Peadar O'Donnell, an O'Duffy nemesis, with his socialist perspective always fitted into the republican worldview much more readily than O'Duffy and the fascism he has come to be remembered for. His role as founder and leader of the Blueshirt movement at a time when Hitler, Mussolini and Franco were strutting the stage with whip in hand overshadowed his role in the IRA during the War of Independence, his leadership of the Treaty Army and his eleven year stint as Commissioner of An Garda Siochana. Add to that his centrality to the military leadership of the Treaty forces alongside Michael Collins and Richard Mulcahy helped solidify his frame in a republican constructed rogue's gallery.
A crucial figure in republican history he has for the most part become a one dimensional bogeyman. A statue to him would be viewed as valuable by republicans only for drawing bird droppings. His leadership of the Blueshirts perhaps best explains why Colins managed to avoid the opprobrium and invective hurled O'Duffy's way. His fascism ensured he would remain a deeply divisive figure, making a large target on his back for critics.
If unable to erase him the tendency has never been to assess his contribution to the struggle for Irish freedom but to ignore it. And when that does not prove possible he is simply lambasted, often depicted as a clown in the manner of the incompetent but dangerous Mussolini. Unlike Sean Russell who had a fraternal relationship with Nazi Germany no republican mitigation is afforded O'Duffy.
Hailing from that very same stable where O'Duffy was persona non grata, I was faintly amused when a friend invited me to a play based on his character. While not declining outright there was little enthusiasm on my part. After being told I would like it I opted to go more out of courtesy than interest, so made my way by bus yesterday evening to Castleblaney. By the time the cast left the stage having performed O’Duffy Abú, my courtesy had given way to unbridled satisfaction. Where the politics failed to please me the performances did.
The play was nothing short of stunning. Put on by Castleblaney Players in the splendour of the Iontas theatre, it is a wonderfully crafted and acted piece of work. So much history crammed into so little time, the production is a tribute to the craftmanship of the late Aidan McQuillan who drafted but never completed the work and Brian Kenny who picked up the baton and fashioned it into a lightsaber, fuelled by the legendary power associated with that weapon.
In a reversal of the republican order of things, O'Duffy's emergence on the national stage, first as a military chief of staff and then as Garda Commissioner in the play is not eclipsed by his siding with Franco in the Spanish civil war. He is treated as sad rather than bad, his political odyssey eventually declining into alcoholism and loneliness. His passion for the GAA is accentuated along with his love of the Catholic religion and his abhorrence of godless communism, which he claimed motivated his participation in the Spanish civil war. Despite the sympathetic portrayal the writers did not allow him to escape the sneer that he spent much of his time in Spain in pubs and restaurants far from the front.
In a reversal of the republican order of things, O'Duffy's emergence on the national stage, first as a military chief of staff and then as Garda Commissioner in the play is not eclipsed by his siding with Franco in the Spanish civil war. He is treated as sad rather than bad, his political odyssey eventually declining into alcoholism and loneliness. His passion for the GAA is accentuated along with his love of the Catholic religion and his abhorrence of godless communism, which he claimed motivated his participation in the Spanish civil war. Despite the sympathetic portrayal the writers did not allow him to escape the sneer that he spent much of his time in Spain in pubs and restaurants far from the front.
Not normally a theatre goer, memories of this visit to Castleblaney's Iontas Theatre will remain with me for some time to come. About ninety minutes long O’Duffy Abú is so absorbing that it seemed more like fifteen. The evening just vanished.
Castleblaney in County Monaghan was O'Duffy's stomping ground and probably drew an interested rather than a sympathetic audience to the packed theatre that might not have been replicated in another part of the country. If so, that would be regrettable. O’Duffy Abú is quality stuff which deserves a much wider audience than Monaghan. It won't send theatregoers rushing off to Penneys in search of a blue shirt, but it will give them an appreciation of there being more colour than one in this excellent production by Castleblaney Players.
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