Irish Roots

I’m Irish on both sides.  My mother’s family trace back to County Cork (Republic of Ireland) and my father’s back to County Armagh (Northern Ireland). Somehow they got together… Figure that out. As a result, all my life, Ireland and the Irish have been prominent. I love my Irish ancestry and culture, maybe my desire to write and tell stories comes from kissing the Blarney Stone! Who knows.

Most of us, Irish or not, are familiar with the North / South, Catholic / Protestant struggle that has gone on in country for years. Going back to the early 1900’s saw the Irish War of Independence which brought about the establishment of the Irish Free State later Republic in 1920 – and the end of British rule in most of Ireland.

This conflict has been going on for a very long time. If you go in reverse order, you would possibly start with The Troubles (1960’s – 1990’s), then move to the Irish Civil War (1920’s to 1960), the Irish War of Independence (early 1920’s) and so on, all the way back to Henry II, a Pom, who invaded Ireland in 1171 fully supported by the Catholic church! “What?” I hear you ask! The Catholic church and the English monarchy in cahoots, surely not. Well, surely yes. Hank wanted land and the Bishop’s wanted their form of Catholicism, not the Paddy one. Oh! And also taxes, the church saw an opportunity for taxes. It’s always about the money.

But back to today. I recently read a book called “Say Nothing” by Parick Radden Keefe.  The book offers a history of the Troubles as a whole: the civil rights movement, the turn to violence at the end of the 1960s, the Provisional IRA's bombing campaign, hunger strikes, peace attempts and the post-conflict struggle to understand crimes of the past.  

An insightful and important read, it got me thinking.

What if a resurgent IRA emerged that wanted to see a united Ireland and an end to British rule in Northern Ireland, a new IRA vowing to continue the armed struggle until those aims are achieved. Well, there’s no “If” about it. The New IRA exists and their aims are exactly that - a united Ireland and an end to British rule in Northern Ireland.

Hmmm. Could be a novel in that?

P.D.Mc Shane Author