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Fascinating, I had no idea that there was a reneactment scene for that period (obviously it would be a whole nother can o' worms where I'm from, in the north!!), though I can see how it would happen given how deep an impact those conflicts had on the birth of what is even today a very young State. I imagine this is probably the closest equivalent there is to a WW2 reenactment scene of any size there is in the Republic, bearing in mind of course that the Long Fella declared the Republic officially neutral in the 1939-45 war. Appropriate that these boys should be based in Cork - big Mick's own county. I wonder whether anyone has recreated Dan Breen's Third Tipperary Brigade of the IRA, which in 1919, as the Dail Eireann met for the first time in Dublin, carried out the unofficial attack (planned and executed at local level only) which effectively commenced the 1919-1921 Anglo-Irish War. Interesting character, Breen. His autobiography, which if memory serves was published in the forties or early fifties, is worth a read. Entitled "My Fight for Irish Freedom", it covers his story from his roots through the 1919-21 war, his role on the Anti-Treaty side in the Civil War, and his subsequent disillusionment with violence. He was later extremely impressed with Ghandi and what he achieved for Indian independence through non-violence.
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), but the fact is that there's no longer an appetite for violence in either community, and every small advance, however agonising it is to get it happen, is a step where the politicians will find no real will among the people to go back on. What will take generations upon generations to kill off are the ingrained prejudices passed down in both communities. But we will get there.... when you think of the long history of conflict in Ireland, we've come a long, long way in the last half century.
Originally Posted by dhermann1
