ABSTRACT
While Arden and D’Arcy were creating The Hero Rises Up at the Roundhouse in London, the year 1968 saw unrest in the world significantly intensify: the ‘Prague Spring’ was extinguished, brutal violence exploded at the US Democratic Party convention, civil wars flared in Africa and Mexican students were massacred just before the Mexico Olympic Games. In Ireland, a Civil Rights march in Derry in the north marked the start of ‘The Troubles’ which impinged on all who lived in the island of Ireland. In early 1969, Arden arrived by train at Holyhead, intending to cross by ferry to Ireland. The land question dominated the politics of western Ireland, and Galway specifically. The agitation had taken the attention of Satish Kumar, a well-known international peace campaigner.
