REPUBLICANS SHOULD WEAR THE GAELIC KILT
Republicans should wear the Gaelic kilt
EARLY on Easter Sunday, 1916 in Liberty Hall, Dublin, printer Christopher Brady carried out his commission of printing the document that would proclaim the Irish Republic.
The Proclamation had been composed mainly by Patrick Pearse and had been approved by the Military Council of the Irish Republican Brotherhood.
Pearse was among the many men in Dublin who wore a Gaelic Kilt, which differed from the familiar Scots Kilts by being plain saffron or green in colour. The kilt would sometimes be saffron and the brath green, fastened to the shoulder of the jacket with a Tara brooch of silver or copper.
Others who wore it included Pearse's brother Willie, who was a sculptor, and Thomas MacDonagh, who wrote poetry and later taught in the National University. All three were executed in 1916 as leaders of the Easter Rising and signers of the Proclamation. As real Republicans prepare to commemorate the Easter Rising, perhaps Councillor Francis Mackey will don a Gaelic Kilt for the occasion. Councillor Mackey, Chairman of the 32 County Sovereignty Movement, will be a keynote speaker at the Mass Rally in Dublin on Easter Sunday. Condemnation of the Omagh bombing will not form part of his address.
Much more likely is a diatribe about the right of the people of Ireland as a whole to self-determination. About the denial of that right being achieved by Britain's superior military capability, and about the Irish people having a duty to oppose by force of arms such subjugation.
As for there being no mandate for the use of arms, Councillor Mackey would contend that the mandate comes not from the people, but from the justice of the cause. In his view, the fact that an overwhelming majority in both Northern Ireland and the Republic voted in favour of the Good Friday Agreement is neither here nor there. They had no right to do so.
In every generation for centuries, real Republicans argue, there have been courageous men and women prepared to risk their lives in the cause of Irish freedom, through force of arms. Their sacrifice is all the more glorious when undertaken in the face of misled popular antagonism to the cause. In support of that specious argument, Councillor Mackey may quote the words of Pearse, who wrote in his pamphlet The Coming Revolution: "Bloodshed is a cleansing and sanctifying thing, and the nation which regards it as the final horror has lost its manhood."
Patrick Pearse was a political fanatic and the Easter Rising was a military failure. Political fanaticism and physical force are no more likely to unite the people of this island in 2001 than they were in 1916.
Given that the Gaelic Kilt was once the most becoming of all forms of dress for men, making him look both romantic and virile, perhaps Councillor Mackey will effect a makeover forthwith. Who knows, it might even temper his fanaticism.
29 people died (31 with the unborn twins included) and more than 200 were injured in the Omagh bombing. Rabble-rousing speeches in Dublin by those who refuse to condemn the atrocity is an appalling prospect. That one of their number remains a councillor in Omagh is even more outrageous.
T S Birrell
EARLY on Easter Sunday, 1916 in Liberty Hall, Dublin, printer Christopher Brady carried out his commission of printing the document that would proclaim the Irish Republic.
The Proclamation had been composed mainly by Patrick Pearse and had been approved by the Military Council of the Irish Republican Brotherhood.
Pearse was among the many men in Dublin who wore a Gaelic Kilt, which differed from the familiar Scots Kilts by being plain saffron or green in colour. The kilt would sometimes be saffron and the brath green, fastened to the shoulder of the jacket with a Tara brooch of silver or copper.
Others who wore it included Pearse's brother Willie, who was a sculptor, and Thomas MacDonagh, who wrote poetry and later taught in the National University. All three were executed in 1916 as leaders of the Easter Rising and signers of the Proclamation. As real Republicans prepare to commemorate the Easter Rising, perhaps Councillor Francis Mackey will don a Gaelic Kilt for the occasion. Councillor Mackey, Chairman of the 32 County Sovereignty Movement, will be a keynote speaker at the Mass Rally in Dublin on Easter Sunday. Condemnation of the Omagh bombing will not form part of his address.
Much more likely is a diatribe about the right of the people of Ireland as a whole to self-determination. About the denial of that right being achieved by Britain's superior military capability, and about the Irish people having a duty to oppose by force of arms such subjugation.
As for there being no mandate for the use of arms, Councillor Mackey would contend that the mandate comes not from the people, but from the justice of the cause. In his view, the fact that an overwhelming majority in both Northern Ireland and the Republic voted in favour of the Good Friday Agreement is neither here nor there. They had no right to do so.
In every generation for centuries, real Republicans argue, there have been courageous men and women prepared to risk their lives in the cause of Irish freedom, through force of arms. Their sacrifice is all the more glorious when undertaken in the face of misled popular antagonism to the cause. In support of that specious argument, Councillor Mackey may quote the words of Pearse, who wrote in his pamphlet The Coming Revolution: "Bloodshed is a cleansing and sanctifying thing, and the nation which regards it as the final horror has lost its manhood."
Patrick Pearse was a political fanatic and the Easter Rising was a military failure. Political fanaticism and physical force are no more likely to unite the people of this island in 2001 than they were in 1916.
Given that the Gaelic Kilt was once the most becoming of all forms of dress for men, making him look both romantic and virile, perhaps Councillor Mackey will effect a makeover forthwith. Who knows, it might even temper his fanaticism.
29 people died (31 with the unborn twins included) and more than 200 were injured in the Omagh bombing. Rabble-rousing speeches in Dublin by those who refuse to condemn the atrocity is an appalling prospect. That one of their number remains a councillor in Omagh is even more outrageous.
T S Birrell
Further Information
Publisher: ULSTER HERALD
Ref: UH/0754
Published Date: 05-Apr-01
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