A nation's perception of its own past has a critical effect on its performance in the present and on its potential in the future. In the case of Ireland this self-perception has been characterized by an unfounded and crippling lack of confidence. It needs to be corrected. Moreover Irish history, as it is commonly taught poses several unanswerable questions. The story contains so many improbabilities and contradictions that it makes very little sense. If we are to understand what really happened, the principal forces involved need to be properly identified, described and disentangled from one another. After that, another story emerges, which deserves to be told.