Monumental landscapes: Riding the boundaries of an independent Ireland with the early Sinn Féin movement

Abstract

The interest of early Sinn Féin militants in the built environment and the physical and political geography of the island of Ireland has been well established (Ó Lúing, 1953 and Davis, 1974). Arthur Griffith, chief propagandist and only occasionally disputed leader of Sinn Féin, placed enormous faith in Sir Robert Kane’s 1844 survey of the industrial resources of the country with its promise of coal and copper and its favourable assessment of Ireland’s transport network (Kane, 1844). The canal, rail and road networks were also of particular interest for the Sinn Féiners who took Friedrich List’s Das Nationale System der Politischen Ökonomie (List, 1841)1 as their bible and for whom wresting this important infrastructure out of British hands was vital. Plans for reafforestation and land reclamation loom large in the Sinn Féin Policy (Griffith, 1907) and Leabhar na hÉireann (Griffith, 1908 and 1909). It is a commonplace that control of the land of Ireland and a clear understanding of its potential was crucial if Griffith’s vision of a modern industrial country was to become a reality.