"Irishness is not primarily a question of birth or blood or language; it is the condition of being involved in the Irish situation, and usually of being mauled by it. On that definition Swift is more Irish than Goldsmith or Sheridan, although by the usual tests they are Irish and he is pure English."
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Written under the pseudonym Donat O'Donnell.
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Conor_Cruise_O'Brien
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Conor Cruise O'Brien
Donal Conor Dermod David Donat Cruise O'Brien (3 November 1917 – 18 December 2008) was an Irish writer, politician, diplomat, academic and newspaper editor.
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