Curious Journey by Timothy O’Grady & Kenneth Griffith (2022 Edition) – I stumbled across this excellent new edition of this remarkable 1982 book in Hogges Figgis in Dublin a few weeks ago. Apart from the fact that it is superbly written and contains extensive transcriptions of rare interviews with my grandfather, Martin Walton, it also details personal experiences through 1916-23 and transcribes interviews with eight other Republican veterans undertaken in the early 1970’s by the authors.
In addition to Martin Walton , these include extensive interviews with: John L. O’Sullivan, Sean Harling, David Nelligan (The Spy in the Castle) , Joseph Sweeney (General Sweeney) , Brigid Lyons Thornton, Sean Kavanagh, Tom Barry (General Barry) and Máire Comerford. The book emanated from the late Kenneth Griffith’s experiences following the making his 1972 film documentary on Michael Collins, Hang Out your Brightest Colours which was suppressed by the British broadcasting authorities, and his TV documentary, Curious Journey which was also dropped by its funder, independent broadcaster Harlech, after it was completed in 1978.
Griffith, himself worthy of a book, was a Welsh actor and nationalist who, following a trip to South Africa’s war graves, had become fascinated by the huge number of British soldiers who died in the Boar war for the British Empire, and subsequently determined to reveal some of the unpleasant truths of British colonial wars and activities in South Africa, Ireland , and India. On his journey in Irish history he was later to discover the British establishment’s censorship of his documentaries on revolutionary Irish history which was still prevalent in the 1980’s (of course Ireland also had its own history of censorship particularly during the Troubles which is another story). This UK censorship in the 1970’s was a censorship of statements and interviews around people and events from 60 years earlier which, rather than deter him, spurred Griffith to author this book. Separately, during his colourful life, he collected the largest private collection of Boar War Memorabilia and British soldier’s letters home from South Africa during the war.
Timothy O’Grady who, as a very young man, accompanied Griffith on his trips to Ireland as a research assistant, has reissued this edition with some new photographs and plenty of editorial commentary to bring it up to date to a post Good Friday Agreement Ireland. It is an emotive read from start to finish and adds greatly to our emotional understanding of the times (leading up to and during the Civil War) and the lives of those interviewed. We read of their influences and early experiences of the Home rule and nationalist movements. There are some remarkable eyewitness insights to the events of the Rising onwards and the many interactions of the interviewees with some of those involved, both well-known and not so well-known. These include Tom Barry’s first trip to Dublin where he meets Michael Collins and David Nelligan features prominently, detailing his extraordinarily brave spy-craft for Collins in the Castle, initially in the DMP and eventually working his way into the inner sanctum of the British Secret Service. The book is full of wonderful revelations and gems and not without its share of humour. While some parts of the film interviews from the film documentary Curious Journey are available online to view it is marvellous to have the full and complete texts of all the interviews in writing within this book for posterity.
As it is largely in the words of the interviewees (two of whom have written their own books i.e. Tom Barry and David Nelligan) it also stands the test of time, and I would say matures like a good wine, nearly 40 years after the height of the Troubles in the North when the book was first published in 1982 and when emotions were still very raw and conflicted, both in Ireland and the UK. I found the author’s commentaries on the various phases, interviews, and events over the 1916-23 period, and indeed bringing the reader right up to date with the interviewee’s lives in the 1970’s, on point, non-judgemental, and insightful. It flows remarkably well and the result of this unusual mix of transcribed, very personal, interviews, and considered editorial narrative (which is also well referenced) is a very readable historical synopsis of the entire 10-year period blended through a very personal lens. A very difficult task given the complexity of events and the interviewee’s diverse backgrounds. One of the great attractions is that the Epilogue also details what happened to each of the interviewees in their later life after this period. The blacklisting and changes of fortune following the Civil War and a later change of Government in 1932 are seminal reminders of how fragile the fledgling state was for that first post-Civil War generation. I was delighted to find this book back in print and would highly recommend it, not just for the content and narrative, but for the story behind the book itself which is ably covered in Timothy O’Grady’s preface to the 2022 Edition. We owe Kenneth Griffith and Timothy O’Grady a great debt for keeping this book and these stories alive.
This edition is printed by Greenisland Press ISBN 978-3-949573-019
David Walton - December 2024