Trinity

I finished reading "Trinity" last night. This is the second time I have read this book: first was back in about 1977, shortly after it came out; second is now. I really enjoyed it as I am able to reflect on 28 years or so of history that the author Uris was not privileged to foresee. Here are my notes:

Leon Uris, “Trinity”, Doubleday publishers (1976), Pgs. 751
Trinity is a novel by American author Leon Uris (1924-2003).

The book tells the story of the intertwining lives of the Larkins, Catholic hill farmers from the fictional town of Ballyutogue in County Donegal; the Macleods, Protestant shipyard workers from Belfast ; and the Hubbles, representatives of three centuries of Anglo-Irish aristocracy.
It also tells the story of Ireland from the Great Irish Famine of the 1840s to the Easter Rising of 1916. It only alludes back to the time of the famine but does not really cover that tragic time. I have read other books that really cover the famine and can look back and figure out what their titles are if anyone is interested. Trinity, the book, describes a number of historical events, including the Gaelic revival in the early twentieth century, and the Curragh Mutiny in which a British division's officer corps resigned en masse rather than obey an order to disarm gun-smuggling members of the Ulster Volunteer Force. In addition, it foreshadows the Partition of Ireland and the Irish Civil War in 1922-23.

The book further portrays the British and Protestant elite's manipulation of religious and ethnic divides to further their own ends as well as deepen the animosity between Catholics and Protestants. Everyone seems to miss the point that this animosity would exist even without religion. It had more to do with keeping the stolen property and using the lessor-people (that would be us) as the manipulated dupes.

The story opens with the funeral of Kilty Larkin, father of Tomas and grandfather of Conor. Amidst the ancient Irish Catholic mourning process, Conor has a vision of the town storyteller who tells Conor of the history of the Fenians, a rebel group from the early 19th century.

The sequel, Redemption, completes many loose ends in the saga. I have not read this sequel but have it on my list for future reading.

"Trinity" is quite pessimistic about the likelihood of achieving any real results of a united Ireland. In fact, it indicates that it is better to just “wall-off” the Ulster portion of Ireland and let them rot. The book was written in 1976 so could not foresee the stagnation of the industrial Ulster area nor the restructuring of the agrarian south to become one the worlds leading information technology based economies. Now, suprise, surprise, the Ulster area is more accommodating as they have a lot less to protect than in the past and want to participate in the booming economy of the south. [Of course the entire world economy is not so booming now).

Well it’s off to the library for me. Three books I had on inter-library request all came in today. So it is reading crunch time again!! All I need in life is a good lamp, reclining chair, indoor plumbing (at least in the winter) my books, and the little brownwren.