In this part, Pearse explains why he chose the four master minds of the separatist tradition, Theobald Wolfe Tone, Thomas Davis, James Fintan Lalor and John Mitchell, and why he left out others.

Today we republish the second part of ‘Ghosts’, an essay written by Pádraig Pearse in December 1915. ‘Ghosts’ is the first of a collection of four essays that Pearse wrote during the last six months of his life. The

‘Ghosts’ is the first of a collection of four essays written by Pádraig Pearse during the last six months of his life. The other three being, The Separatist Idea, The Spiritual Nation and The Sovereign People,