Jesse Tumblin

Dear CHP,

Through a series of fortunate connections, I had an incredibly rewarding arrangement in Dublin last summer (2006).  I went on an internship program called EUSA, which uses its contacts to help accepted students find internships in their particular field, and arranges their housing, provides advice, etc.  I would highly recommend this program for other students interested in interning in European cities.

At EUSA I was advised by Dr. Tom Kelley, an American who now lives in Dublin working as a program coordinator.  His Ph.D. is in history from Trinity College, which was perfect as I was hoping to land an internship at Trinity in the history department.  He set me up with Dr. Daithí Ó Corráin and Dr Eunan O’Halpin, both

The Quad at Trinity College in Dublin.

of whom work in Trinity’s Centre for Contemporary Irish Studies.  I was put to work by Daithí doing research for his forthcoming book, The Dead of the Irish Revolution, a chronicle of biographical information about everyone killed in the Irish revolutionary period between 1916 and 1924.  He helped me secure reading permits in the National Library of Ireland and the Irish National Archives, where I read witness statements taken from IRA members by Ireland’s Bureau of Military History in the 1950s.  These witness statements have only been de-classified in the last 5 years, making them the bleeding edge of Irish history.  

Statue of Hibernia in front of the Irish flag. Both sit atop the General Post Office or “GPO,” one of Dublin’s most prominent buildings and the site of a major battle in Ireland’s revolutionary conflict.

After reading firsthand accounts of battles and ambushes, I then cross-referenced them in the National Library with microfilm of local newspapers and relevant local histories.  I was even able to handle and examine some of the memoirs and papers of Ireland’s revolutionary “founding fathers” such as Padraig Pearse and Michael Collins, which was quite incredible.  

While I was kept busy during the week, Daithí was an excellent friend and guide and left me ample time to visit Cork, Galway, Belfast, and London during my visit.  I was also able to see Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest in its home theatre The Gate/Abbey in Dublin, and listen to a lecture from Irish Nobel Laureate for literature Seamus Heaney, with whom I also spoke personally and got a signed copy of his collected works.  Furthermore, I attended a semifinal match of Ireland’s Gaelic Football league with 90,000 other people at Croke Park, which was great fun and culturally enlightening.

Jesse visits the tomb of Richard “Strongbow” de Clare, the Earl of Pembroke and Cambro-Norman conqueror at the Christchurch Cathedral in Dublin.

Overall my experience was incredibly rich, and I learned much about my field and about Irish culture.  The research I did gave me the idea for my thesis as well.  All of the men questioned by the IBMH were asked certain questions about their past in order to discern how they came to be involved in the conflict, and many responded that they were inducted as members of the Irish Republican Brotherhood, a secret society that was responsible for directing subversive acts from behind the scenes for decades leading up to Ireland’s independence.  

Jesse views a beautiful valley in County Kerry .

For my thesis, I hope to examine the role of the IRB in creating Irish revolutionaries, and perhaps in directing certain events.  Obviously much more specificity will come, and my return to Ireland this spring will give me a chance to do follow-up research in the exciting and wonderfully rich research environment I became familiar with last summer.  I am hoping my thesis will prepare me and be valuable to my goal of going to graduate school and studying for a Ph.D. in Irish/British history.  

            - Jesse