This historical background of this episode is the animosity of the Irish people to being ruled by England in the 19th century. Contributing factors also included the Irish famine of the 1840s, which resulted in the emigration of about 100,000 Irish to Canada and hundreds of thousands to America. In the 1870s the issue of Irish self-government again became a major focus of debate under Charles Stewart Parnell, founder of the Irish Parliamentary Party. In the 19th century, Canada at the time was a province of Canada.
During his first conversation with Gavin O'Shea, Paladin speaks the words, "[Read] anything but history...for history must be false." The quote is attributed to Robert Walpole, an 18th Century British statesman regarded as the first prime minister of England.