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I will approach this monograph by Thomas Freeman, the late, eminent pioneering psychoanalyst of Northern Ireland, in terms of what I infer to be its evoked ambience. Motherland of Psychoanalysis is a work with a vague history. An editors' note indicates that he was working on one section of it at the time of his death, but when was the rest produced? The monograph itself is bracketed with tributes to Freeman that yield a snapshot of the magnetic personage who could give life to his written word in a way that seems sadly lacking on the printed page alone. His followers introduce readers to enough of his humanity, tenacity, modesty, and dedication to understanding mental life in its most far-reaching contexts for us to begin to grasp why he was so seminal to psychiatry and psychoanalysis in Northern Ireland. It is somewhat paradoxical that the loving characterizations of Freeman by Lord Alderdice in his preface, and by Jeremy Holmes in his introduction, struck me as more vivid, fresh, and informative than much of Freeman's subsequent text. Freeman is the medium for his message. The power of his words, written and spoken, was enhanced by the power of his person during his lifetime. Historically, for me, his most momentous accomplishment was his role as founder of the Northern Ireland Association for the Study of Psychoanalysis, an effort made all the more notable because it occurred, in large part, in the midst of a civil war. Those fortunate enough to have met Tom Freeman will undoubtedly recall him as a man of courage, quiet strength, gentle wit, great compassion, and deep convictions about life and his clinical mission. What made these