'Michael Collins' (1996)

Neil Jordan's Michael Collins gives a good basic overview of events swirling around Michael Collins from the Easter Rising of 1916 through the creation of the Irish Free State and Irish Civil War that ended in 1923. Liam Neeson has the lead role and is well-suited for it. A little less compelling are Julia Roberts as Kitty Kiernan and Aidan Quinn as Harry Boland, while Alan Rickman has to play (thanks to the otherwise serviceable script) Éamon de Valera as a devious weasel. Still, it works, and anyone watching Michael Collins will consider the Republic of Ireland in a fresh way. 

This year is the centenary of the 1916 Easter Rising. Here, street art in Cork commemorates "The Birth of Our Nation." The artist is on the right, in the front corner. 

In the USA, the word more likely to be used for "centenary" is "centennial." Why the difference?  I have no idea, but definitely I like the term "Roadworks" employed in Ireland better than "construction" in the USA, because its meaning is more specific, maybe even more upbeat. 

Books on the 1916-2016 centenary are ubiquitous in Ireland this year. Note image of Michael Collins in the upper right corner of this picture, taken in June.

Documents and an image (to the right) of what looks like the 1916 Dublin GPO (General Post Office) in flames, on display in Cork, June 2016. 

We were there during the Brexit vote, of which the Republic of Ireland had no part. Indeed, Ireland proper is pro-European Union. Brexit may cause new headaches for Northern Ireland, though. We shall see. 

Today's Rune: Defense.