Ulster: waiting for the IRA
Sir: The 'troubles' in Belfast disturb people all around the world. Perhaps it is none of my business but I feel that I have my roots in Ireland as my grandfather, Thomas Ryan, was born in Clonmel, County Tipperary, in the year 1835. He sailed to Boston when he was a boy of twelve, and although all his family in Ireland were Catholics, he and all his children in America were Presbyterians. And I am sure that he would have been ashamed of both sides in this senseless feud.
As a boy visiting my grandparents in Chicago I came to think that I knew Ireland and what to expect of her people. There was always a bright smile and loving care for their own, and humorous tolerance for others who did not 'have the light.' There were quick .words, and hot tempers, but malice and vengeance belonged only to stupid foreign breeds.
I had always assumed that Irishmen were not to be ruled or guided by the laws of Moses. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth may suit the savage tribes of Israel and Arabia, the Turks and Cossacks, but in Ire- land the law of the Lord is the law of the land. 'Be ye kind one to another.' Violence and oppression founded upon differences in religious dogma are nonsense, and a disgrace to any religion.
The fog surrounding the cause of the present quarrel demonstrates how childish it is. If politicians and theologians must remind us what we are fighting about—it is better to forget the reasons and just enjoy the fight.
Let both sides give heed to the words of the gipsy in Guy Mannering: 'This day have ye quenched seven smoking hearts—see if the fire in your am n parlour burn the blither for that. Ye have riven the rack off seven cottar houses—look if your am n roof-tree stand the faster.'
John 14'. Beveridge Route 8, Box 586. Fort Worth. Texas 76108
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