landowners, most of them. Thatâs not to say they arenât decent men, they are. I know Cosgrave; I even interviewed him a couple of times.â
âIs he as handsome as Michael Collins was?â
Henry smiled at his wifeâs romantic imagination. âHe has close-set eyes and an egg-shaped head, Capân. Not very dashing, Iâm afraid, but looks arenât everything or you wouldnât have married me.â Before she could protest he went on, âFortunately Cosgrave also has a steely determination, and heâs going to need it.
âFor one thing, he has very few resources to work with. Britain gave the Protestants in the north the lionâs share of industrial development. The rest of Ireland was seen as nothing more than Englandâs larder and deliberately kept ignorant of industrialization. This means the Free State is economically very vulnerable in todayâs world. I donât envy Cosgrave the job of trying to turn things around, but thanks to his temperament heâll probably make a better fist of it than Dev would.â
âEamon de Valera will never accept the Free State,â Ella said.
âDonât be so sure. Devâs a Republican but heâs also a born politician. From what remains of the IRA heâs drawn the nucleus of a new political party to challenge Cumann na nGaedheal. By contrast with Cosgraveâs businessmen and large landowners, Devâs party comprises ordinary working men and women; the plain people of Ireland who won our freedom in the first place. Dev intends to fight for the Republic by using the governmental structures of the Free State he despises. Heâs calling his new party Fianna Fáil. *
âHe may have shot himself in the foot, though. Youâll recall he refused to accept the oath of allegiance to the British crown. That was his main objection to the Treaty; he thought the oath was a more crucial issue than partition. But because the Free State has dominion status all members of the Dáil have to sign the oath. Devâs made it policy for his new party to refuse. He wonât modify his principles for anyone. So even if theyâre elected, members of Fianna Fáil must abstain from taking seats in the Irish Parliament.
âAlthough Cosgrave fought in the Rising most of his cabinet are parliamentary nationalists. They wonât try to take the north back at gunpoint. Theyâll reason with the British, or bargain with them, or just accept whatâs been done even if they donât like it. So my answer to your question isâ¦thereâll be no more war in Ireland. In my considered opinion.â
He chuckled. âSorry Iâm so long-winded, Capân. You should know better than to ask a journalist a question. Letâs just say Iâm cautiously hopeful. War does seem to be the human condition, though. Thank God Europe at least is pacified!â
20 November 1926
IMPERIAL CONFERENCE IN LONDON ANNOUNCES ESTABLISHMENT OF BRITISH COMMONWEALTH OF NATIONS
Commonwealth to include the dominions of Australia, Canada, Irish Free State, Newfoundland, New Zealand, and South Africa. Nonindependent status of India remains unchanged.
Chapter Six
The young woman who left the train at Westland Row wore a snug cloche that covered her bobbed hair. Two years of bleaching with lemon juice and glycerineâa complexion treatment Madame insisted uponâhad faded her freckles to invisibility. Men cast admiring glances at the slim, silk-stockinged legs revealed by her knee-length skirt. Women noticed the continental cut of her lilac-colored spring coat.
Ursula Halloran was a different person from the girl who had left Ireland two years earlier. She had arrived at Surval with the blinkered viewpoint of an island dweller and a full set of prejudices she believed to be truth. In Europe she had encountered other peopleâs prejudices, other peopleâs truths.
âAll human skin,â she had
âIs he as handsome as Michael Collins was?â
Henry smiled at his wifeâs romantic imagination. âHe has close-set eyes and an egg-shaped head, Capân. Not very dashing, Iâm afraid, but looks arenât everything or you wouldnât have married me.â Before she could protest he went on, âFortunately Cosgrave also has a steely determination, and heâs going to need it.
âFor one thing, he has very few resources to work with. Britain gave the Protestants in the north the lionâs share of industrial development. The rest of Ireland was seen as nothing more than Englandâs larder and deliberately kept ignorant of industrialization. This means the Free State is economically very vulnerable in todayâs world. I donât envy Cosgrave the job of trying to turn things around, but thanks to his temperament heâll probably make a better fist of it than Dev would.â
âEamon de Valera will never accept the Free State,â Ella said.
âDonât be so sure. Devâs a Republican but heâs also a born politician. From what remains of the IRA heâs drawn the nucleus of a new political party to challenge Cumann na nGaedheal. By contrast with Cosgraveâs businessmen and large landowners, Devâs party comprises ordinary working men and women; the plain people of Ireland who won our freedom in the first place. Dev intends to fight for the Republic by using the governmental structures of the Free State he despises. Heâs calling his new party Fianna Fáil. *
âHe may have shot himself in the foot, though. Youâll recall he refused to accept the oath of allegiance to the British crown. That was his main objection to the Treaty; he thought the oath was a more crucial issue than partition. But because the Free State has dominion status all members of the Dáil have to sign the oath. Devâs made it policy for his new party to refuse. He wonât modify his principles for anyone. So even if theyâre elected, members of Fianna Fáil must abstain from taking seats in the Irish Parliament.
âAlthough Cosgrave fought in the Rising most of his cabinet are parliamentary nationalists. They wonât try to take the north back at gunpoint. Theyâll reason with the British, or bargain with them, or just accept whatâs been done even if they donât like it. So my answer to your question isâ¦thereâll be no more war in Ireland. In my considered opinion.â
He chuckled. âSorry Iâm so long-winded, Capân. You should know better than to ask a journalist a question. Letâs just say Iâm cautiously hopeful. War does seem to be the human condition, though. Thank God Europe at least is pacified!â
20 November 1926
IMPERIAL CONFERENCE IN LONDON ANNOUNCES ESTABLISHMENT OF BRITISH COMMONWEALTH OF NATIONS
Commonwealth to include the dominions of Australia, Canada, Irish Free State, Newfoundland, New Zealand, and South Africa. Nonindependent status of India remains unchanged.
Chapter Six
The young woman who left the train at Westland Row wore a snug cloche that covered her bobbed hair. Two years of bleaching with lemon juice and glycerineâa complexion treatment Madame insisted uponâhad faded her freckles to invisibility. Men cast admiring glances at the slim, silk-stockinged legs revealed by her knee-length skirt. Women noticed the continental cut of her lilac-colored spring coat.
Ursula Halloran was a different person from the girl who had left Ireland two years earlier. She had arrived at Surval with the blinkered viewpoint of an island dweller and a full set of prejudices she believed to be truth. In Europe she had encountered other peopleâs prejudices, other peopleâs truths.
âAll human skin,â she had
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