Madam, - JA Barnwell (October 12th) speaks of Irishness as if it were something static and homogenous. But what it is to be Irish is always changing.
In all probability, our ancestors who built Newgrange had no concept of a nation or country. Our modern concept of nationality stems from the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries, part of a general trend in Europe to unite smaller kingdoms into larger, more powerful states. Coinciding with this was the erroneous notion that the Irish, Scots, Welsh, Cornish and Breton people were "Celtic" - an invention of the Welsh nationalist Edward Lhuyd.
Far from being a homogenous nation, Ireland has always been a melting pot of cultures. The original Irish were joined by migrants from Iberia, possibly North Africa, Britain, continental Europe and Scandinavia. Later we were culturally influenced by the English and more recently by North America. What it is to be Irish will continue to evolve and we will be the better for it. - Yours, etc,
MARCAS MacCAOIMHÍN, Riverbank, Drogheda, Co Louth.