They evoke tragic aspects and the aftermath of the Easter Rising of 1916 and the Battle of the Somme just a few months later.

The work of a limitlessly gifted writer, it includes what might be the most enduring achievements of a nation’s celebrations and commemorations.

‘One of the artistic centrepieces of this year’s commemorations was the performance of this rap-like text by Paul Muldoon [‘One Hundred Years a Nation’], with music by Shaun Davey played by the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra and sung by 1,100 voices. It was moving and celebratory but also scathing and provocative, giving space to “gombeen financiers”, “parish parasites”, ghost estates, mass emigration, “bloody assassinations” and the “bomb’s abominations”. It is hard to think of another nation that would acknowledge its failings so furiously even as it celebrates its foundations.’  Fintan O’Toole, The Irish Times