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We Don't Know Ourselves

A Personal History of Ireland Since 1958

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We Don't Know Ourselves

By: Fintan O'Toole
Narrated by: Aidan Kelly
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Fintan O'Toole, Ireland's leading public intellectual and author of Heroic Failure, tells a history of Ireland in his own time - a brilliant interweaving of memoir and historical narrative.

Fintan O'Toole was born in 1958. His life covers Ireland's journey out of underdevelopment and domination by the Church, to the country's transformation into the relatively prosperous and tolerant society that it is today. But, along the way, there was a sectarian civil war in the North, which cast a dark shadow over the whole island, and bitter struggles for intellectual, civil and sexual freedoms. The Church fought a long rearguard action to defend its entrenched positions in education, healthcare and childcare. The truth about child abuse and institutional cruelty emerged slowly, and women still had to die to make possible the liberalisation of Irish laws on contraception and divorce.

This is a very personal history by a writer who is considered by many to be the country's leading public intellectual. He was a participant in many of the controversies and arguments of the past 35 years and knew the leading literary, musical and political figures of those decades.

©2021 Fintan O'Toole (P)2021 W F Howes Europe Inspiring Thought-Provoking War Law Socialism
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I am an admirer of Fintan o Toole, and was looking forward to this book. It exceeded my expectations. I thought I knew a bit about Ireland but it turns out that I really did not know as much as I thought. I knew a little about the corruption, but the scale and enormity was shocking, the monstrous behaviour of the Catholic Church in Ireland utterly horrific. And as usual, the story is told clearly and forensically and the analysis is acute.

Enlightening and fascinating

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This book illuminates the complexities, contradictions and political and social characters that have shaped and influenced modern Ireland. The writing is superb, and the detail and clarity is breathtaking. Fintan O'Toole brings history to life with a craft for words and storytelling that never bores the reader. If you want to understand Ireland, this book will cover it. The narrator lifts the words from the page and does a superb job. It should be required reading on the Leaving Cert! Highly recommended!

Book of the Year

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From the formation of the state to the aftermath of the Celtic tiger the book speaks to an appalling horror of Catholic Ireland and the brutes and bastards it produced who ruled over us.

An integration of recent Irish history

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I don’t know if I have ever come across a more worthy piece of work so steeped in a transforming Ireland . Beautifully written, every incisive detail is a gem to be savoured. I cannot but congratulate its author with anything other than rapturous applause!

First class authorship

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Would recommend for anyone from, or interested in, Ireland.

The title really does sum it up: we don’t know ourselves. This book provides a compelling insight into who we really are and how we got here.

Fascinating book and beautifully written

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