Or the wayward memoirs of a comsumate Irishman, Eoin O'Ceallaigh, compiled and edited by Arthur Mathews and related, special to Phat Traffic, by Sam Healy. In one sense our land is an ancient one, athrob with Celtic and even pre-Celtic heritage. But in another, more accurate sense, Ireland is unusual in its relative youth.
Few nations can claim a living witness to every moment in their political history.
Should you need further convincing, note that the book was dictated to and edited by Arthur Mathews, co-writer of Father Ted and celebrated champion of moral righteousness. Unsurprisingly, his first words are of respect for his dictator. Eoin is a lovely, lovely man. But he's very frail now, and will be dead soon. It was this imminence of death that was the main impetus behind the book, subtitled, not just for the fun of it, Memoir Of A Twentieth-Century Catholic Life.