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From International Socialism (1st series), No.25, Summer 1966, p.31.
Thanks to Ted Crawford & the late Will Fancy.
Transcribed & marked up by Einde O’Callaghan for ETOL.
History of Ireland (unfinished)
Frederich Engels
Irish Communist Group, no price given
It is not true that this 50-page book is unfinished; to say that would imply too much. In fact it is hardly started and only the first and a part of the second chapter were ever finished. So, although Engels devoted a great deal of time and effort to the study of Irish language and history, the reader sees little evidence of this. Some of his conclusions, however, as the translator reminds us, appear in The Origins of the Family, Private Property and the State.
What there is here deals with natural conditions and with the Norse invasions – with just a hint of a plebeian revolution in 10 (yes ten) AD. It is claimed – by the translator, not by Engels – that this publication, the first in English, has some significance in the struggle for Irish independence. I am unable to see this. It tells us little about Ireland, little about Engels, and a little about the Irish Communist Group.
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Last updated on 24 April 2010