MORE ON 'THE MOURNING'

RODNEY FISHER SENT THIS MESSAGE 

ABOUT DATES  IN  WT'S STORY 'THE 

MOURNING'

"I did some research this afternoon .

 

The Mourning Looks to have been first published in the New Yorker in September 1997.

 

Michael Collins, the film,  was released in 1996 , a year that saw 2 major IRA atrocities on the UK Mainland – explosions in the London Docklands and the Manchester shopping centre.So it seems not unreasonable to give a time setting of the story around this time.

 

A ceasefire took place and largely held from 1997 on."

I  also checked the reference to 1921 on page 199, and found this

A movement for Irish home rule gained momentum in the late 19th century, and in 1916 Irish nationalists launched the Easter Rising against British rule in Dublin. The rebellion was crushed, but widespread agitation for independence continued. In 1919, the Irish Republican Army (IRA) launched a widespread and effective guerrilla campaign against British forces. In 1921, a cease-fire was declared, and in January 1922 a faction of Irish nationalists signed a peace treaty with Britain, calling for the partition of Ireland, with the south becoming autonomous and the six northern counties of the island remaining in the United Kingdom.

Michael Collins was involved in the Easter Rising of 1916, along with several of the other men mentioned in the story, and later involved the foundation of the IRA.  Also the founding of the Irish Free State.