In an interview on The Narrative of Irish History

Your next book is Political Writings and Speeches by Patrick Pearse.

He has long been a hero of mine. He was one of the greatest orators of his time, a teacher who spoke many languages and bravely led the 1916 Easter rebellion of which Yeats wrote ‘A terrible beauty is born’. Both he and his brother were executed later. When I was young I was in a way in love with his story and deeply moved by his fate. His speech at the grave of O’Donovan Rossa is quoted as one of the greatest rallying cries in history. O’Donovan Rossa was a founding member of the Irish Republican Brotherhood, popularly known as the Fenians. He died in New York aged 84 and his body was brought back for burial in Ireland. Patrick Pearse made the graveside oration. There is this wonderful ringing line:

‘They think that they have pacified Ireland. They think that they have purchased half of us and intimidated the other half. They think that they have foreseen everything, think that they have provided against everything; but the fools, the fools, the fools! – they have left us our Fenian dead, and while Ireland holds these graves, Ireland unfree shall never be at peace.’

Much of Pearse’s political writing is a spiritual and moral call to arms. In this book, which contains many wonderful speeches, the theme of chivalry is crucial – Irish boys are seen as knights, ‘strong of limb, true and pure in tongue and heart’. One of his most devastating lines – in my opinion in literature – is: ‘There is only one way to appease a ghost, you must do the thing it asks for.’ That is an astonishing line. In my book I compare this task to that of Hamlet, the power of ghosts. Until you understand that aspect of the Irish narrative you won’t fully understand Ireland. The power of the past and of a heroic legacy has dangerous aspects. As I said about Ed’s book, we must be careful in our exploitation of the romantic dream of patriotism