In 1842 a small group of Irish nationalists, who would later be known as Young Ireland, founded the Nation newspaper. They saw their mission as awakening the Irish people to the fact that they were an historic nation that should determine its own future. This book deeply explores the Young Ireland vision of history. Often selective and polemical, but ultimately compelling and powerful, their vision would inspire generations with a pride in Ireland's history, and would set the scene for the revolutionary period 1916-21 that followed.