WILLIAM ROONEY , poet and journalist ; 1872-1901 .......
....... William Rooney was 'on thin ice' in regards to speaking in favour of using political agitation to achieve an 'Irish Ireland' ; the sporting bodies he was affiliated too were politically 'shy' .......
William Rooney was not fully convinced by the arguments put forward by the various leaderships within the broad-based 'Irish Ireland Society' groupings that certain other organisations were either too militant , too Republican , and/or too anti-British for them , and should be worked 'around' , as opposed to being worked 'with' .
But William Rooney seemed to have a better understanding of where the Fenians , the IRB and the Invincibles , amongst others , were coming from , and recognised in those groups a 'kindred spirit' of sorts . He saw nothing wrong in promoting the objectives of the GAA , the IAA ('Irish Athletic Association'), the 'Gaelic League' etc through those 'kindred spirits' (ie at their meetings , in their literature and newspapers and in any other 'vehicle' associated with the 'militants/dissidents').
To do so was not encouraged , to put it mildly , by others within the 'Irish Ireland Societies' .......
(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.
COOLNACAHERA and COOMNACLOHY .......
".......During the ambush , one of the hostages held by the British troops dived for cover behind a fence ; a British Auxiliary stood over him , gun drawn , and shouted at the hostage to get up ......."
" Then the Brit standing over the hostage fell dead , shot by one of our riflemen . "Come over here" , shouted another Auxie to the hostage , "Lie down there" , he said , "don't go out . We'll get those fellows after a while . They only have rifles and revolvers ." Just then the Lewis-Gun spoke ... "By God !", shouted the Auxie, "the bastards have got the quick-firing gun !"
Everyone who saw the enemy coming could see that they knew they were nearing the spot where we were . Whether they actually saw something or someone near the extreme eastern or Macroom end of our position is a matter of doubt . At any rate two of them jumped off one of the slow-moving lorries and rushed up a heather-covered rock on the northern side . They were shot dead . Those two shots , of course, set the ball rolling . Had they crept forward another two-hundred yards , they would have been under fire from the whole IRA Column . As it happened , less than twenty men were engaged with the British troops , north of the road , while south of the road the Macroom men were fewer .
The fact that the enemy slowed down did much to rob us of speedy and complete victory ; that was but the fortune of war and we cannot blame the British Auxiliaries for acting on the information they had got that we were waiting for them . But the frailty of a member of our Column did far more that day to weaken our blows and at the same time strengthen the enemy - I am referring to the unspeakable "X" ......."
(MORE LATER).
PLASTIC BULLETS - The Child Killers .......
' In Northern Ireland (sic) six children were shot and killed with plastic bullets . Many more were severly injured . Jacinta O'Brien spoke to the families of these innocent victims of violence . '
From 'Womans Way' Magazine , 21st October 1983 , pages 11 , 12 , 13 , and 14 .
Reproduced here in 16 parts .
[16 of 16].
The Livingstone Family had been offered £1,500 then , days later , £17,500 , by the British Government to settle their case out of court ...
" We could'nt believe this , " said Mrs. Livingstone , " I did'nt understand how one judge could say our Julie was innocent and another judge say that she was'nt , but we were assured it could very easily happen . " The family took what was at the time the highest amount of compensation paid out for such an incident , but it was'nt a total victory ...
...No one was charged with Julie Livingstone's murder and the British Government has now indicated that it will be stopping the unemployment benefit the Livingstone family receive . There are five unemployed adults in the Livingstone household , which is normal for that area where there is fifty-per-cent unemployment .
" You can't win ," said Mrs. Livingstone looking out on her beautifully kept garden - her one joy in the strife-torn Lenadoon Estate .......
[END of ' PLASTIC BULLETS - The Child Killers .......'].
(Tomorrow - 'The Conviction of William Quinn' ; from 'Magill' magazine , 1988).
