Sheen 'proud' of uncle's IRA past

Published Friday, 03 February 2012

Hollywood star Martin Sheen has declared himself proud of his uncle's IRA past, and says he would have followed him if he had been in Ireland at the time.

Martin Sheen traced his family's history in Ireland. (© NBC Universal)

The actor discovered the story of Michael Fieland as he researched his family tree on the US version of the TV show Who Do You Think You Are?

"I'm enormously proud of him," the 71-year-old said, after visiting the Dublin cell where it is believed his mother's brother was incarcerated.

"I would like to hope that if I had been here in Ireland at the time, I would have followed him. And I would have been as committed as he was."

Sheen, famed for his roles in Apocalypse Now and the TV series West Wing, learnt much about his ancestors in Ireland and their links to the War of Independence.

He is one of 10 children born to a Spanish father and Irish mother - Mary-Anne Fieland, from Borrisokane, who emigrated to America during the war.

Sheen, whose real name is Ramon Estevez, said he believes she was sent away to protect her from the intense hostilities.

"And she was meant to come back when the fighting stopped and the Republic was established in 1923," he continued.

"So it was a very, very satisfying moment for me to know that she, too, was involved."

The father of screen actors Charlie Sheen and Emilio Estevez further described how his relatives' actions mirrored his own political activism.

He said: "You don't expect to change the world, you don't expect to even influence your family or your friends.

"You do it because you cannot not do it and be who you are or who you are meant to be."

Sheen fulfilled a life dream in 2006 when he returned to his mother's homeland, enrolling as a mature student at the National University of Ireland in Galway.

Comments

21 Comments

Stephen in Portadown wrote (106 days ago):

As a couple of people have already pointed out - he is not talking about the PIRA, he is talking about the IRA of pre/post independence era. Surely if you took a second to think about the fact he is 71 and is talking about his uncle you might have come to that conclusion yourself.

OldSod in Fermanagh wrote (106 days ago):

To be fair, I don't think there is much comparison between the 1920's IRA and the more modern counterparts, they were two very different beasts. I would not agree with how they achieved Irish independence (maybe a luxury I have with hindsight) and certainly not with the anti-treaty forces, but I could understand how people got involved because of the failure to implement home rule, British misrule, family loyalties etc. I do however always think these kind of shows are very silly, in that they selectively pluck from the family tree.

zejackal in belfast wrote (106 days ago):

obviously some folk commenting here have no idea of Irish history and what happened between the 1916 rising and war of independence. typical loaylists. uneducated fools

Tomc in Belfast wrote (106 days ago):

I've just read this....ha what a giggle....I reckon Martin or shall we say Ramon, is suffering from the same syndrome his son Charlie is experiencing. people talk such kak sometimes, but you can hardly tar an entire nation based on what one idiot says....look at the last president George "Dubya" Bush....now if you believed all Americans were like him, the entire country would be in diffs! Martin Sheen is talking through his butt, everyone knows his comments were ill thought out.

Ulysses32 in Belfast wrote (106 days ago):

Strange that not too many people have taken the time to actually look at what he was actually referring to. It would appear that a lot of comments would come from those who are willing supporters of such terrorists as William Craig and Edward Carson. Larne gunrunning for the UVF, anyone? Is George Washington perceived in the same light? How about the likes of Rob Roy or Robert the Bruce? Martin Sheen's family hail from Tipperary and I think you would find that there is an abundance of people in the South of Ireland who are ardent supporters of those involved in the Irish War of Independence. People need to put a few things into perspective.

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