Guests (Geists) of a Nation: A Heimlich (Unheimlich) Maneuver

Abstract

This chapter examines Frank O’Connor’s story ‘Guests of a Nation’, and looks at how guests often become ghosts in Irish history. The essay then looks at the ghosts of Irish republican ideology, Pearse and Tone, and goes on to look at two other ghosts, those of Jerry McCabe and Robert McCartney, who came back to haunt the republican movement. It also examines how the notion of guest can easily become that of ghost when the guest is no longer welcome in the community