Without her input a lot of audio interviews would never have featured on TPQ. She paid particular, but not exclusive, attention to Radio Free Eireann and transcribed as much as possible, often getting it off to TPQ within hours of being broadcast.
A resident of Charleston, South Carolina, she worked with TPQ right up until she developed cancer, her last outing being an interview featuring Mairia Cahill. Mo despised the Sinn Fein blackening of Cahill. Just over a year later she was dead. We had no idea Mo was ill. It was her way - if she needed time out she took it, and would return unannounced after the interregnum. On this occasion there was no coming back. Mo had left us for the last time.
Another blog to take a hit by her demise was Ed Moloney's The Broken Elbow. She loved the analysis of Ed Moloney, the journalism of Jennifer O'Leary, the clarity of Marian Price, the passion of Kate Nash and the interview techniques of Sandy Boyer, Martin Galvin, and John McDonagh.
Prior to her illness, she and I had been in constant communication usually via Twitter private message or email. Her Twitter handle was Armagh Abú. Her profile simply stated: 'I've always supported achieving a united Ireland via peaceful means. I've never supported the GFA.' Like many other republicans wary of how little was achieved through the Good Friday Agreement, she supported the peace but not the peace process.
This thing called the peace process has caused so much sorrow and has cost us dearly. I say too much. Too much sorrow. Too much death. And too much money - most of which has been squandered or stolen.
Passionate and knowledgeable about Irish history and politics Mo was an old school Irish American republican who made it her business to understand the subject she dealt with. She had a similar deep grasp of the history and politics of Irish America and its various support groups for the republican cause in Ireland. She was not always complimentary about them.
Mo was a private person but not one who was timid. Nor was she behind the doors with her opinion. On occasion she might not have liked the content of an interview, having some serious ideological or ethical objection to the person being interviewed and would flatly tell us that it was not for her. I asked her once to transcribe one by a leading figure in Relatives For Justice to which she responded that she was not going to work on Sinn Fein twaddle, somebody else could do that one. Another that she declined to work on was an interview by somebody from the AOH. She characterised the body as "those lying bastards" who had a tendency to "hang their hats on other people's history". The Catholicity of the AOH really got to her although she had a lot of time for Gerry McGeough because she felt he was prepared to stand up for what he believed in.
She and I would sometimes disagree about the value of literature on the Northern conflict. She was not enthused about Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe. I explained to her that I felt her to be wide off the mark. Say Nothing along with Himself Alone and A Secret History of the IRA were in my estimation the go to books for a foundational understanding of the Northern conflict. There was no moving her. Once she got a notion into her head she was unwavering. Same as when we discussed the historicity of Jesus.
It was her passion for history and her firm belief that the Sinn Fein leadership had sold the pass in exchange for career enhancement that made her such a fervent supporter of the Boston College project. Something had to scythe through the organised lying. Intimidated by no one, on occasion she roasted those who took to the bully pulpit to throw their weight around as part of the Danny Morrison-fronted smear campaign against those who were involved in the project. She initially had faith in some of the lobbying against British subpoenas carried out by the Brehon Law society but ended up claiming that ultimately it had helped hose the project as part of a Sinn Fein backlash against it ever having happened in the first place. "I trusted them on the BC tapes effort - got lied to and burned - never again. Never.'
She and I would sometimes disagree about the value of literature on the Northern conflict. She was not enthused about Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe. I explained to her that I felt her to be wide off the mark. Say Nothing along with Himself Alone and A Secret History of the IRA were in my estimation the go to books for a foundational understanding of the Northern conflict. There was no moving her. Once she got a notion into her head she was unwavering. Same as when we discussed the historicity of Jesus.
It was her passion for history and her firm belief that the Sinn Fein leadership had sold the pass in exchange for career enhancement that made her such a fervent supporter of the Boston College project. Something had to scythe through the organised lying. Intimidated by no one, on occasion she roasted those who took to the bully pulpit to throw their weight around as part of the Danny Morrison-fronted smear campaign against those who were involved in the project. She initially had faith in some of the lobbying against British subpoenas carried out by the Brehon Law society but ended up claiming that ultimately it had helped hose the project as part of a Sinn Fein backlash against it ever having happened in the first place. "I trusted them on the BC tapes effort - got lied to and burned - never again. Never.'
When Mo died, TPQ lost one of its finest quills.
⏩ Follow on Twitter @AnthonyMcIntyre.
Very sad to read. She did great work in that field as those transcripts are a treasure trove for anyone studying the current situation in this country, especially the twists and turns by SF during the Mairia Cahill affair.
ReplyDeleteOn a lighter note, it was her transcript of a Malachi O'Doherty interview in 2017 that led to AM asking me to contribute to the Quill.
Very sorry for this devastating loss, Anthony. RIP Maureen.
ReplyDelete