Lord O’Neill’s Cottage, Ram’s Island (from article in the Dublin Penny journal – 1830s)
He’d come from royalty. Or at least from those who should’ve been but history had been too blind to realize their value. He’d seen promise in his older brother James: a lust for power and a need to force his will onto others. But James hadn’t shown enough self-preservation for a prince. A pity … but at least it left no issue of seniority.
Since childhood the conspiring doctors tried to claim him ill with “grandiosity.”
His mother failed to see. “We come from farmers, Thomas. Always have.”
Perhaps she truly believed her forefathers were but serfs to the O’Neills, but he knew better. He’d seen himself in the drawing, and it fit what he’d always known: He was destined for more, a royal progeny.
He’d take the island by force. It’ll make them realize it was past time he reclaimed what was his by rights, even if forgotten by history.
For What Pegman Saw: Northern Ireland
Na'ama Yehuda 
Thomas seems to be headed for a wee bit of trouble or the people on the island are. Well told.
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I think your assessment is spot on …
😉
Thanks for reading and commenting!
Na’ama
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You have chosen a good voice, which sounds sane even though the speaker is clearly as mad as a box of frogs! It’s interesting how mental illness was seen so differently then, isn’t it?
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Indeed! And still is … well … now, sometimes … 😉
But, yeah, I would not recommend spending much time with Thomas. …
Thanks, Penny, for another great comment. That “mad as a box of frogs” had me laughing out loud.
🙂
Na’ama
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😉
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This guy is Cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs!
Fun take!
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Yep, his screws are so loose they are jingling around in his noggin … 😉
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Now you have me curious–is this a historical event? I though perhaps James was James II of England and Ireland? But he was long lived…
Anyway love your line about not showing enough self preservation for a prince awhich makes me think the narrator killed him off. Perhaps his mom, despite her best efforts at teaching humility, just raised a megalmaniac.
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Ah, if I have you curious then perhaps the mission has been accomplished … 😉
If this is ‘history’ then it is only ‘possible history’ and not an actual one … The names are common Northern Irish names and as such do not pertain to any known royalty … but … who knows …
Lords (and not so lords) certainly sired many more children than they were entitled to by marriage, consent, or human decency … and it may not be beyond reason to consider that stories–and belief–of one’s possible royal lineage might’ve wet the grandiose appetites of some whose minds weren’t all that sound …
Can it be that Thomas recognizes something about himself in an etching? Or would he have seen himself in it no matter what? Who knows …
I share your concern about James’s demise … and I think his mother was way out of her depths with is one …
😉
Na’ama
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Oh, no this can’t be good. What on earth is he going to do now? Great spin on the prompt
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Thanks, Lynn … and yep … this cannot be good … I think we’re going to have some (more) trouble from Thomas. …
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My pleasure 🙂
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I don’t know how far his delusions will take him if he’s one man taking on an island. But then, maybe he knows something we don’t. 😉
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I think he THINKS he knows something we don’t … 😉
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