The Galtee Boy

"He has a marvellous colloquial turn of phrase and a sense of humour, desperately needed as he faces prison in Cork, Mountjoy and Pentonville ... With biographical notes on key figures of the era. Very valuable." Books Ireland Feb 2005 "This is not a diary, Casey is writing from recollection. The descriptions nevertheless of prison life are immediate and vivid ... Credit is due to the editors for a lucid text." Irish Democrat 2005 "The Galtee Boy will certainly find a place in any study of Irish political history, autobiography studies, and the growing field of prison writing." Canadian Journal of Irish Studies 31 (1) 2005 "a previously unpublished prison memoir that provides a valuable addition to the excellent UCD series Classics of Irish History as well as to the collective literature written over time by incarcerated Irish Republicans ... a thoroughly readable text, well introduced, and with ample and useful appendices and notes." Irish Literary Supplement Spring 2007 "University College Dublin Press has now published over thirty 'Classics of Irish History'. These contemporary accounts by well known personalities of historical events and attitudes have an immediacy that conventional histories do not have. Introductions by modern historians provide additional historical background and, with hindsight, objectivity." Books Ireland Nov 2007 "Scholars of nineteenth-century Irish and Irish-American politics should reacquaint themselves with these classics, part of a long running and immensely useful series from University College Dublin Press. Patrick Maume has edited and written the introductions for no less than nine of the books in this series, lending them his breadth of knowledge and keen analysis that have made him one of the most learned and intellectually generous young scholars in the field." Irish Literary Supplement Fall 2008 'Two selections of his writings have been included in the Classics of Irish History series, both edited by Mairead and Patrick Maume and Mary Casey, granddaughter of John Sarsfield Casey. The first The Galtee Boy is a detailed and fascinating account of his trial before the Cork Special Commission. It also gives an insight into the organisation of the Fenians in the cuitry. It concludes with a description of life in English prisons and his struggle there to preserve dignity. In 1867 he was transported to Australia and the second book, A Mingling of Swans, tells us of life on a road gang in a penal settlement. It also includes a selection of his letters home and to other Fenians. Both books are expertly edited and the notes add greatly to the information in them. UCD Press are to be congratulated on this series in general. The standard of editing and presentation are uniformly high. The inclusion of the hitherto unpublished works on the Fenian movement makes available valuable insights which will greatly assist students of the period. One looks forward to more such publications.' Books Ireland, May 2012