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Andrew Killmer
Dave Madden
Engl 240S
11/17/14
Costello, Peter. The Heart Grown Brutal: The Irish Revolution in Literature,
from Parnell to the Death of Yeats (1891-1939). Dublin: Gill and
Macmillan, 1977. Print.
The Heart Grown Brutal is an extended piece of Irish historical criticism which
argues that the cultural revival made possible the political revolution by creating a
new ideal of Ireland, and that the literature of the revival provides what might almost
be called the secret history of the Irish revolution (xi).
The book begins by examining the way in which Irish culture has mythologized
the revolutionary years, especially the Easter uprising; a statue of Cuchulain (ancient
Irish folk hero of legend) dying in defense of Ireland stands in memorial to the
individuals who rebelled against the British in 1916. From this starting point, along
with some quotations from William Butler Yeats about his influence upon the
revolutionaries, the framework of a symbiotic relationship between the political
revolution and the concurrent revolution of the mind/art or Ireland begins to be
exposed.
The first part of the book deals with the history leading up to the revival.
Chapter one provides a description of the society and literature in 19 th Century Ireland.
The Great Famine (1845) sees a demand for land reform, and the Anglo-Irish Gentry
begins to decline. This is also the century of the first real Irish novel Maria
Edgeworths Castle Rackrent (1800). The literature is realist in nature, concerned with
Gaelic social themes and dilemma, and also the decline of the Big House. Although
many ancient Irish texts survived, Much of the Old Irish was unreadable until 1855,
until Grammatica Celtica is published by Johann Zeuss. From this point, a renewed
interest in reclaiming Old Irish becomes prominent in the literature.

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Chapter three gives the account of how the small secret society of the Irish
Republican Brotherhood (IRB) was formed, and how the plot to revolt was formed. The
book examines how Yeats poetry, which is heavily patriotic, is tied to the ideals and
lionization of the violent uprising. Yeats is shown in the words of both his poetry and
personal communications to have been critical of the violence and suspicious of the
motives behind it. The guilt he felt for the patriotic inspiration towards ultimate death
is examined, as well as the counter-position that poetry did nothing for the cause.
The central part of the argument is that the spirit of revolution continued
beyond 1916 by smoldering in the short stories of writers like Sean OFaolain and
Frank OConnor, among many others. The history then follows the swelling of the IRA
ranks, and the current leading the nation towards civil war. Here is where the book
gets its title the Irish heart grows brutal because it [was] fought by brothers who
hate with the hatred only possible between brothers (193). After the end of the civil
war (1922-1923), public life was different, and the literature saw a revised
romanticism take precedence.
The book talks about writers like Liam OFlaherty, who were actively involved in
the war, and how it later manifested in their art, how living in a state of post-revolution
and disappointment leads to a clear and horrible account in realism, doing away
with the rhetoric and ideals, facing what it means to die at dawn for ones country
(229. The final sections deal with those artists, like Joyce, who exiled themselves, and
how their mode was a realistic romanticism, as well as the continued interest and
pursuit of Old Irish traditions and incorporations of myth in both Irish society and
literature on into the future.
This is an excellent resource for any essay on modern Irish literature, as it
covers an immense amount of information. It makes clear the history, order of events,
catalysts for each event along the way. It references dozens of authors and artists, as
well as political/revolutionary figures, and all entries are indexed. As Irish literature is

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itself concerned with the presence and importance of history upon the present, this is
an essential tool for understanding many modern Irish texts.