22.11.2016
Rebel Prods: The Forgotten Story of Protestant Radical Nationalists and the 1916 Rising Launched at Christ Church Cathedral
A new book entitled Rebel Prods: The Forgotten Story of Protestant Radical Nationalists and the 1916 Rising by the late Dr Valerie Jones, a former lecturer at the Church of Ireland College of Education and Diocesan Communications Officer for Dublin & Glendalough, was launched yesterday evening (21st November 2016) by the former Archbishop of Dublin, The Rt Revd Walton Empey, at the Treasury in the crypt of Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin.
The book, brought to fruition by Dr Valerie Jones’s daughter, Dr Heather Jones, an Associate Professor in History at the London School of Economics, and her son Mark Jones, is published by Ashfield Press. Its publication has been supported by the Church of Ireland’s Historical Centenaries Working Group as one of its several contributions to marking the centenaries of 1916 during this calendar year.
The outgoing Chairman on the Historical Centenaries Working Group, the Rt Revd John McDowell, introduced the launch event by saying that the Church’s Historical Centenaries Working Group had wanted to ‘respect the complexity of Irish History during this crucial period’. He said that ‘we often distort history but must look at the evidence and find out what history tells us,’ and continued by saying that ‘while many people are aware of the involvement of well known, and often well connected, Irish Protestants in radical politics during the revolutionary period, there were others whose participation on the republican side are much less well known, or barely known at all but whose stories deserve to be told and reflected upon.’
The former Archbishop of Dublin, The Rt Revd Walton Empey, who had worked closely with Valerie, in launching the book quoted from the many fascinating entries on figures included in the book. He praised Heather and Mark Jones on ensuring that their late mother’s work in uncovering and re–telling the stories of these figures have now been brought to light in a publication which fills a gap in the scholarship of that period a century on. He said that it brought ‘great credit to the family that it had been published’ and encouraged people to buy copies and engage with the subject matter.
Dr Heather Jones concluded proceedings by thanking the Historical Centenaries Working Group for its help in bringing the publication about in 2016; the hard work of the publishers and everyone for attending. Any profit from the author royalties will be donated to the Irish Cancer Society.
Photo captions:
Top – Dr Heather Jones signs a copy of her mother’s book for Anne O’Reagan of St Ann’s, Dawson Street. Dr Valerie was a long standing member of St Ann’s.
Bottom – Archbishop Richard Clarke; former Archbishop of Dublin, Walton Empey; Bishop John McDowell; Dr Heather Jones and Mark Jones at the launch of ‘Rebel Prods: The Forgotten Story of Protestant Radical Nationalists and the 1916 Rising’.
More photos of the launch are available at: https://www.facebook.com/DublinandGlendalough/posts/1150590521643657