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Roisín Higgins Roisín Higgins TRANSFORMING 1916Meaning, Memory and the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Easter Rising 9 781859 184868 ISBN 978-1-85918-486-8 www.corkuniversitypress.com The fiftieth anniversary of the Easter Rising has been held responsible for everything from the outbreak of conflict in Northern Ireland to the alienation of an entire generation in the Republic of Ireland. This book examines the myths behind the most elaborate commemoration of the Rising to date. Transforming 1916 explores the meaning and memory of the Easter Rising in 1966 and the way in which history operated in Ireland at a moment of rapid change. It looks at the commemorative process through parades, statues, pageants, television programmes, exhibitions and documentary film; and considers the tensions present north and south of the border. The author argues that the fiftieth anniversary of the Easter Rising was not, in fact, an unrestrained celebration of Ireland’s past but instead represented an attempt by the Irish government to convey a message of modernisation and economic progress. Transforming 1916 casts light on what 1916 means in Ireland and illuminates the politics of commemoration as the centenary of the Rising approaches. Cover photographs Front and front flap: Military parade on O'Connell Street, Dublin, Easter Sunday 1966 (photograph courtesy Irish Examiner). Back and back flap: Newspaper seller in front of the half-demolished Nelson's Pillar, O'Connell Street, Dublin, March 1966 (photograph courtesy National Library of Ireland). Cover: Burns Design ...