JOURNAL OF THE IRISH LABOUR HISTORY SOCIETY

56medical profession and the bishops has not been seriouslychallenged and the account recorded here standsas the most authoritative available. His career testifiesthat it is possible to challenge the domination of theHierarchy in Ireland and politically survive with outstandingsuccess.Despite the extreme difficulty of accommodatingBrowne in any political party his election performancesafter 1951 .wereby any.standard quite extraordinary.During that time he has been consistent and courageousin upholding public as against private vested interestsand he remained faithful to his principle of finding thecash means between patient and doctor indefensible.The labour movement especially has lessons to learnfrom the Mother and Child Scheme controversy. Thetwo parties of the Left, Labour and Clann na Poblachtaemerged from the crisis badly, the latter Party beingalmost wiped out of the subsequent election. The essentialpolitical issile was the undermining of the sovereigntyof the Dill by the Hierarchy. All the Dail partiesat the time failed in this respect but the Labour Partymissed an historic opportunity to assert itself as thedefender of that sovereignty. Brownemade a stand andhis political stature rose immeasurably and remainshigh.Joe DeasyAlvah Bessie and Albert Prago (eds), Our Fight -Writings by Veterans ofthe Abraham Lincoln Brigade,Spain, 1936-1939, (Monthly Review Press withthe Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, NewYork, 1987), pp. 360, $10Carl Geiser, Pr~oners of the Good Fight - the SpanishCiviLWar, 1936-1939, (Lawrence Hill and Company,Westport, Connecticut, 1986), pp. 298, $12.95Joe Monks, With the Reds in Andalusia, (JohnCornford Poetry Group, London, 1985), pp. 52, £3.95Eoghan 6 Duinnin, La Niiia Bonlta agus an Roisin. Dubh - Culmhni Clnn ar Chogadh Cathartha riaSpalnne, (Clochomhar Tta, Baile Atha Cliath, 1986),pp. 124, £3.00Joseph Donnelly, Charlie Donnelly - The Life andPoems, (Dedalus Press, Dublin, 1987), pp. 93, £4.50Maurice Levine, Cheetham to Cordova - a ManchesterMan of the Thirties, (Neil Richardson, Manchester,1984), pp. 54,£1.75James Yates, Mississippi to Madrid - Memoirs of aBlack American in the Spanish Civil War, (ShamalBooks, New York, 1986), pp. 221, $10Michael O'Riordan, Kolonna Konnolli, (IsdatelstvoPoliticheskoi Literaturi, Moscow, 1987), pp. 254, 80kopeksMax Parker, Al Tocar Diana - Songs from a FrancoPrison - a Reminiscence In Song and Prose, (PolkwaysRecords, New York, 1982), LP record and booklet,pp. 72, $10 .SAOTHAR 13The fiftieth anniversary of the first anti-fascist warthat raged in Spain from 1936 to 1939 has stimulatedrenewed interest in previously published accounts ofthat struggle as well as leading to the publication ofmany new ones. The Connolly Column by Michael0' Riordan remains the standard and most comprehensiveaccount of the 145 Irishmen who fought for theSpanish Republic.! Now as Kolonna Konnolli it hasbeen published in Russian translation, with 60,000copies being distributed throughout the USSR. Someappendices have Deen dropped for this edition, mainlythe reprint of Connolly' s own articles on insurrectionarywarfare and International Brigader Donie 0 'Reilly' syouthful recollections of the 1916 Rising. But theauthor has added some further appendices which aremore informative for the Soviet reader, including oneon Lenin's views on that Rising and another on the draftIrish-Soviet Treaty of 1920.A Russian-language account of the Irish anti-fascistfighters in Spain is indeed a landmark. In view ofthe fact that their leader Prank Ryan was such an ardentGaeilgeoir, an Irish language account is also particularlyappropriate. This need has now been met byEoghan 0 Duinnm with LaNifla Bonita agus an RoisfnDubh. I mbrollach don leabhar ceanna scriobhann EilfsNi Riain go gcuirfeadh se gliondar ar a dearthair,Proinnsias 6 Riain, da mbeadh se boo fos, go bhfuil aleitheid de chuntas ar fail faoi dheireadh, go mormhorle linn comoradh caoga bliain an chogaidh chCanna.Cuimhni cinn pearsanta ata sa leabhar seo agus dabhri sin roghnaionn an t-udar ce hiad na h-Eireannaigha bill sa Bhriogaid Idirnaisiunta gur mian leis a luadhagus re eile nach luaitear in aon chor. Ta iliomadtagairti ann ar nd6igh do laoch faoi leith aige, anRianach fein, agus ni sa Spainne ambain. Ceann de namireanna is suntaisi sa leabhar seo is ea an cur sios athugann an Duinnmeach duinn ar an eite chle i mBaileAtha Cliath le linn na dtriochaidi agus tabhacht anRianaigh mar ceannaire ag an gComhdhail Phoblachtach.Dob'~ an eite chle ceanna d'imigh na h6g1aighEireannacha chun na Spainne, chun an Phoblacht thalla chosaint. Ni hamhain go raibh an Stlit soo againneagus an Eaglais Chaitliceach inan-aghaidh, bill tromlachdaonra na tire fresin agus, nios measa fos, go minic adteaghlaigh fein. Agus an sceal amhlaidh, caithfearaontu gan dabht ar bith le raiteas an udair fein gur'ghniomh dushlanach ag na h-Eireannaigh e an cinneadha rinne siad ar neamh chead do thuairimi nacoitiantachta'. Ni sceallan de ghruaim ata sa leabharseo afach. A mhalairt ata ann, mar ta greann garbh an·udair le feiceail fiu amhain i gcuntas aige ar thrag6idphearsanta. Goineadh Eoghan 6 Duinnm le linn anionsal trasna an Ebro i 1938 agus b'eigean do nadochttiiri cos leis a theascadh ar fad da bharr. Ach se ansuimiu a dheanann se ar an gcailliuint sinna:- 'Peadaima ni, le firinne, go bhfuil cos liom san uaigh'!