Ireland's New Traditionalists

Book excerpt: Ireland's New Traditionalists explores the efforts by Fianna Fáil in the years 1926-1938 to construct a nationalist aesthetic rooted in idealised representations of masculinity and femininity, as evident in the party's electoral ephemerae, newspapers, speeches, and film. Moreover, the book situates Fianna Fáil within the context of interwar Europe, noting especially how the party was able to navigate the anxieties and complexities of this fraught period. These efforts did much to contribute to the party's electoral successes in the 1930s that climaxed with the declaration of an independent Éire.