Culture That Made Me: Don O’Leary picks war tales, Horslips and Janet Jackson
Don O’Leary, Director of Cork Life Centre, at the recent presentation of a civic award for his outstanding contribution to education in Cork City. Picture: Darragh Kane
Don O’Leary, 64, grew up in Ballyphehane, Cork. He was elected to Cork City Council for Sinn Féin in 1999, and has been Director of the Cork Life Centre for 16 years. The centre offers an alternative learning environment to marginalised young people. In the 1980s, he served three years in Portlaoise Prison for IRA membership. In 2021, Don was awarded an honorary doctorate by UCC for services to the community and education.
I’ve always loved Irish folklore books: Cú Chulainn, the Red Branch Knights, that kind of stuff. I had a particular fascination with the stories because they are Irish. That type of story always makes me think of Jim FitzPatrick’s drawings, who is known of course for painting Che Guevara and Phil Lynott. His paintings have an aura. They’re very colourful. His Celtic art is like something from the Book of Kells, with all its swirls and distinctive designs. If you look at his painting of Queen Maeve, it could be the Blessed Virgin. It’s so stylised. Or the famous Cú Chulainn one. They’re fabulous. Your imagination can run wild with them.
The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien is a favourite book of mine. Some people might be dismissive of it, as fantasy, but it’s very good at explaining the world and how the world is divided, and how we see one another and how wars start and how we like to think good conquers evil (but I'm not so sure about that, actually).
I love history books. Any of Antony Beevor’s books, I will read again and again. The victors always write the history in relation to a war. It’s only later, you get the views of others. I love his D-Day book. Now we’re seeing wars in real time. You pick up your phone and you can see, for example, what's going on in the Ukraine this minute.
But when you look back at the Second World War and the build-up to its battles and invasions, it was totally different. With D-Day, for example, they brought troops from America. The idea that the Allies put carbon cut-out trucks and tanks up around Scotland to try and make the Germans believe that they were up there and they weren't going near the southern coast of England... the diversionary tactics were extraordinary.
If you look at who won the Second World War, it was the Russian people. There were millions slaughtered. They just kept coming and kept coming. All of Hitler’s associates left as quickly as they could from his bunker. Like rats leaving a sinking ship. The moment when the red flag was placed on top of the Reichstag signalled the end – that the Allies had been victorious.
This is probably coming from leftfield, but I really enjoyed the new Janet Jackson documentary. It’s not warts and all, but you can see how tough an upbringing the Jackson family had and how controlling it was. Despite all their money, you’d have to feel sorry for Janet and her brothers. They don’t have any real life. They seem so miserable. She married twice early on. The only reason she was marrying was to get away from her dad. He was their manager. He went everywhere. You couldn’t say that it’s a happy ending when you see how they turned out. It’s sad.
The Burning of Cork by Gerry White and Bernard O’Shea is an extraordinary read. It takes the view of everyone affected, from soldiers to survivors. It’s very much the story of how it happened. For weeks leading up to it, there had been pointers that there was something big going to take place because of how the Irish War of Independence was going. I would say to Cork people that the book is a good starter to understanding the war in their locality.
Winter on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom is a very good documentary on Netflix. It's about the first Ukrainian revolution in 2014 when they wanted to change; the robbed election; the taking over of the square; how they were treated; the deaths; and the beginnings of Ukrainian democracy. It gives you background on how long the Ukrainians have actually been fighting and what’s happening at the moment in good detail.
A film that I return to – I've seen it more than once – is The Battle of Algiers. It’s about the French being removed from Algeria. The conflict started very small. It’s about a bigger country deciding its people were more educated than a country in Africa and it was going to take it over, which France did. They made a colony of French people in its towns. The Algerians had to resort to guerrilla war. They drove the French out. There was horrific massacres, but you see how it started. You see the French crumbling over time. It's about a nation regaining its freedom.
A standout album for me as a teenager was The Táin by Horslips. It’s historical. It tells you the story of the mythical Cú Chulainn and Maeve. It’s about that collection of folklore stories and it brings it to its conclusion, including Maeve’s lament on it. The story is told in song. The music on the album is absolutely fabulous. I still listen to it.
I'm very fortunate I've seen Buster Bloodvessel and Bad Manners live in Dublin. The man has practically had heart attacks on stage, prancing and jumping around. They're amazing. They have huge energy. The lyrics of the songs can be quite mad sometimes. They’re the only band that I know who did a love song to a bottle of beer.
I will listen to anything really, although there are two artists I won’t listen to: Sir Bob and U2. I like Rod Stewart. I’ve seen him live. I’ve liked him since I was a teenager and he’s still going. He’s had huge hits all the way along. I like his voice. There's a kind of a joy about him.
