In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

13 Souvenirs To an imaginative person, an inherited possession . . . is not just an object, an antique, an item, on an inventory; rather it becomes a point of entry into a common emotional ground of memory and belonging. Seamus Heaney “The Sense of the Past” In 1962 a nonagenarian veteran of the Mashona and Matabele risings against the South African Company’s rule in Southern Rhodesia (1896–97) presented an axe to Joshua Nkomo, the leader of the Zimbabwe African Peoples Union. This symbolic act, which implied an imaginary apostolic succession of resistance to colonial domination, used a relic of a rebellion to recontextualize social memory in light of contemporary nationalist politics.1 It was also a transitional moment when private remembrance fed into public commemoration. Similarly, weapons and relics from the 1798 Rebellion were later produced to reawaken recollections of the historical events, though in the West of Ireland this would usually take place in more mundane situations that were not so overtly politicized. The weapon most associated in popular imagination with Ninety-Eight was the pike, which was considered the standard armament of the “common” Irish rebel.2 An eyewitness observed that following the landing of the French, “on the next day the manufacture of pikes commenced at almost every Smith’s Forge” and that “those who had not musquets [sic] were supplying themselves with pikes as fast as the smiths could forge them.”3 An apocryphal local tradition even claimed that pikes were being manufactured in Killala prior to the French arrival.4 By the mid-nineteenth century, pikes were considered curiosities and in 1852 were included in an exhibition of antiquities sponsored by the ( 231 ) Belfast Natural History and Philosophical Society.5 They were also among the mementos collected by Irish nationalist separatists and sent to the Fenian Brotherhood fair in Chicago in 1864 (though there was a noticeably poor response from Connacht).6 Pikes, or to be more precise iron pike-heads (since the wooden shafts decayed), were treasured by locals as souvenirs of the Rebellion . Several of these were found in the bogs around Ballinamuck, and at least one was found as late as the mid-1970s in the townland of Gaigue Cross. The rarity of pikes was attributed to a tradition that Lord Farnham, the commander of the Cavan Militia, had triumphantly collected pikes from the battlefield to decorate the gateway to his demesne.7 The folklore of pikes recalled how blacksmiths forged pike-heads and how they were then mounted, sharpened, and prepared for battle.8 Drills and the ways in which pikes were wielded in combat were also remembered.9 The recital “The Rake Up Near the Rafters,” which was described by a local authority on folk history in Ballinamuck as a “fenian ballad or poem,” recalled how pikes were concealed.10 The theme of a pike hidden up in the thatch of a roof to be used again at a later date is prevalent in nationalist popular culture. The association with Fenians is not incidental, as pikes belonged to a long tradition of rebellious activities. After 1798 they were used again in Robert Emmet’s rising in 1803, by the Young Ireland insurgents in 1848, the Fenians in 1867, and albeit symbolically, by Volunteers in 1916. Indeed, the military historian G. A. Hayes-McCoy observed that “it is not possible to date any Irish pike which does not bear a maker’s mark,” and recently manufactured pikes (such as those used, by the Carnmore Volunteers in county Galway) could be easily mistaken for relics of Ninety-Eight.11 Moreover, newly made pikes were used for reenactments in commemorative ceremonies and subsequently became souvenirs.12 The National Monuments Act of 1930 broadly defined “archaeological objects” as “all ancient movable things” and required that any discovery of such items should be reported to the appropriate authorities. This law was brought to public attention by the Irish Department of Education [An Roinn Oideachais] through the circulation of a bilingual Guide for Finders in 1942.13 Even though folklife was mentioned, the emphasis was clearly on prehistoric and early-Christian artifacts.14 Consequently, in the eyes of the public in rural Ireland, the right of ownership of objects from modern periods of Irish history remained somewhat vague. In 1939 Richard Hayes donated to the National Museum a French musket that he had acquired during his travels in the West.15 It was recalled in Ballinamuck that a pike had been sent to Dublin for display...

Share