Despite, or perhaps because of, the vast number of witness statements and numerous texts, we will never know the true details of important events that happened in Ireland during the 1916 Uprising, its War of Independence, the 1921 Treaty talks, and the Civil War. Some events have been either ignored or given minimal prominence whilst basic facts have been stated as gospel truth even though they are contradictory.
In view of the difficulty in assessing which facts are exaggeration, true, accurate, or misleading, this book of historical fiction speculates on some of the personnel - their beliefs and personal strengths and frailties. For example, James Connolly;Joseph Plunkett;Patrick Pearse;Michael Collins;Kevin Barry;Churchill;Edward Carson;Herbert Asquith;David Lloyd George;Grace Plunkett;Clare Sheridan;Francis Sheehy Skeffington;John Bowen-Colthurst;Rory O'Connor.
Sir Alfred Cope was an Assistant Under Secretary of State in Dublin, 1920-22. He was an agent in the truce and Treaty discussions; a 'firm believer in self -government for Ireland.'
Responding to a request from the Irish Bureau of History for a statement, he wrote ''I regard the period ... to be the most discreditable of your country's history - it is preferable to forget it; to let sleeping dogs lie. It is not possible for this history to be truthful ... ' He predicted that the I.R.A. would be 'shown as national heroes and the British Forces as brutal oppressors. Accordingly, the Truce and Treaty will have been brought about by the defeat of the British by the valour of small and ill-equipped groups of irregulars. And so on. What a travesty it will be and must be. Read by future generations of Irish children, it will simply perpetuate the long-standing hatred of England '
A cynic might suggest that if Sir Alfred had produced a 'Witness Statement' his in-born honesty would have required him to document uncomfortable facts concerning British strategies and conduct, especially those of Lloyd George. Hence, perhaps, his decision not to provide a Statement.
Ireland certainly deserves a rest, but Irish (and British) children have the right to consider all aspects and opinions of their history. This book is an attempt to address Sir Alfred Cope's concerns.
