Cormac threw his legs over the side of the bed so he could sit next to his brother.

‘Tom, you and I both know as soon as a few drinks have been had, the rebel songs will be belted out and I’m quite sure that won’t go down so well with my party or the prime minister.’

‘I have a wee idea. I’ll put a block on any rebel songs. I’ll just tell them it was Mammy’s dying wish. What do you say?’

Cormac knew the right thing to do was to spend this time with his family and old friends. He must pay his respects to his mother in the traditional way. That was more important than any delicate political sensibilities. He slapped his brother on the back as they got up to leave the bedroom.

‘If I go, Tom, will you promise me something?’

Tom stopped and was eager to ease his brother’s obvious concerns.

‘Anything brother, what is it?’

Cormac smiled at him.

‘Please don’t sing “Dirty Old Town”, or I’ll be forced to call the police and tell them you have been murdering it for years!’

Cormac found himself in a brotherly headlock for the first time in twenty-five years.

As they walked the few doors down and approached the entrance to the old pub, he could feel his stomach tighten. His decision to visit Lalor’s was feeling more like a bad idea with every step he took.

3

The village of Killane sits nestled in the hills overlooking Belfast. It has a population of approximately five hundred. It consists of one long strip of a main street, at the top of which rests St Peter’s Catholic Church and at the bottom, its main competition - Lalor’s public house. There are two long rows of terraced houses that stretch from the church until three-quarters of the way down the hill. Two crescents join the end of the terraces and sweep in arcs before meeting again at the end of the village where Lalor’s is the first port of call for those arriving from Belfast. Cormac was raised in a council-built terrace that is situated four doors down from the pub and has a clear view of the old church on the hill. There is no school in the village and the children travel by bus to Belfast for their education. The village was and remains 100% conservatively Catholic and 100% radically Republican. The same congregation occupies the educational establishments at both ends of the village. Employment historically was to be found in the farms surrounding the village or in Belfast’s heavy industries. Cormac’s father had been, until his death, employed at the staunchly Loyalist Harland and Wolf shipyards in East Belfast. He would often entertain the young Cormac with the stories and exploits of his great friends and work colleagues. Cormac never met any of them.

Lalor’s pub has been in the village for over 100 years, and has remained in the possession of the same family through all of that period. It is owned by descendants of the original proprietor, John McKee, and takes its name from the 19th century radical Republican writer James Fintan Lalor. In the early eighties, while there was no school in the village, Lalor’s was the unofficial political educator of its youngsters. In those days, its front bar consisted of four booths along the right-hand wall and a long bar on the left. Its lounge, at weekends, reverberated to the sounds of Irish music. During the week, it hosted anything from lectures on Irish history, to Gaelic classes, to readings from Irish literature. The room upstairs was where oaths were taken.