Tilly Crocket

An American In Dublin

Dr Henrietta Modi an American doctor was working in the Emergency Room at Sir Patrick Dunn’s Hospital in Dublin, Ireland in 1916. She witnesses the 1916 Rising of the Irish Volunteers against the British colonists. Vast tracks of Irish land had been divided among the English and the Border Scots. British landlords had replaced Irish chieftains. The British in Ireland became known as Unionists. Those in the south and east gradually assimilated with the native Irish. The colonists from the Borders became known as the Ulster Unionists. They occupied the north of Ireland but never became a part of Ireland. Home Rule for Ireland was opposed by the Ulster Unionists. Repeated attempts to get the British out of Ireland had failed. Romance blossoms when Henrietta meets Dr James Hogarth an Irish Volunteer. Henrietta becomes involved in the fight for Irish independence. She has an unlikely ally in George Bernard Shaw, a reluctant but able Nationalist. He like all Nationalists wanted an independent Ireland. GBS talks to Edward Carson the Ulster Unionist leader, as one Dubliner to another. GBS thinks that all brands of nationalism and unionism must be accommodated on the island of Ireland. Edward Carson agrees but wants no truck with Home Rule. GBS stares at Carson as he wryly observes. “As a Dubliner you must see that Ireland is a nation distinct from Britain. We must rule the island of Ireland according to our own interests and ambitions. To deny our independence after the Easter Rising of 1916, would be folly. Rebellion will recur and lead to destruction of the social, economic and cultural life of the whole country from which it might never recover”.