Sir, - I thought that I knew what it was to be Irish until somewhere in my formal education I met the term "Anglo-Irish". I presume the prefix 'Anglo' was intended to inform. It has never helped me and after reading Jack Lane's article on Elizabeth Bowen (29th July) I am quite confused.
To be just "Irish", must I be able to trace my ancestors back to the Celts? What if I can trace them back only to the Normans or to the Elizabethan plantation or, heaven forbid, only to the Cromwellian settlement? What if I am a Protestant and my great-grandfather was a landlord? Must I be Catholic, the descendant o fan evicted tenant and speak with a brogue that shows no influence of foreign culture?
And if the answer to all that is "yes", where does it leave my six children, only one of whom was born here, but all of whom grew up here and think of themselves as Irish? If any of them should ever write a book worth discussing, will Jack Lane and John Boland again be arguing whether it was written by and Irish or English writer? How does one qualify as Irish? I would like to know. - Yours, etc.,
Margaret Power,
Castleconnell, Co Limerick.