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Andrew Killmer

Dave Madden

Engl 240S

11/17/14

Costello, Peter. The Heart Grown Brutal: The Irish Revolution in Literature, from Parnell to the Death of

Yeats (1891-1939). Dublin: Gill and Macmillan, 1977. Print.

The Heart Grown Brutal is an extended piece of Irish historical criticism which argues “that the

cultural revival made possible the political revolution by creating a new ideal of Ireland, and that the

literature of the revival provides what might almost be called ‘the secret history’ of the Irish revolution” (xi).

The book begins by examining the way in which Irish culture has mythologized the revolutionary

years, especially the Easter uprising; a statue of Cuchulain (ancient Irish folk hero of legend) dying in

defense of Ireland stands in memorial to the individuals who rebelled against the British in 1916. From this

starting point, along with some quotations from William Butler Yeats about his influence upon the

revolutionaries, the framework of a symbiotic relationship between the political revolution and the

concurrent revolution of the mind/art or Ireland begins to be exposed.

The first part of the book deals with the history leading up to the revival. Chapter one provides a

description of the society and literature in 19th Century Ireland. The Great Famine (1845) sees a demand for

land reform, and the Anglo-Irish Gentry begins to decline. This is also the century of the first real Irish novel

– Maria Edgeworth’s Castle Rackrent (1800). The literature is realist in nature, concerned with Gaelic social

themes and dilemma, and also the decline of the Big House. Although many ancient Irish texts survived,

Much of the Old Irish was unreadable until 1855, until Grammatica Celtica is published by Johann Zeuss.

From this point, a renewed interest in reclaiming Old Irish becomes prominent in the literature.

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Chapter three gives the account of how the small secret society of the Irish Republican Brotherhood

(IRB) was formed, and how the plot to revolt was formed. The book examines how Yeats’ poetry, which is

heavily patriotic, is tied to the ideals and lionization of the violent uprising. Yeats is shown in the words of

both his poetry and personal communications to have been critical of the violence and suspicious of the

motives behind it. The guilt he felt for the patriotic inspiration towards ultimate death is examined, as well

as the counter-position that poetry did nothing for the cause.

The central part of the argument is that the spirit of revolution continued beyond 1916 by

smoldering in the short stories of writers like Sean O’Faolain and Frank O’Connor, among many others. The

history then follows the swelling of the IRA ranks, and the current leading the nation towards civil war. Here

is where the book gets its title – the Irish heart grows brutal “because it [was] fought by brothers who hate

with the hatred only possible between brothers” (193). After the end of the civil war (1922-1923), public life

was different, and the literature saw a “revised romanticism” take precedence.

The book talks about writers like Liam O’Flaherty, who were actively involved in the war, and how it

later manifested in their art, how living in a state of post-revolution and disappointment leads to a “clear

and horrible account in realism,… doing away with the rhetoric and ideals, facing what it means to die at

dawn for one’s country” (229”. The final sections deal with those artists, like Joyce, who exiled themselves,

and how their mode was a “realistic romanticism,” as well as the continued interest and pursuit of Old Irish

traditions and incorporations of myth in both Irish society and literature on into the future.

This is an excellent resource for any essay on modern Irish literature, as it covers an immense

amount of information. It makes clear the history, order of events, catalysts for each event along the way. It

references dozens of authors and artists, as well as political/revolutionary figures, and all entries are

indexed. As Irish literature is itself concerned with the presence and importance of history upon the

present, this is an essential tool for understanding many modern Irish texts.