Jack Lynch, A Biography: The Life and Times of Irish Taoiseach Jack Lynch (1917–1999)
By Dermot Keogh
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About this ebook
Jack Lynch is one of the most important and perhaps most underrated Irish political leaders of the twentieth century.
A sportsman who won six All-Ireland medals in a row with Cork, he was also a civil servant and a barrister before being elected to Dáil Éireann in 1948. During his thirty-one years as a parliamentarian, he held the ministries of Education, Industry and Commerce, and Finance before succeeding Seán Lemass as Taoiseach in 1966. Lynch held office during the critical years of the late 1960s and early 1970s when Northern Ireland disintegrated and civil unrest swept through Belfast, Derry and other towns. This precipitated one of the worst crises in the history of the Irish state.
Jack Lynch upheld the parliamentary democratic tradition at great personal and political cost, even to the point of fracturing the unity of his government and his party. If you want to know what happened during those terrible years, read this book.
Dermot Keogh
Dermot Keogh is Professor of History and Jean Monnet Emeritus Professor, at University College Cork. He is a member of the Royal Irish Academy, twice a Fulbright Professor, a Research Fellow, Woodrow Wilson Center, Washington DC, a Senior Research Fellow, Institute of Irish Studies, Queen's University, Belfast, and in 2001/2 a Visiting Professor at the European University Institute, Florence. He is the author of Twentieth-Century Ireland in the New Gill History of Ireland series, Jack Lynch, A Biography, Jews in Twentieth-Century Ireland: Refugees, Anti-Semitism and the Holocaust and The Rise of the Irish Working Class: The Dublin Trade Union Movement and Labour Leadership 1890-1914, among other books on Irish history.
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Reviews for Jack Lynch, A Biography
3 ratings1 review
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5This is a very well written and rigorous book. However, it is apparent that the author was an admirer of Jack Lynch and I feel that, as a result, this diminished his criticical analysis of several aspects of Lynch’s career. Of course as Lynch was a popular figure admiring him is not something to apologise for but biographical analysis must show caution for potential concerns over bias. Of course the book is still superior to the deification that was Arnold’s “Hero in Crisis.” Lynch’s various achievements, starting with his time as a Minister, are overstated and the failures which arose during the tenures of his various Departments are barely analysed. Dwyer in “Nice Fellow” does this well by way of contrast. The book is deficient with regards to the intrigue and the developments leading up to the resignation of Seán Lemass and his succession as Taoiseach and Leader of Fianna Fáil. Its ultimate source of controversy, however, is regarding his coverage of the Arms Trial and how it transpired. His interpretation of the Peter Berry diaries would be questioned by many. Recent evidence, such as that from Col. Hefferon’s statement, that was expunged by the then Minister for Justice, Desmond O’Malley, was not even discussed as well as other issues raised in O’Brien’s “The Arms Trial” or MacIntyre’s “Through the Bridewell Gate.” While the book did highlight how useful Frank Aiken was to Lynch in particular during the Arms Trial period it is extremely lacking regarding analysis of his standing down from and ultimately leaving the party he helped found. Arnold, while not finding Lynch at fault, does deal with the matter whereas Collins in ‘’The Powergame” is very critical of Lynch for his handling of this whole affair. The book overall is well written and referenced as one would expect from Keogh but I was somewhat disappointed given my previous acquisitions from the author that this was not a more critical biography.