confront the manager!
He examines absolutely everything in minute detail (he must have made copious notes). I don’t normally enjoy such detail-heavy narratives, but he recounts it all in a clinical manner that somehow becomes very engrossing. I’ve been using Google Maps to follow his trail and it’s fascinating to compare his descriptions with what’s there now.
One thing that makes it intriguing to me is that it being 1987 I am old enough to recall some of what the country was like then, so it’s not like reading a Victorian travelogue, for example. Interestingly given developments now, he states : “In Ireland today, we are ruled by an antagonism to the local which is also an antagonism to diversity and a zeal to impose monotonous uniformity.”
Anyway, as someone stuck in Lockdown London who hasn’t been home in nearly two-and-a-half years I’m finding it enthralling and it’s reconnecting me with the mother country, so thank you, Lord Fennell!
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Post by rogerbuck on Dec 24, 2020 21:15:28 GMT
I’ve started reading Fennell’s Connacht Journey. I must say it’s incredibly engrossing. It recounts a trip around the province he made in 1987. Being Fennell, he enjoys making his presence felt: as soon as he lands at Knock airport, he gets suss about the Irish language names used and after consulting some locals cycles straight back to the airport to confront the manager! He examines absolutely everything in minute detail (he must have made copious notes). I don’t normally enjoy such detail-heavy narratives, but he recounts it all in a clinical manner that somehow becomes very engrossing. I’ve been using Google Maps to follow his trail and it’s fascinating to compare his descriptions with what’s there now. One thing that makes it intriguing to me is that it being 1987 I am old enough to recall some of what the country was like then, so it’s not like reading a Victorian travelogue, for example. Interestingly given developments now, he states : “In Ireland today, we are ruled by an antagonism to the local which is also an antagonism to diversity and a zeal to impose monotonous uniformity.” Anyway, as someone stuck in Lockdown London who hasn’t been home in nearly two-and-a-half years I’m finding it enthralling and it’s reconnecting me with the mother country, so thank you, Lord Fennell! Warm smile. Though this is one of very few Fennell books I haven't read, alas. I need to - along with maybe 3 others I've missed or not completed yet. Ireland desperately needs this great man's highly original mind. |
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Post by cato on Jul 18, 2021 9:28:19 GMT
Desmond Fennell died on July 16th and will be cremated tomorrow afternoon. RIP
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Post by assisi on Jul 18, 2021 16:29:23 GMT
Desmond Fennell died on July 16th and will be cremated tomorrow afternoon. RIP Having heard very little from Desmond Fennell and knowing his advanced years I was half expecting this news. Fennell was really the first writer/journalist I came across who made me stop in my tracks and wonder why aren't other writers and journalists commenting on things like God, identity, sense and meaning. Little did I know that he was ahead of his times and a maverick within the establishment. He was soon banished to the margins and mocked much in the same way as John Waters would be later. It looks like he got it right by predicting the fall of the American Empire and the West and by calling the proponents the 'liberal consumerist' elites. Liberal he got right, and consumerist would cover the rise of the multinationals and tech giants to control the political narrative. For him to have stuck to his guns and not ingratiated himself with the mainstream Irish Media took guts. He stuck to a version of the world much closer to truth than the current bunch of sell-outs. May he rest in Peace. |
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Post by kj on Jul 20, 2021 7:51:54 GMT
I can't stand Michael D, but credit where due, he did make a fulsome tribute. Nice to see a few others do so also.
I suspect Fennell will be Ireland's last serious intellectual, in the best sense of the term.
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Post by cato on Jul 20, 2021 10:09:42 GMT
I can't stand Michael D, but credit where due, he did make a fulsome tribute. Nice to see a few others do so also.
I suspect Fennell will be Ireland's last serious intellectual, in the best sense of the term.
Yes it was surprisingly generous but Michael D has an old weaknesses for intellectuals even if they differ from him. He has been holding a series of historical discussions too with academics on the legacy of the Irish revolution. Have watched a few late at night on the Oireachtas Channel. Now that is an anorak activity! |
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Post by kj on Jul 21, 2021 8:57:56 GMT
As tribute, Hot Press have re-run an interview with Fennell from 1986. Gives a good sample of his tone and themes.
"I wish I lived in a normal nation, and by that I mean a nation that is doing its own thing, its own way....A normal nation is autonomous, independent, in charge of its own affairs, thinking its own thoughts, not depending on others to answer its life problems.”
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Post by cato on Jul 21, 2021 12:21:41 GMT
As tribute, Hot Press have re-run an interview with Fennell from 1986. Gives a good sample of his tone and themes.
"I wish I lived in a normal nation, and by that I mean a nation that is doing its own thing, its own way....A normal nation is autonomous, independent, in charge of its own affairs, thinking its own thoughts, not depending on others to answer its life problems.”
Its a very interesting article from 1986 much of which has aged well but would never see the light of day in a 2021 context. I liked his references to our lack of self confidence as a nation. The same is still true 35 years on despite all our secularism and wealth. We are still constantly comparing ourselves to our neighbours in the UK and cannot simply be ourselves. |
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Post by kj on Jul 21, 2021 13:03:43 GMT
And I've no doubt Fennell would say we cannot be ourselves, because in one way there is no self to be because of the Anglicisation and Americanisation of our culture. Throw in the gleeful abandonment of Catholicism and you have a real void.
There's something both grotesque and comical in realising that his final remarks about the Provos would almost certainly not be allowed into print today.
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Post by cato on Jul 21, 2021 21:54:22 GMT
He seemed to have had a blind spot about Charlie Haughey idolising him to some extent if memory serves me right. Haughey was a deeply corrupt individual who enriched himself in all sorts of shady ways and helped bring about the gradual demise of Fianna Fail.
The link between that party and financial corruption and economic incompetence is a major reason why there is no major conservative party in modern Ireland.
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Post by Maolsheachlann on Jul 22, 2021 8:13:11 GMT
He seemed to have had a blind spot about Charlie Haughey idolising him to some extent if memory serves me right. Haughey was a deeply corrupt individual who enriched himself in all sorts of shady ways and helped bring about the gradual demise of Fianna Fail. The link between that party and financial corruption and economic incompetence is a major reason why there is no major conservative party in modern Ireland. The death of another Des-- Des O'Malley-- so close to that of Desmond Fennell seems quite symbolic. Desmond Fennell fought a losing battle his entire life. Des O'Malley's combination of free-market economics and social liberalism is now the mainstream in Irish politics and society. RIP to both of them. |
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Post by kj on Jul 22, 2021 10:22:55 GMT
Saw this about Fennell on twitter: "His ideas were complex. He did travel to other countries."  |
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Post by Séamus on Jul 30, 2021 5:10:49 GMT
He seemed to have had a blind spot about Charlie Haughey idolising him to some extent if memory serves me right. Haughey was a deeply corrupt individual who enriched himself in all sorts of shady ways and helped bring about the gradual demise of Fianna Fail. The link between that party and financial corruption and economic incompetence is a major reason why there is no major conservative party in modern Ireland. Looks like there's a new spotlight on the Haughey family, probably not in the field anyone expected- although sport (Olympic in particular) is never far from politics, especially if you're representing Hong Kong or Taiwan as a separate entity. Amazed to see Chinese characters exist for Siobhán or Haughey. Wonder how they arrange that? |
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Post by cato on Jul 30, 2021 13:22:21 GMT
He seemed to have had a blind spot about Charlie Haughey idolising him to some extent if memory serves me right. Haughey was a deeply corrupt individual who enriched himself in all sorts of shady ways and helped bring about the gradual demise of Fianna Fail. The link between that party and financial corruption and economic incompetence is a major reason why there is no major conservative party in modern Ireland. Looks like there's a new spotlight on the Haughey family, probably not in the field anyone expected- although sport (Olympic in particular) is never far from politics, especially if you're representing Hong Kong or Taiwan as a separate entity. Amazed to see Chinese characters exist for Siobhán or Haughey. Wonder how they arrange that? At the risk of veering off topic I watched Charles Haugheys Ireland on YouTube last night. Originally shown on Channel 4 of all places in the early 1980s its an hour of entertaining Haughey propaganda with some interesting peeks into his villas in Inishvickalaun and Kinsealey. If you have a smart TV you can watch it on your telly too! |
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