A different view of history
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IN this era of fake news, conspiracies and cover-ups, Paddy Cullivan of Callan’s Kicks and Late, Late Show fame invites audiences to question longheld beliefs about what really happened in 1916, the War of Independence and the Civil War in his one man show ‘ The 10 Dark Secrets of the Irish Revolution’.
Originally devised as part of the events marking the Centenary of the 1916 Rising, the show sees Paddy asking some awkward questions about sacred cows of Irish history.
‘ The 10 Dark Secrets of the Irish Revolution’ takes a unique view of the events which led to the formation of the State, as Paddy ponders how we look back at history.
The term multi-talented could have been invented for Paddy, a NCAD graduate who has made his name as a comic writer, a performing comedian and satirist, opinion columnist, host and TV contributor, as well as being lead singer with The Late, Late Show House Band - the Camembert Quartet.
Paddy reached the Semi-Finals of the UK Musical Comedy Awards 2013 and has performed his unique multimedia ‘Economic Comedy’ Act all over Ireland, the UK and recently in New York for two sell-out shows with economist David McWilliams.
His interest in politics and current affairs informs much of work and he says he came up with the idea for the 10 Dark Secrets when he was ‘ looking back at the remarkable reign of Michael Collins following the Treaty.
‘In effect, he ran the Free State single-handedly for a period. He was President of the Provisional Government, Commander in Chief of the Free State Army and Minister for Finance all at the one time. He ran the show. But it was clear that internally there was a vicious power struggle going on and Collins lost two of those posts in the months before he died at Béal na Bláth,’ says Paddy.
In an interview with the Sunday Independent he mused: ‘And so I have to ask did this internal power struggle, and the fact that Collins was secretly in correspondence with the IRA and probably in Cork to make peace with his natural ally De Valera, contribute to his death? Some will call it conspiracy theory but it made no sense for Collins to be where he was that day, 30 men went in, 29 walked out of there and Collins was the only one killed, doesn’t that seem odd?’
He also points out that the car in which General Collins was travelling that fateful day was shipped out of Ireland within weeks of his murder.
Paddy casts his eye on other key events of 20th century Irish history, asking questions which don’t appear in the standard history books.
He points out that William E. Wylie, the lawyer who prosecuted the 1916 Leaders, sentencing them to death, went on to hold a high post in the newly formed Free State. And he asks why 280,000 women were denied a vote in the vital Treaty Election of 1922.
He also draws parallels with those events’ effects on modern Ireland, drawing out the fundamental changes that need to happen, no matter what Government we end up with.
Paddy brings this highly acclaimed audio-visual show to the Studio Theatre, An Tain Arts Centre on Friday March 30th at 8pm.
Tickets, priced €15 and €12, available at the Box Office, An Tain Arts Centre, phone 9329281 or online at www. antain.ie