Madam, - On reading Andreas Ó Searcaigh's letter of September 26, with its reference to Francis Ledwidge, my mind was drawn to another Irish poet and patriot, the journalist, professor, barrister and former MP for East Tyrone, Tom Kettle.
In August 1914, when on a arms procurement mission for the Irish Volunteers in France and Belgium, he was horrified by what he described as "Prussian militarism and German atrocities". The former champion of the 1913 lockout workers saw the Great War as one of "civilisation against barbarians." He joined the British army, commissioned into an Irish regiment, his beloved Royal Dublin Fusiliers.
His fury at the 1916 Easter Rising was based on his belief that the timing of the rebellion shattered his dream "that to become deeply Irish she [Ireland] must become European." However, the hateful executions of the leaders of Easter week filled him with horror and left him bereft. He correctly prophesied that the rebels would become Irish heroes, while those who had fought "for the freedom of small nations" would be seen as traitors.
But perhaps the most telling and profound answer to the question "why" is to be found in the poem written to his infant daughter Betty. His electric words are worth repeating:
Know that we fools, now with
the foolish dead,
Died not for flag, nor King, nor
Emperor,
But for a dream, born in a
herdsman's shed,
And for the secret Scripture
of the poor.
Like Andreas Ó Searcaigh, I too am happy to speak Gaeilge. I too am always happy to honour the memory of men who fought for my freedom and I also see no reason to differentiate their uniforms.- Yours, etc,
PAUDY McCAUGHEY,
Meadow Close,
Churchtown,
Dublin 16.