I am by no means an expert on The Troubles, but I think Pádraig Piarais is a good case study when examining Irish Nationalist views towards the IRA and its activities, North and South of the border.

Piarais was the leader and the face of the 1916 Rising. In it, the IRB (Forerunner to the IRA) proclaimed Irish independence from Britain, and the formation of an Irish Republic. He read aloud the Proclamation of the Republic outside of Dublin's GPO to formally launch the Rising, and was one of it's signatories. He was to be the Chairman of the Irish Republic had it been successful (although this is still a somewhat disputed fact), and had lived a seemingly perfect life in the lead up to the Rising itself, leading to what is now a largely forgotten about cult of personality.

Piarais embodied the Gaelic lifestyle at a time known as the 'Gaelic Revival' in Irish culture. The first half of the 19th Century saw drastic depopulation in Ireland and with it went large parts of heritage which continued long after major events like the famine were over. The famine mostly hit the poorest areas of Ireland hardest which were also (not coincidentally) the areas where the majority of the people spoke Irish. It's said a million people died and another million emigrated. The majority of these would have spoken the Irish language, and faced the harsh realities of the economic climate in Ireland at the time, the people who stayed in the country switched to speaking English out of necessity. This had been happening gradually for centuries anyway, but the culture drain had reactionary effect and institutions were set up to preserve national games, the national language, etc. The Gaelic revival was also coupled with a relatively peaceful period in Irish politics, which had been attempting the diplomatic approach to independence with England through the Irish Home Rule Party, which petitioned unsuccessfully for a form of limited self Government for Ireland, similar to what is in effect in Scotland today.

By the time Piarais hit the scene the Gaelic revival was on it's way out, something he and many other extremists were aware of. But he was not yet a violent extremist, or at least not actively. He founded a bilingual school for boys which educated children through Irish and English, and focused it's curriculum on Irish myths and legends. Piarais himself immersed himself in Gaelic culture, and would visit the Aron Islands (a collection of Irish speaking only islands on Irelands West coast) in his spare time, and even bring his students there on field trips to immerse them in the Irish language. He also wrote poems and songs through Irish. But in the years leading up to the Rising, as he became more involved in extremist activity, he began to publish politically motivated writings and poems, and began to glorify the idea of a blood sacrifice for the cause of Irish freedom. His play, 'The Singer', closes by pondering on the power of one man to redeem, and how one man could sacrifice himself to the the 'Gall' (foreigner in Irish) to preserve the nation, just as Christ had sacrificed himself to save mankind.

When the Rising was over, Piarais was executed along with the other leaders of the Rising, as well as the humanitarian, Roger Casement, who had failed in an attempt to smuggle arms into the country to arm the rebels. While the initial national reaction to the Rising was one of disgust, after its leaders were executed by the British, Piarais became the poster boy of the a new national outrage directed against the British. His writings quickly became gospel, his spirit was seen almost as the driving force of the following revolutionary war which led to the independence of the 26 counties now the Republic of Ireland. He soon came to embody the ideal Irishman, devoted to the Irish language, the purity of the Irish people, and someone who sacrificed his life for love of his country. Hundreds died during the Rising, the majority of which were civilians, but because Piarais left us years worth of writings telling us exactly what he was planning on doing, he was held up as a noble patriot. His image was everywhere, often portrayed religiously or alongside religious imagery. In fact, he's bizarrely portrayed alongside Jesus and JFK on a glass pane in Galway Cathedral.

This hero worship led to a tendency to sweep his most violent inclinations under the rug. Ireland went through a brutal civil war after independence from 1922-1923 and the country did not dwell in self reflection for long. This led to Piarais not truly being interpreted, or even truly read, but blindly admired. When The Troubles began in the mid 1960's, Piarais was probably at the height of his popularity. The Provisional IRA used his writings from 50 years previous to justify their actions, and suddenly, a re-evaluation took place. People actually began to read what Piarais had wrote, and said, and to began to critically examine it. When phrases like 'Ireland unfree shall never be at peace' were being used to justify murder and terror, phrases like 'A nation without a language is a nation without a soul' were quickly forgotten, and the cult of personality soon disappeared. Before the Troubles, his poetry was taught in schools. Since the Troubles, his image and portrayal, and those of every member of the revolutionary era in Ireland, has been closely managed, though with some notable exceptions.

So while it may not directly answer your question, the relationship between the Irish and Piarais may go some way towards it. It is important to remember that to the Provisional IRA, the Troubles were no more than a continuation of the revolutionary war which was inspired by Piarais' death and his writings. Indeed, the Irish Revolutionary War was referred to as 'The Troubles' while it was itself underway.

In terms of reading, 'The Coming Revolution' might help to give you some insight as this was the type of propaganda the IRA redistributed at the beginning of the Troubles. There is a fantastic documentary on Youtube voiced by Michael McElhatton (Roose Bolton) on Piarais called 'Fanatic Heart' which deals specifically with peoples reaction to the Provisional IRA's usage of his writing to justify their actions at the beginning of the Troubles.It has been a few years since I've studied the period and don't have access to my other sources from then, so don't have anything that might link more directly with your question.