Wind that Shakes the Barley

Irish nationalists who supported the treaty - like Arthur Griffith - pointed out its positives:

We have brought back the flag, we have brought back the evacuation of Ireland after 700 years of British troops and the formation of an Irish army.

Those who opposed the treaty cared less about what had been accomplished and more about what had been lost.

Those who backed the treaty wore new green uniforms and were known as the Free State Army.

Those who opposed the treaty - mostly the IRA (Irish Republican Army) - were called the Irregulars.

In the first Free State election, following the treaty, Irish voters supported those who had supported the treaty. People appeared tired of the conflict, wishing to get on with a more normal life.

Even so, the Irregulars wanted to overthrow the treaty, end partition and reunite the country. The conflict put friend against friend, brother against brother.

On the 28th of June, 1922,  the Free State government sent an ultimatum to Irregulars who had taken over the Four Courts:  surrender or face significant shelling. The Irregulars, holding fast, were bombed by the Free State Army - their former colleagues - over a two-day period. 

Amidst the turmoil ... in 1922 ... James Joyce - still highly regarded as one of the world's best writers - published Ulysses, his famous novel featuring interior monologues and Dublin life.  Living on the continent, Joyce did not experience upheavals in his Irish homeland.

More bloodshed followed before the civil war ended the next year. Pain, anguish and despair continued to dot the landscape of Ireland’s history before the new Dublin government was victorious.

Wolfe Tone's hope for Ireland - a united country - was not yet to be. As one version of the United Irishmen’s oath puts it:

I will persevere in endeavoring to form a brotherhood of affection among Irishmen of all persuasions.

Or, as Wolfe Tone himself described his fondest dream:

To...substitute the common name of Irishman in place of the denominations of Protestant, Catholic, and Dissenter.

And so it continues to this day.