An aging Henry Smart is attempting to cement his reputation . John Ford plans a movie based on Henry 's life , but Henry eventually realizes the film that Ford has planned will reduce his story to sentiment . Henry plans to kill Ford , but his callousness has faded , and he drifts into the Dublin suburbs , where he meets a respectable widow who may possibly be his long-disappeared wife . Henry ages in obscurity until the 1970s , when he is caught up in the 1974 Dublin car bombings and the Provisional IRA uses a distorted version of Henry 's story as a public relations ploy
1974 Dublin car bombings
Dublin and Monaghan bombings
The Dead Republic