LIAM MURPHY REVIEWS MEMOIRS

“ It is a very important book. It would be equally important even if it were not so entertaining a read at the same time… a virtual treatise on how to make Congress do the right thing, often against seemingly insurmountable odds, and then a President. It should be required reading in Political Science classes, right up there with Edwin O’ Connor’s The Last Hurrah, with Allen Drury’s Advise and Consent, and with William L. Riordan’s Plunkitt of Tammany Hall (especially the 1995 edition, with an introduction by Peter Quinn). In 130 minutes Jimmy Stewart tells the story of “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington”, a crusading story, spanning less than one year. In 261 pages Father Seán tells a story that spans almost 67 years, some 37 or so spent crusading on Capitol Hill, against opposition far more complex, and devious, that that faced in Frank Capra’s classic motion picture….

This review is entitled “Mo Scéal Féin” (My Own Story) because Father Seán is telling his own story - but his story is greater than himself, it is the story (with 15 pages of endnote documentation, for which future historians will be thankful) of making the American political system work, it is the story of mobilizing the forces of good to achieve a greater good (against seemingly impossible odds) in the non-violent quest for Peace with Justice for All Ireland. Go saoraidh Dia Éire!

Liam Ó Murchadha, do scrí

( Liam Murphy) NY.