Cathleen Ni Houlihan and Pot of Broth

My Irish Lit reading background: almost nothing.
I may have read a few Yeats poems in ENG 196, but other than that I have no experience with specifically Irish literature.  Learning about the country's history, I expect the Irish to thrive off pagan folklore and myth. In that folklore, I anticipate characters to be very socially consciousness and that it will provide an avenue for justifying their actions. In other words, I imagined characters using their social status as a excuse for acting immorally. Having read "Pot of Broth," I was not surprised to find one character exploiting another in a similar way that other people have exploited the Irish. It seems like the Irish tradition is to remain resilient through extreme hardship, whether it be exploitation, persecution, or depravity, and to prove one's worth despite various false titles being laid on by others.

This tradition was also seen in "Cathleen Ni Houlihan." The younger generation was cautioned by thier parents to stay safe at home, marry, and collect money. But the old woman represented the ideals of a long lost tradition, to defend one's true love, the Irish country.  In both plays, the oral storytelling and script culture are peppered with  themes of political persecution and paganism. In both stories we see the generosity of Irish hospitality, but the effects of it are what make the two stories different. Bridget says to her husband, "Shame on you, Peter. Give her the shilling and your blessing wiht it, or our own luck will go from us." But the old woman represents a high order, one that doesn't simply beg for money. So the question is, why is she there then? She is there to inspire the younger generation, to convince them of a worthy cause, one that thier parents would not have approved of. By doing this, she claims it's noble to die for one's country and culture in order to preserve what is rightfully theirs.