Few men could explain why they enlisted, and if they attempted they might only prove that they had done as a politician said the electorate does, the right thing from the wrong motive.

In early 2008 a docu-drama starring Stephen Rea was made about the life of Patrick MacGill. An annual literary summer school is held in Glenties in mid July each year in his honour. A statue in his honour is on the bridge where the main street crosses the river in Glenties.

During the First World War MacGill served with the London Irish Rifles (1/18th Battalion The London Regiment) and was wounded at the Battle of Loos on 28 October 1915. An annual literary summer school is held in Glenties in mid July each year in his honour. MacGill wrote a memoir-type novel called "Children of the Dead End".