The Young Rebels by Morgan Llywelyn

bird about to take wing. In fact she has taken wing. She is no longer living at the Hermitage, but has rented a little house in the village of Rathfarnham. I don’t know if it was her idea or not. I suspect the family finally found her too difficult to live with and suggested she would be happier elsewhere.
    But I secretly agree with Mary Brigid about herbrother’s speech. When you hear something as grand as that, it’s easy to be swept away.
    Maybe when I grow up I shall be an orator.
    Roger returns to school for the autumn term with the other students. He is still moody, not like his old self at all.
    At St Enda’s we are taught to pay attention to every living thing and try to understand how others feel. I’ve never done that before, but now I cannot help doing it. I suspect Roger is torn between loyalty to his brothers, which includes the cause they serve, and a growing feeling of loyalty to the land of his birth. I’m glad I don’t have that problem.
    In September twelve hundred Irish Volunteers march openly through Dublin carrying Howth rifles. That same month, the women of Cumann na mBan stage their first parade in their new uniforms. Meanwhile the companies of the Fianna are drilling like veterans all around the city. The Irish Girl Guides are drilling too, just like Cumann na mBan and the Citizen Army. It’s very exciting, so many ordinary men and women, boys and girls, all of us saying to the King of England, ‘We don’t want to fight in your war. We want our own country back.’
    But will he listen? I don’t think so. He is too busy quarrelling with his cousins. I read in the newspapers that Czar Nicholas has now taken personal commandof the Russian army. I wonder if King George will do the same. Those two sovereigns should meet one another on the battlefield and have a battle of champions , just the two of them, the way it was done in Ireland at the time of the Fianna. Then no one else – like Roger’s brother – would have to die. And when it is over they can exchange gifts and be friends again, as Roger and I did.
    It seems very simple to me. It’s the adults who make things complicated.
    My friend Roger never misses a drill. Sometimes he seems to enjoy them. Other times one can see his heart isn’t in it. He still thinks he’s supposed to be British. If we really do have an uprising, I wonder how many other people in Ireland will feel the way he does?
    It takes a lot of courage to break free. Many Irish people don’t seem to care if they are dominated by a foreign power. My father’s like that. The British government employs him so he’s content to have them here. He simply passes the domination on to anyone who’s weaker than he is.
    Being at St Enda’s has given me a chance to look at things in a whole new way. After the uprising, when Ireland is free, maybe there will be schools like this all over the country, and our people can learn what an ancient and glorious heritage we have. Then they willbe proud to be Irish instead of trying to be English.
    Maybe I’ll be a teacher in one of those schools.
    After O’Donovan Rossa’s funeral Mr Pearse is called away to more meetings than ever. There is more marching, too, by both the Volunteers and the Citizen Army. I wonder why they don’t join up and do everything together?
    I’ll ask Willie. He has become like the big brother I wish I had. I guess I feel about him the way he feels about the Ardmháistir.
    My question makes him laugh. ‘You have a good head on you, John Joe, but it’s the old Irish story. Rivalry instead of cooperation. The leaders of the Volunteers are intellectuals like my brother and Tom MacDonagh and Joe Plunkett. The Citizen Army was created by the leaders of the labour unions and is mainly working class. Each corps has its own command structure and its own way of doing things. Also, the two groups have differing visions for Ireland.’
    ‘What do you mean?’
    ‘Pat and his friends want an independent Irish