The book, Lost Lives, provides at least a partial insight into the extent of the suffering and tragedy involved.
Irish republicanism is rooted in ethnic nationalism reinforced by a distinctive cult of violence.
The understanding that there is a single nation on the island of Ireland is the very essence of Irish nationalism and is therefore shared by all Irish nationalists. For example, Garret FitzGerald claimed in Towards a New Ireland that 'history has created on the island of Ireland one nation' and Gerry Adams in The Politics of Freedom claimed that 'Ireland is historically, culturally and geographically one single unit'. Patrick Pearse is the fountainhead of the cult of violence in twentieth century Irish nationalism. This cult of violence in Irish nationalism may be understood in terms of what Eli Kedourie in Nationalism described as a 'fanaticism of the will'. But in Irish nationalism this 'fanaticism of the will' involves a commitment to violence that is not merely instrumental but extends to an understanding of violence as intrinsically good.