The Young Rebels

The O'Brien Press certainly seems intent on cornering the junior fiction market when it comes to the 1916 Rising.

Following on the success of Gerard Whelan's trilogy that began with The Guns of Easter, now, just in time for the ninetieth anniversary of 1916, they give us The Young Rebels by Morgan Llywelyn, which is centred chiefly on events in Scoil Eanna from 1913 to the 1916 Rising as seen through eyes of John Joe, one of the pupils there.
John Joe has been more or less dumped in the school by his violent, drunken father, who is incapable of dealing with the fact that his wife is dying or that  his son is in need of his attention.
Since the historic events are seen through the eyes of a teenage boy, life at Scoil Eanna is seen as an academy of light in an oppressed country. Padraig Pearse is regarded as a suitable subject for unquestioning hero worship. He is presented as a man of great gentleness and humanity, concerned that the fight for Irish freedom should be all-inclusive, regardless of gender or religion. The advantage of this approach is that what we get reads very convincingly like first-hand reports, all told in the present tense by John Joe, with no need for any suggestion of revisionism. This makes the book doubly valuable since, stitched into the dramatic narrative, we are given the facts, the names, the hopes and the intentions of the 1916 leaders, and are free to speculate on the effect these intentions would continue to have on the then young members of the various Fianna in Ireland. Adults will find it interesting reading as well, particularly regarding the ethos in Scoil Eanna. To teachers, it should prove a very useful book as an adjunct to formal history books. A memorable achievement.

The Young Rebels By Morgan Llywelyn from the O'Brien Press, €8.75 Ages 12+

Tony Hickey