Other Peoples' History: Slavery, Refuge and Irish Citizenship in Donal O Kelly's The Cambria

ISSN： 0144-039X

Source： Slavery & Abolition, Vol.29, Iss.2, 2008-01, pp. : 279-291

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Abstract

The 200th anniversary of the abolition of the slave trade has gone officially unmarked in the Republic of Ireland. Although remaining outside the historical narratives of all political traditions in the state, however, both slavery and anti-slavery had significant impact on the economics of this corner of what was the British Empire. Recently, following four centuries of population haemorrhage, the state has sought to limit the citizenship rights of its new immigrant population. Donal O Kelly's play, The Cambria, is one of the few contemporary responses to the Irish exceptionalist tradition. This article argues that the play seeks to insert one peripheral memory of slavery into a contemporary narrative of Irish republicanism. As an intervention, it presents a challenge to narrowly defined narratives of citizenship. As importantly, it reconsiders the meaning of the social contract within republicanism, and the degree to which history may enable it.