What is the setting of Guests of the Nation by Frank O'Connor?

The stories are all set in Ireland in the early twentieth century. The areas in which they take place vary greatly, from wilderness regions to cities to smaller villages. Most of the characters in the stories are young males, but many of the stories feature primarily female characters as well. As each of these stories is ultimately about life in this time and place, the setting works perfectly for them.

The setting of these stories can be somewhat difficult to understand. The author wrote these stories assuming that the reader would be more or less already familiar with the region and culture of Ireland at the time, so little explanation regarding the war itself is ever given. However, this does not seriously disrupt the stories themselves, because they are about the outcome of the wars presence in individual lives, as opposed to Ireland as a whole.