What does the title of 'Patriot Games' refer to?

What does the title of 'Patriot Games' refer to? - From above of plastic signboard with COVID 19 inscription on flag of USA and roll of paper money during financial crisis

I recently watched the film Patriot Games (1992) and I'm not quite clear on what the title refers to, the only real hint I noticed towards it in the movie is a selection of document folders labelled PATRIOT at the CIA when Jack comes back, so it may be some kind of espionage term:

Screenshot from Patriot Games showing a pile of folders labelled 'PATRIOT'

I suspect it may not be a positive association either as the folders are full of information about the IRA members that Jack spends the film hunting.



Best Answer

The film is, obviously, named the same as the reference novel by Tom Clancy which, itself, is named after the Irish ballad The Patriot Game.

"The Patriot Game" is an Irish ballad with lyrics by Dominic Behan and a melody from the traditional tune "The Merry Month of May"

The song concerns an incident during the Border Campaign launched by the Irish Republican Army during the 1950s....It tells the story of Fergal O'Hanlon, an IRA Volunteer from Ballybay, County Monaghan who was killed at the age of 20 in an attack on Brookeborough Royal Ulster Constabulary barracks in County Fermanagh on 1 January 1957. The operation was devised and led by Sean Garland, an IRA man from Dublin. Another volunteer, Seán South from Limerick, was also killed during the raid.

The song is one of the best known to emerge from the Irish nationalist struggle and has been popular amongst the IRA.

Wikipedia

The movie (and novel) relate the plot by the IRA to exact revenge on Jack Ryan after he foiled an assassination plot.




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What is the theme of Patriot Games?

Violence is present throughout Patriot Games, and the cruel violence of terrorism suffuses the lives of the principal characters with fear and anger.

Is Patriot Games based on a true story?

The attack on members of the Royal Family at the beginning of the film was inspired by a similar true-life attempt to kidnap Princess Anne on March 20, 1974. She was in her car when a man shot her guard and driver. She was subsequently helped by a passerby who attacked the criminal and saved her.

What does IRA stand for in Patriot Games?

The story has Ryan and his family in England where he foils an attack of a breakaway group from the Irish Republican Army (IRA) upon a British minister. The splinter IRA group is led by Sean Miller (Sean Bean), who then plots to get revenge upon Ryan.



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