The Wind That Shakes the Barley Monologues

Against the backdrop of the Irish War of Independence, two brothers fight a guerrilla war against British forces.

It's easy to know what you are against, but quite another to know what you are for.

I tried not to get into this war, and did, now I try to get out, and can't.

The Treaty does not express the will of the people, but the fear of the people.

And once again, with honourable exception, the Catholic Church sides with the rich.

I studied anatomy for five years, Dan. And now i'm going to shoot this man in the head. I've known Chris Reilly since he was a child. I hope this Ireland we're fighting for is worth it.

Strange creatures we are, even to ourselves.

I'm a coward? And you're a hero, isn't it, Ned? You're gonna take down the British army with your hurley, is that it?

Look, Micheail was killed because he wouldn't say his name in English. Is that what you call a martyr, Teddy, is it?

You have wrapped yourself in the fucking Union Jack! The butcher's apron, boy!

We buried him in this chapel in the mountains. And I went down and… and I told his mother. His mother, who has cooked meals for me and her son. And when I told her she… she just looked at me. and then she went in and she put on her shoes. Then she came out and she said, "Take me to my child." And we walked for six hours and she didn't say one word. Then we got to the chapel.

And I showed her the grave. And I'd put a… cross and some flowers on it. And she turned to me and she said, "I never want to see your face again."

I've crossed the line now, Sinead.

Your presence here is a crime, a foreign occupation. You tell me what I'm supposed to do as a democrat. Turn the other cheek for another 700 years? Is that it?

It is too late, Teddy. You can't see it. You really can't see it. John Bull has got his hand down your pants, his fist round your bollocks and you can't see it?

Micheail was killed because he wouldn't say his name in English. That what you call a martyr, is it, Teddy?