Yes, the "Rapparee" poem harkens back 200 years. Yet I imagine, to Irish readers in 1861, that would have been quite provocative. By setting his romantic poem in the days of past glory (the Williamite era) the poet expresses contemporary Irish national yearnings and suggests an obligation to throw off the yoke of foreign domination.

Don't forget: in 1861, the nationalistic speeches of Dan O'Connell, not to mention the obscene horrors of the Great Famine, were fresh in contemporary memory. Thomas Moore's recently published poems, including the "The Minstrel Boy", also glorified the Irish past. By "Minstrel" had been set to music reaching a mass audience (and was popular in the U.S. during the Civil War). Slowly, national awareness was bubbling to the surface in Irish culture.

So, can a romantic ballad that evokes the distant past can inspire nationalism?... Well, "Flower of Scotland" comes to mind. Just as the lone Rapparee "steps up to his country's love o'er the corpses of his foes," Robert the Bruce's ragtag band sends King Edward "homeward to think again."... Wow, how I love this stuff.