THE FIRST IRISH REPUBLICAN NEWSPAPER -
' THE NORTHERN STAR ' : 1792 - 1797 .......



.......the first issue of ' The Northern Star ' was published in January , 1792 , in Belfast - Wolfe Tone declared that if the aims of the newspaper were to be achieved , it would lead to an Irish Republic . ' The Northern Star ' was set-up as a business , with a Committee of ten investors .......



The 'business-like' structure of the newspaper was believed to be the first such attempt in which an Irish newspaper was controlled by what was , in effect , a 'Board of Directors' -- a 'sub-committee' of management , consisting of three members , was put in place by the 'Directors' ; one of the management team was Samuel Neilson , also the 'papers Editor .

The newspaper was an instant success -- it reflected and promoted the Irish Republican viewpoint and was as popular in Dublin , Edinburgh and London as it was in Belfast . It had its own printing-press that was used to publish other material ( ie leaflets , pamphlets and booklets etc ) of a Republican nature ; indeed , in 1795 , ' The Northern Star ' printed another big seller of the time , ' Bolg an Tsolair ' ( 'the 'Gaelic Magazine' )....... (MORE LATER).





WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :

war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.

By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.



THE LITTLE FIELDS.......


".......in 1822 , the Irish refused to pay the British 'tithe rent' ; they knew the Brits would send in their military to demand that the 'rent' be paid , so the Irish farmers raided the ' Big Houses ' looking for arms . Just south of the Pass of Ceimaneigh , the British military and the Irish farmers came face-to-face ....... "



" The Irish scattered among the houses of Tuirin na nEan , Cloch Barrach and Na hinseacha , at the foot of Duchoill Mountain . They re-assembled and took up a position to the south of the old Cork-Bantry road . As British soldiers and Yeoman coming from the east and west deployed in front of them , the Irish opened fire . The enemy took cover and our men followed up with bayonet and pike to meet a volley which killed two of their number , Amhlaoibh O Luingsigh from Doireach ( in the parish of Cill na Martra ) and Barra O Laoghaire from Gaortha na Tornora ( in the parish of Ballingeary ) .

In the hand-to-hand fight which followed , a British soldier was killed . His name was John Smith , of the Rifle Brigade . The entire enemy force broke and fled for their lives . Our men took away their dead -- Amhlaoibh O Luingsigh was buried in Ballyvourney , and Barra O Laoghaire in the old graveyard in Inchigeela . The Irish buried the soldier Smith in Muing na Biorraighe at Gort Luachra . Later he was transferred to the old graveyard in Inchigeela , where a stone erected by his comrades marks his grave ......." (MORE LATER).





REVISIONIST COWBOYS .......



....... Captain Robert Monteith , a colleague of Roger Casements , once said ---


--- " The English Empire may have been founded by bayonets , but it is maintained , in a great measure , by those who write of it's glories or by those who write in derision of men and women who challenge it's power . "


And the same is true today -- we have no shortage of journalists and politicians who begin with a compromise for the British presence in this country and quickly descend into appeasement of all things British.......




.......AND PROUD INDIANS ---->

[from ' The Evening Press ' newspaper , 10th October , 1992 -- a Saturday , if memory serves -- page 5]


<---- Phillip Sheridan was born in Killinkere , County Cavan , in 1831 . The Sheridan Family had to leave Ireland because of the Great Hunger , and young Phillip grew up in America to become the 'Supreme Commander' of the U S Army.

He 'made his name' by his evil treatment of the U S Indians . He was responsible for the slaughter of the Lakota Indians at Wounded Knee in 1890 --- one-hundred Indians , under Chief Big Foot , were massacred by the U S 7th Cavalry ; about half of the dead were women and children .

The Wounded Knee massacre was the last of the Indian uprisings , and prompted Phillip Sheridan to state -- " The only good Indian I ever saw was dead ."


The Irish and the Native Americans have a common enemy --- imperialism . Phillip Sheridan was on the wrong side .......

---

¶ 8:03 AM

  THE FIRST IRISH REPUBLICAN NEWSPAPER -
' THE NORTHERN STAR ' : 1792 - 1797 .......



".......the response to young Wolfe Tone's pamphlet of September 1791 (entitled - ' An Argument on Behalf of the Catholics in Ireland ' ) was massive ; within weeks , societies of people in support of the ideals expressed by Tone were being formed in Ireland......."



By the end of that year (1791) a decision was taken to publish the political viewpoint and opinion of Wolfe Tone and other United Irishmen on a regular basis --- in January 1792 , the first issue of ' The Northern Star ' was published in Belfast ; it was a radical newspaper , edited by Samuel Neilson , and its first issue stated that its brief was to demand "equal representation of all the people in parliament ."

Wolfe Tone added that if the newspaper's aim was to be achieved , it would lead to the establishment of an Irish Republic , free of British interference . ' The Northern Star ' was run on very 'business-like' lines , with a Committee of ten investors ....... (MORE LATER).




WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :

war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.

By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.



THE LITTLE FIELDS .......



" .......when the Irish heard that a fighting-force from France were about to land at Bantry Bay in Cork to take on the Brits , they armed themselves as best they could to help the French . The British , however , were watching all this ....... "



" The British Yeomanry force was composed entirely of Planters and captained by 'landlords' . They were dressed in uniform , and were well armed with sword , pistol , and carbine . The French fleet under Hoche was unable to land troops because of fierce and prolonged gales , and had to put to sea again .

In the year 1822 , our people took up arms again . Poor weapons they had , pikes and old unreliable muskets . They refused to pay the tithe rent and prepared to resist as best they could . As a preliminary they decided to raid for arms the 'Big Houses' of the Planters in the neighbourhood of Bantry town . While engaged in this enterprise , word was conveyed to the military authorities in both Bantry and Macroom .

At that time a company of the Rifle Brigade occupied barracks in Inchigeela . All took the field , the Muskerry and Bantry Yeoman included , and proceeded to round up our men who had just reached their own area south of the Pass of Ceimaneigh ....... (MORE LATER).




TWISTS.......

[from ' The Sunday Tribune ' , 20th April , 1997 , page 1]


....... Speaking at his partys Ard Fheis , Fianna Fail leader Bertie Ahern stated ---


--- " No-one , no-one , is welcome in this party if they betray the public trust . I say this and I mean this with every fibre of my being . "

NEWSFLASH

, Bertie --- Your "being" is all outta "fibre" !




.......AND TURNS ---->

[from 'AP/RN' , 23rd April , 1998 , page 8]


<---- Speaking at their Ard Fheis that year (1998) , Derry Councillor for Provisional Sinn Fein Mary Nelis stated ---


--- " The British mindset was for disengagement ; the British have decided to leave but they don't know by what road so they're going about it in a roundabout sort of way . "


That's some bleedin' "roundabout" , Mary -- after over 800 years they're still stuck on it .......

---

¶ 7:26 AM

  THE FIRST IRISH REPUBLICAN NEWSPAPER -
' THE NORTHERN STAR ' : 1792 - 1797 .



In September , 1791 , a young Trinity College graduate from Kildare , Theobald Wolfe Tone , issued a pamphlet entitled - ' An Argument on Behalf of the Catholics in Ireland '.

The fact that Tone was a Protestant and had called for a " brotherhood of affection , a communion of rites and union of power among Irishmen of every religious persuasion , and thereby to obtain a complete reform of the legislature founded on principles of political and religious liberty " ensured that he quickly came to national attention .

Within weeks , societies of ' United Irishmen ' were being established in the country ....... (MORE LATER).




WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :

war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.

By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.


THE LITTLE FIELDS.......


".......one of the more humane British Army Commanders , Sir John Moore , said of British involvement in Irish affairs --- " If I were an Irishman , I would be a rebel......."



" His own people did not appreciate his humanity , but Michael O' Dwyer ( Irish Rebel leader ) of Wicklow did when he released him after capture , and Soult , Marshal of France , paid him tribute by erecting a monument over his grave at Corunna . The year 1803 saw Emmet's attempt to throttle British power at its source in Dublin . Its failure was succeeded by the usual intensified crushing of body and spirit .

The year 1602 had also seen the end of the Irish system of laws which had functioned for fifteen-hundred years . They were replaced by a penal system , every modification of which was intended to improve on or supplant some feature thought to be over-merciful to the people . One of the most hated enactments was the Tithe Law which made it compulsory on the people , almost entirely Catholic , to pay one-tenth of their meagre means of subsistence towards the support of an alien Church .

The people of our area were always ready to grasp at any opportunity to assert their rights by force of arms . In 1796 they heard of the coming of the French fleet to Bantry Bay ( Cork ) to aid them , and grasped the poor arms they possessed . They were well watched , however , by the combined forces of the regular British Army and Yeomanry of the Barony of Muskerry ......." (MORE LATER).




DIZZY DOYLE's DATA DEFINATELY DISFUNCTIONAL.......

[from ' The Phoenix Magazine ,' 23rd May - 5th June , 1997 , page 18]


Speaking to an international conference on the Irish 'Famine' , hosted by the Leinster House Administration at Dublin Castle recently , Avril Doyle ( Free State Minister of State and Chairperson of the 'Famine' Commemoration Committee at the time ) , stated ---


--- " It would be all too easy to develop an exaggerated rhetoric of blame , a callow descent into easy sentimentality , in which we can all wallow luxuriantly as vicarious victims of the Famine (sic) , rather than as its beneficiaries . The one million dead left few descendants . The bulk of Famine (sic) victims' descendants are not in Ireland but scattered across the globe . It is also too facile to blame every modern Irish ill , from schizophrenia to alcoholism , on the Famine (sic) , degenerating into a maudlin culture of complaint . "


UNBELIEVABLE ! THAT is the Free State mentality --- the ' Great Hunger ' was an " exaggerated rhetoric " full of " sentimentality " from which the Irish were the " beneficiaries " !!


AND there's more --- In 1996 , speaking at the launch of the Leinster House 'Famine' (sic) commemoration programme , the same Avril Doyle described the 'Famine' (sic) as --- " A shared British-Irish experience " !


In much the same way , no doubt , that the Holocaust was 'a shared German-Jewish experience' , perhaps.......

---

¶ 7:25 AM

  THE BRITISH ' MILITARY SERVICE (No. 2) BILL 1918 ' ---
IRISHMEN TO FIGHT FOR ENGLAND........



.......the Catholic Hierarchy and the Trade Union movement organised a joint 'day-of-action' to show the level of opposition that existed to the British Conscription Act in Ireland ; on Tuesday , 23rd April , 1918 , the whole country practically closed down.......



Huge anti-conscription open-air rallies took place over the following week , and the British were left in no doubt that their Conscription Act would not be accepted ; in early May 1918 , Westminster instructed their 'governing executive' in Dublin Castle to vacate the premises , and a 'new broom' was put in place -- Lord French .

The new man and his staff soon realised that the Irish were not for turning in relation to the imposition of Conscription ; by this stage the population was of one voice , with guarantees being issued at every rally " that limits would not be placed on the means used to resist conscription . "

Within days , the British had backed-off ; they introduced a publicity campaign for their new 'recruitment drive' in Ireland and abandoned in total their previously-held intention to conscript Irishmen into the British armed forces . The ' Military service (No.2) Bill 1918 ' was heard of no more .


[END].



WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :

war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.

By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.


THE LITTLE FIELDS.......


" .......the Irish were , once again , fighting the land to make it arable . But there were other forces turned against them ....... "



" On the first day of the New Year , 1603 , O'Sullivan Beare , the last Irish military leader to tread the land , passed northwards through Ballingeary , Kilnamartyra and Ballyvourney on his last fiery trail into history . Military resistance , for the old Irish , was finished for many a weary year to come .

Wars there were , that helped in the further destruction of the natives and the confiscation of their lands . But there were wars between English rulers , and it mattered little to the people which gained the mastery . Men like Eoghain Rua O'Neill and Sarsfield wasted their lives and talents fighting for Charles 1 . It was not until the year 1798 that a serious attempt was made to shake off the yoke of the foreigner .

It was a military failure , yet it was a victory in every other way . It showed the people , the enemy , and the world that the utmost repression and barbarity of penal laws could not , though maintained for centuries , bring the people to their knees . Sir John Moore of Corunna , humane and gallant British soldier , who witnessed the brutalities of the soldiery and yeomanry of 1798 , exclaimed : " If I were an Irishman , I would be a rebel . " (MORE LATER).




'SPENCE' FORCE.......

[from ' New Hibernia ' magazine , July 1985 , page 11]


During an interview , the then Ulster Volunteer Force leader 'Gusty' Spence stated ---

--- " I was a fascist . There was a lot of fascism in the Ulster Volunteer Force . "


And that fascism is still there ; it is part of the British imperialistic nature .




.......AND SPENT FORCE ---->

[from ' AP/RN ' , 30th July , 1992 , page 13]


<---- British Army Brigadier A.E.C. Bredin said in 1987 ---


--- " Whatever solution is arrived at in Ireland , it is axiomate that the British Government can ever allow a united Ireland . We must be realistic - Britain's welfare comes before Irish unity . "


Is'nt Brigadier Bredin an awful silly-billy altogether ? He does'nt realise that the issue of Irish unity is not his decision !

---

¶ 7:27 AM

  THE BRITISH ' MILITARY SERVICE (No. 2) BILL 1918 ' ---
IRISHMEN TO FIGHT FOR ENGLAND........


......the anti-conscription campaign was in full swing ; the Catholic Hierarchy met in Maynooth on Sunday , 21st April , 1918 , to discuss their support for the campaign .......


It was agreed , by the Catholic Hierarchy , to use their contacts in the Trade Union movement to take the issue further ; the 'Irish Trade Union Congress' was contacted immediately and both the Catholic Church and the Congress called for a one-day , all-out strike , to take place two days later (ie Tuesday , 23rd April , 1918) to show the British the level of opposition in Ireland to their ' Conscription Act ' .

The one-day strike was a massive success --- the whole country practically closed down : shops did'nt open , factories remained closed , newspapers were not published , trains remained in the station and no-one turned-up to operate the trams . Huge anti-conscription open-air rallies took place over the following week ........ (MORE LATER).



WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :

war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.

By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.


THE LITTLE FIELDS.......


".......the British used the land for sport ; they had no interest in the work that the native Irish put in to turn a wicked mountain-side in to a piece of land on which they could 'survive' ....... "


" Having cleared an area which had disputed every inch with them , the people could not afford to relax their heart-breaking toil and vigilance to any extent . For the nature of the soil was such that its desire to return to its former state was unappeasable . Like a genuine wild creature , it was untameable .

Did one but turn one's back on it for but a short time , the rushes and the furze and the heather appeared above its surface . Even the rock that had been passed over 'grew' again . I remember an old man's comment on the reclamation of a particularly boulder-infested patch . He stood watching the crowbar work for a while and then , referring to the soil , said -- " It is hard . Do ye think ye will be able to release it ? "

Yet there was little soil to release compared with the volume of stone . The other forces massed against the people since , let us say , the year after the Battle of Kinsale in 1601 , were the alien forces that had driven them to the rocks . " (MORE LATER).



HONEST.......

[from ' Hot Press ' magazine , Volume 16 , No.11 , 2nd July , 1992 , page 12]


In an interview , Free State Senator Brendan Ryan stated --

-- " We are very wealthy . My wife is a psychiatrist and I'm a lecturer . I personally have never known deprivation . (Wealth) has corrupted me to a certain extent . You step further and further from common reality and further into a minority view of the world . "

An honest politician ?? The man should've been a Priest ! But then again .......



.......TO GOD ---->

[from ' The Evening Press ' newspaper , 19th June , 1992 -- a Friday , if memory serves -- page 8]


Catholic Priest Fr. Vincent Kiss apparently siphoned off over one-million punts from charity funds to pay for his lavish lifestyle -- he earned £20,000 a year , but cashed cheques worth £250,000 and owned a luxury house in Australia and another in the Philippines !

And why not ? Sure has'nt GOD got loads'a houses too !

---

¶ 7:29 AM

  THE BRITISH ' MILITARY SERVICE (No. 2) BILL 1918 ' ---
IRISHMEN TO FIGHT FOR ENGLAND........


......on 16th April , 1918 , conscription was made law in Ireland --; John Redmond's 'Irish Parliamentary Party ' withdrew from Westminster in protest and , on 18th April , 1918 , the ' IPP ' joined with Sinn Fein and the Irish Labour Party in signing an anti-conscription pledge .......



Arthur Griffith and Eamonn de Valera signed the anti-conscription pledge on behalf of Sinn Fein , John Dillon and Joseph Devlin signed for the Irish Parliamentary Party , William O'Brien and Tim Healy signed for the ' All for Ireland League ' and Bill O'Brien signed for the Irish Labour Party .

The following Sunday (21st April , 1918) , copies of the Pledge were taken around the country to church doors with the support of the Catholic Hierarchy -- this was the same Catholic Hierarchy which , prior to the 1916 Rising ( and , indeed , in most cases, after the Rising ) had allowed their names to be printed on recruiting posters urging Irishmen to join the British Army !

On that same Sunday ( ie 21st April , 1918 ) the Catholic Hierarchy were holding a meeting in Maynooth and voiced their support for the anti-conscription campaign --- they discussed other methods by which they could highlight their case ....... (MORE LATER).




WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :

war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.

By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.


THE LITTLE FIELDS.......


".......the Irish were still being hounded by the British 'landlords' and their agents ; but the Irish still had rebel blood in them and would strike back when it suited them ......."



" My uncle , Dan Harrington , often told me of a little incident which reveals an honest Englishman's opinion of both the integrity of the 'landlord' and the quality of the land he lorded over . One day when about twelve years old , Dan met a 'landlord' and party shooting woodcock . Anxious to see this, for him , unusual pastime , he stood on a rock to watch the proceedings . The game was plentiful and his point of vantage being excellent , he stayed on it .

Presently , the 'landlord' and one of his guests , a British Army Captain , also mounted the rock to rest and survey the activities of their companions . The Captain's eyes ranged over the terrain . At length , he spoke -- " Sir Augustus ," he said , " did I hear you say that you took rents from the people about here ? "

" Oh, yes, " replied Sir Augustus Warren , " the land about here is very good ." The Captain looked at him and said -- " GOOD ? Good ? Egad sir , it is . For cock-shooting , perhaps ! "

The forces of nature arrayed against the people were indeed formidable and unrelenting . My father told me how the little fields were made ......." (MORE LATER).




GOOD APPLES.......

[from ' AP/RN ' , 4th June , 1992 , page 5]


....... According to Church of Ireland Primate , Dr. Robin Eames , it was " the failure of the few " which allowed the " good name " of the Ulster Defence Regiment ( a pro-British militia in the Six Counties ) to suffer !

The good Primate is also said to believe that if you put a good apple into a barrel of bad apples , the latter will revert to a near-perfect state !



.......IN A ROTTEN ORCHARD ---->

[from ' Hot Press Magazine ', Volume 16 , No.10 , 18th June , 1992 , page 47]


<---- Canadian Bishop Hubert O'Connor resigned in 1991 after charges were pressed alleging that he had raped two women ; in Newfoundland in 1991 , four 'Christian Brothers' and ten Diocesan Priests were found guilty of child sexual abuse at the Mount Cashel Orphanage .

In New Orleans in America , a Fr. Dino Cinel , an italian-born Catholic Priest , allegedly made pornographic videos of teenage boys in his rectory and sold photographs of the boys to porno mags -- the District Attorney , Harry Connick , a Catholic , admitted in an interview that he had originally been unwilling to prosecute Fr. Cinel because he did not want to embarrass " Holy Mother Church " !

How mis-guided -- the District Attorney would have done " Holy Mother Church " a true favour had he prosecuted the Priest at the earliest opportunity . What was he waiting for -- a bad apple to go good ?

---

¶ 7:24 AM

  THE BRITISH ' MILITARY SERVICE (No. 2) BILL 1918 ' ---
IRISHMEN TO FIGHT FOR ENGLAND........


....... the ' Military Service (No. 2) Bill 1918 ' was put forward in Westminster for discussion on 9th April , 1918 , by British Prime Minister , Lloyd George , as was the so-called ' Home Rule Bill ' . On 16th April , 1918 , the Bills were approved .......



John Redmond's ' Irish Parliamentary Party ' withdrew from the British Parliament in Westminster in protest --- Redmond and his followers had no objection to encouraging Irishmen to join the British Army and fight their wars for them (even if that meant Irishmen in a British Army uniform being stationed in Ireland !) but could not be seen to be part of a system which forced Irishmen to join the British Army .

Redmond knew that without the 'platform' offered by Westminster on which to broadcast his and the ' Irish Parliamentary Party's ' presence , he would loose ground to the Sinn Fein party --- so he joined with Sinn Fein and the Irish Labour Party in compiling a joint anti-conscription pledge in the Mansion House in Dublin , on 18th April , 1918 , in the presence , and with the support of , the then Lord Mayor of Dublin , Laurence O'Neill . (MORE LATER).




WHERE MOUNTAINY MEN HAVE SOWN :

war and peace in rebel Cork ,
in the turbulent years 1916-21.

By Micheal O'Suilleabhain : published 1965.


THE LITTLE FIELDS.......



".......the British invader had forced the Irish from their farms ; the Irish forged new farms on the sides of mountains -- the British wanted them , too , and classed such farms as " holdings " which " belonged " to the British ' landlords ' --- the British also used the Irish " tenants " as free labour ....... "



" The British 'landlord' "owned" the wild birds of the air and all the ground game . Woe to the man or boy caught chasing a hare or setting a trap or snare . The penalty was meted out according to the humour of the particular 'landlord' , he being also the local dispenser of British 'justice' . I can cite an instance , from living witnesses , where the 'landlord's' gamekeeper saw a young man crossing one of the Derrynasaggart mountains , accompanied by a greyhound . He shot the young man with a rifle and killed him . The gamekeeper was never brought to trial before a court . He left the country , and there the matter ended .

I am happy to relate , however , that some spirited young men from the parish of Ballyvourney crossed the Kerry border and , driving the 'landlord' and his men before them into the Big House , they laid siege to it . A strong party of armed police soon intervened to effect a timely rescue . " (MORE LATER).




OLD.......

[from ' The Sunday Tribune ' Magazine , 8th March , 1992 , page 4]


During the (first) Gulf War , while (the then) British Foreign Secretary , 'Sir' Geoffrey Howe , was boring the British 'House of Commons' with " deep expressions of concern " etc etc about the " savagery of Saddam Hussein " , the then British Minister for Trade , Alan Clark , was entertaining British exporters to Iraq and showing them how to fill in their forms so as to dodge the arms embargo !


British 'suit' --- " Paperwork , you say , chaps ? Oh those forms ! Jolly nuisance , I agree . Only for the bean-counters upstairs , you understand , HAR-HAR ! "




.......WARS---->

[from ' AP/RN ', 23rd April , 1992 , page 7]


<---- " Talks which do not seek to end partition and the British connection , the Union , are a waste of time for Nationalist Ireland . The Unionist veto needs to be removed , not reinforced . "


--- so said Gerry Adams , during his speech at the Provisional Sinn Fein Easter Commemoration in Belfast that year (1992) . ' End partition , break the Union , remove the Unionist veto ' --- ah , those were the days , Gerry, . Shame you turned your back on them .

---

¶ 8:16 AM