War in Europe and Ireland

In pre- war Ireland, MacGreevy, while working in Dublin, observed two public events at first hand:– the state visit of King George and Queen Mary and the unveiling of the Parnell Monument. The visit underlined British Authority while the Parnell monument signaled a growing desire for independence albeit in a non violent form. The King's authority was soon to end and the Parliamentary approach of Parnell was to be rejected in favour of physical force.

The two worlds were to clash and collide in turmoil.

Thomas MacGreevy's years of early manhood were to coincide with the most cataclysmic events in Europe and Ireland.

In March 1916 MacGreevy enlisted in the Royal Field Artillery. He received a commission as Second Lieutenant and was posted to the western front in 1917 and served in the front lines of the Ypres Salient and the Somme.

The great war and the subsequent War of Independence and Civil War in Ireland were to have a profound effect on MacGreevy. After demobilisation he returned to an Ireland in turmoil. He was shocked by the treatment of his fellow Irishman at the hands of the British by whose side he had fought in the war.

His recalls in his memoirs the disillusionment and despair he felt at the time. "Our small nation which was daring on its right to self-determination and paying dearly for it". Much of his poetry was inspired by this period of his life.

British Rule was soon to end and a new era of independence ushered in.