The woman but not the crown - Colm Regan

I will be eternally grateful that I am, without debate, a citizen and not also a subject. I inherently value the right to choose all our leaders, and I strongly oppose the notion of inherited entitlement and any mystical ‘god’ or ‘history’ sanctified right to rule.

I reject completely the concept and more especially the practice of monarchism, despite all the pomp, pageantry, and militarism so recently on display in Britain. And this despite respect for the genuine public grief and affection so visibly displayed.

I was born into a family and a country that was republican to its very toenails. That republicanism was not, as many argue, the default position of a majority (but by no means all) of Irish people. Rather, it was due in no small measure to the very raw and very recent history that has deep roots in our psyche and our culture.

My grandfather, Thomas Carty took part in the 1916 Rising against the Crown and all it stood for in Ireland. For his ‘disloyalty’, he spent time in Knutsford prison, lost his job and his entitlements and was given a prison record.

From his prison diary, his drawings, his fascination with Celtic fairy tales and his letters to his daughters, it is...