“The English possessed as many words for stealing as the Irish had for seaweed or guilt.”

“They had far more in common than either realised. One was born Catholic, the other Protestant. One was born Irish, the other British. But neither was the greatest difference between them. One was born rich and the other poor.”

“Love and freedom are such hideous words. So many cruelties have been done in their name.”

“Politics' the polite word for antediluvian prejudices, the rags put on by enmity and tribal resentment.”

“They had no previous connection whatever with Connemara; but they saw connections where others who should have seen them simply looked the other way.”

“Happy as a threaded needle”

“There is nothing worse than the ambitions of a talentless person.”