During the World War 1 years, the Irish lads were used to carry oats and barley as provisions in the battlefields. In the poem titled 'The Wind that Shakes the Barley', a young Irish lad bemoans the fact that he would have to sacrifice his true love for the love of his motherland but he must take pride in the fact that he is serving Her. In the film by the same name, the titular character Damien O' Donovan, played superbly by Cillian Murphy, says "When I wanted to serve diligently the Irish people in the war against Britishers, they didn't take me in. Now I don't like it but I cannot quit". Damien O' Donovan didn't want to serve anymore in the war not because he was tired of it or afraid of dying but simply because his own brethren defeated the purpose of the war he so personally fought. He was a brilliant medical student and could have ended up being one of the finest doctors practising in London but he succumbed to the vagaries of the war. He did