The Last September

The Protestant, upper-class Anglo Irish characters of The Last September often behave as if they are distant from and uncaring about the Irish War of Independence, an attitude they are able to maintain because of the power and privilege afforded to them by their wealth and status as English people who were born and live in Ireland, and therefore do not identify and are not identified as “fully” Irish. They are not quite “of” Ireland, as an aristocracy established under British rule, but they are also not quite English. This in-between position affords the characters considerable protection from the harsh realities of the Irish War of Independence, even though the war is taking place all around the comforts of their stately home. However, it means their attitudes toward the war and the two countries they claim are ambivalent, and these seem to further exonerate them from culpability or action on either side.

Although the English soldiers are partly in Ireland to protect the Anglo Irish population from the Irish revolutionaries, these characters often exhibit irritation or minor disdain for the English. Sir Richard and Lady Naylor speak disparagingly of Francie’s fears about their safety while at Danielstown, telling her, “’You’re getting very English, Francie!’” (26) Lady Naylor also criticizes the English and speaks of them as a cold-hearted people more than once.