I just saw the movie (about the Irish war of independence). All in all, a pretty good flick. I have a few questions for our Irish friends:
-Eamon DeValera comes a cross as a pretty devious character-did he (DeValera) really use Collins as a dupe?
-The British forces (Black and Tans) came across as extremely brutal-did they really fire machine guns into the crowd at the football game?
-Collins was portrayed as supremely honest and dedicated-is it true that he ended his life a broken man?
Anyway, what was Ireland like from 1923-1960? What was the country so conservative?
I DO recommend this film!
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Yes. DeValera knew the “Free State” agreement would be terribly unpopular with the Irish people. Rather than take the fall himself, he sent Michael Collins.
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Yes, the black and tans were that brutal. They were mostly soldiers left over from WWI. The British always thought that the Irish were as “subhuman” as the Zulu.
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Yes, he was assassinated.
Why was the country so conservative? Well, for one I think most Western countries were far more conservative back then. It wasn’t like it was “cool” to be a pregnant teenager in the USA either. Two, the Roman Catholic Church had a huge influence in Ireland. Hell, divorce was only made legal in Ireland back in the 1990s.