1169 and counting....
Friday, February 24, 2006
THE FRENCH REVOLUTION AND THE IRISH STRUGGLE .......This article is based on a lecture delivered by Sean O Bradaigh in Dublin on January 21 , 1989 , marking the 70th Anniversary of the founding of the First (All-Ireland) Dail Eireann in the Mansion House on January 21 , 1919 , and the links between Irish and French Republicans - 'Partners in Revolution' 200 years ago .
Published in 1989 by Sean Lynch , Cleenrath , Aughnacliffe , County Longford , on behalf of the County Longford Branch of the National Graves Association .
By Sean O Bradaigh .
Liberte ! Egalite ! Fraternite ! Ou La Mort ! ( (Freedom ! Equality ! Brotherhood ! or Death!).
Unite Indivisibilite De La Republique !
On the day Castlebar was liberated - August 27 , 1798 , James Napper Tandy sailed from Dunkerque with 270 French Grenadiers and a large quantity of weapons , powder and artillery , on board the corvette 'Anacreon' , reputed to be the fastest vessel in the French Navy .
They landed near Burtonport , County Donegal on September 16 , 1798 but , on hearing of General Humbert's defeat at Ballinamuck , they withdrew . On September 21 , 1798 , the ships Captain landed Napper Tandy at Bergen in Norway , from where , en route to France by land , he arrived in Hamburg , then a neutral state , on November 22 , 1798 .
It was there that Napper Tandy was arrested and protracted extradition proceedings followed ; the British arrogantly demanded that he be handed over for 'trial' - eventually , he was extradited on October 1 , 1799 : but French retribution was swift - they re-called their 'charge d'affaires' and Consul in Hamburg immediately . Hamburg's representatives in France were given 24 hours to quit their residences and eight days to leave the country !
This all coincided with the return of Napoleon Bonaparte from Egypt and his assumption of power as First Consul of France .......
(MORE LATER).
THE UNBROKEN LINKS IN THE IRISH REPUBLICAN CHAIN ....... By Martin Calligan.
(No year of publication.)
Tom Clarke served 14 years under the most brutal conditions in an English prison for his part in a bombing campaign in England .
Eamonn Kent stated - " I leave for the guidance of other Irish revolutionaries who will thread the path that we have trod - this advice - never treat with this enemy , never surrender to their mercy : fight to a finish . This enemy has never cherished one generous thought for those with poor equipment and small in numbers , who withstood their forces for one glorious week . I shrink not from death at daybreak ... "
Sean McDiarmada stated - " In a few hours I will join my comrades in a better world . I am sentenced to die in the morning : I die that Ireland might live . The job-hunters will condemn our action , but posterity will judge us right . "
In his address to the Court Martial , Thomas McDonagh said : " I chose to think that you have done your duty according to our rights in sentencing me to death and I accept your sentence with joy and pride since it is for Ireland I am about to die .... " The British occupation have never for more than a hundred years been compelled to confront in field of battle such formidable force . While Ireland lives the brain and the brawn of her manhood will strive to destroy the last vestige of British rule in Ireland .......
(MORE LATER).
BUTCHERS DOZEN .......A poem by Thomas Kinsella , written after Bloody Sunday .
From 'IRIS' magazine , March 1983 .
Then from left and right they came ,
more mangled corpses , bleeding , lame ,
holding their wounds : they chose their grounds -
ghost by ghost , without a sound .
One stepped forward , soiled and white :
" A bomber I . I travelled light , four pounds of nails and gelignite
about my person , hid so well - they seemed to vanish where I fell .
When the bullet stopped my breath , a doctor sought the cause of death :
he upped my shirt , undid my fly , twice he moved my limbs awry : and noticed nothing .
By and by a soldier , with his sharper eye , beheld the four elusive rockets -
stuffed in my coat and trouser pockets .
Yes , they must be strict with us ; even in death so treacherous ! "
(MORE LATER).
Thursday, February 23, 2006
THE FRENCH REVOLUTION AND THE IRISH STRUGGLE .......This article is based on a lecture delivered by Sean O Bradaigh in Dublin on January 21 , 1989 , marking the 70th Anniversary of the founding of the First (All-Ireland) Dail Eireann in the Mansion House on January 21 , 1919 , and the links between Irish and French Republicans - 'Partners in Revolution' 200 years ago . Published in 1989 by Sean Lynch , Cleenrath , Aughnacliffe , County Longford , on behalf of the County Longford Branch of the National Graves Association . By Sean O Bradaigh .Liberte ! Egalite ! Fraternite ! Ou La Mort ! ( (Freedom ! Equality ! Brotherhood ! or Death!).Unite Indivisibilite De La Republique ! " What Humbert achieved with small forces in a country where 100,000 men were available to fight against him , is simply amazing , and yet , it does not seem to have received the flattering recognition it deserved from History " . - Stuart Jones , English Historian .
Panic reigned as French snipers took over vantage points and picked off the bewildered enemy ; fierce sword and sabre duels ensued in the streets as a whole army fled in disarray , some to Hollymount and Tuam , and some cavalry did not stop till they reached Athlone ,County Westmeath , some 60 miles away !
British General Lake's personal baggage was found abandoned in the street ; well and truly and aptly were the events of that day called the 'Races of Castlebar' ! Sections of the Longford and Kilkenny militias turned their coats and hoisted the green flag : French Captain Jobit estimated the numbers who changed sides at 574 men : for this , many of them were singled out afterwards for particularly brutal treatment and execution .
Irish militia man Gunner James Magee of County Longford was probably the most famous of them .(MORE LATER).
THE UNBROKEN LINKS IN THE IRISH REPUBLICAN CHAIN ....... By Martin Calligan.(No year of publication.)Ireland has fertile fields , underveloped minerals - oil , gas and fish in our waters . Foreign fish-factory boats now will destroy our fishing beds while it is illegal for Irishmen to fish in their own waters . We have thousands unemployed while four out of every five items in our shops are foreign goods .
We have a so-called 'Head of (a 26-County) State' called 'President of Ireland' , yet not a single person in the Six Counties ever had a say in the matter ! ('1169...' Comment.... except , no doubt , the British 'powers-that-be' !) We have a so-called 'Peace Process' and yet innocent people murdered month after month by British and pro-British death squads . Our Martyred dead are an embarrassment to the pro-British media in the 26 Counties .
Padraig Pearse said - " We proclaim the Irish Republic ......may your children enjoy the happiness and prosperity which only freedom can bring . I am not afraid to face the judgement of God or posterity ....... " (MORE LATER).
BUTCHERS DOZEN .......A poem by Thomas Kinsella , written after Bloody Sunday . From 'IRIS' magazine , March 1983 .There in a ghostly pool of blood a crumpled phantom hugged the mud : 'Once there lived a hooligan - a pig came up and away he ran , here lies one in blood and bones , who lost his life for throwing stones ' .
More voices rose : I turned and saw three corpses forming , red and raw , from dirt and stone each upturned face stared unseeing from its place -
' Behind this barrier , blighters three , we scrambled back and made to flee : the guns cried 'STOP' , and here lie we ' .(MORE LATER).
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
THE FRENCH REVOLUTION AND THE IRISH STRUGGLE .......This article is based on a lecture delivered by Sean O Bradaigh in Dublin on January 21 , 1989 , marking the 70th Anniversary of the founding of the First (All-Ireland) Dail Eireann in the Mansion House on January 21 , 1919 , and the links between Irish and French Republicans - 'Partners in Revolution' 200 years ago .
Published in 1989 by Sean Lynch , Cleenrath , Aughnacliffe , County Longford , on behalf of the County Longford Branch of the National Graves Association .
By Sean O Bradaigh .
Liberte ! Egalite ! Fraternite ! Ou La Mort ! ( (Freedom ! Equality ! Brotherhood ! or Death!).
Unite Indivisibilite De La Republique !
" We present ourselves as sincere friends to all who will embrace the cause of liberty and we thirst after nothing but breaking your fetters and chastising your tyrants " - General Lazare Hoche .
A forced march by night across the mountains in torrents of rain ; a surprise attack at dawn ; and a masterly assault by General Sarrazin on the British 'defenders' ' left flank gave warning of what was to come : brave Mayo men faced pounding artillery with nothing but pikes hammered out by skilled blacksmiths who had worked night and day for five days .
To confuse the enemy further , General Humbert suddenly changed tactics - he launched his full reserve , and changed from closed formation to open files . Rising up in his saddle , and brandishing his sword , he gave the order , in Irish - " Eirinn go Brach ! " The drums sounded the 'pas de charge' and a blue line , now within a few paces of the enemy , regrouped back into closed lines and moved swiftly forward , their bayonets gleaming in the morning sun , a fierce and threatening determination in their countenances .
The famed army of the French Revolution was here in the fields of Mayo : veterans of many victorious campaigns on the continent , men who had endured much and who believed passionately in their cause . They had measured their enemy and marked them down as ' the defenders and upholders of tyranny and injustice' . The Sasanaigh and their Irish militias and Yeomen hesitated , and then turned their backs and fled in terror .......
(MORE LATER).
THE UNBROKEN LINKS IN THE IRISH REPUBLICAN CHAIN ....... By Martin Calligan.
(No year of publication.)
We know that when Cromwell came to Ireland he slaughtered men , women and children ; that he uprooted the natives and gave their lands and property to his soldiers - later called 'the Gentry' .
Under the Government Act 1920 , Britain drew a border around six counties , so that a minority of Cromwells descendants would always have a parliamentary 'majority' in a contrived puppet State , now they have a veto . The Twenty-Six County State operates within the structures of the British system ; their policies are based on foreign investments . You can never have prosperity here , multi-nationals will only come if assured a good profit and are under no obligation to pay a decent wage out of their huge profit .
You read in the capitalist press that unemployment is down and again that such a factory has closed making hundreds redundant ; since joining the Brussels block this State's prosperity has depended on handouts - other peoples money . There is no such thing as free money - someone must pay , but not the rancher farmer and his like ; their pressure groups saw to that . The small farmers only got the crumbs , and now those crumbs are getting scarce - the rich refusing to pay . This States' Agricultural Policy is dictated by Brussels - potato's and vegetables are imported from abroad , while those depending on 'free money' have'nt even got a hen !
Such a policy leaves no future for your children .......
(MORE LATER).
BUTCHERS DOZEN .A poem by Thomas Kinsella , written after Bloody Sunday .
From 'IRIS' magazine , March 1983 .
' I went with anger at my heel
through Bogside of the bitter zeal
- Jesus pity! - on a day
of cold and drizzle and decay .
A month had passed . Yet there remained
a murder smell that stung and stained ,
on flats and alleys - over all -
it hung . On battered roof and wall ,
on wreck and rubbish scattered thick ,
on sullen steps and pitted brick .
And when I came where thirteen died
it shrivelled up my heart . I sighed ,
and looked about that brutal place
of rage and terror and disgrace :
then my moistened lips grew dry -
I had heard an answering sigh .......
(MORE LATER).
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
THE FRENCH REVOLUTION AND THE IRISH STRUGGLE .......This article is based on a lecture delivered by Sean O Bradaigh in Dublin on January 21 , 1989 , marking the 70th Anniversary of the founding of the First (All-Ireland) Dail Eireann in the Mansion House on January 21 , 1919 , and the links between Irish and French Republicans - 'Partners in Revolution' 200 years ago .
Published in 1989 by Sean Lynch , Cleenrath , Aughnacliffe , County Longford , on behalf of the County Longford Branch of the National Graves Association .
By Sean O Bradaigh .
Liberte ! Egalite ! Fraternite ! Ou La Mort ! ( (Freedom ! Equality ! Brotherhood ! or Death!).
Unite Indivisibilite De La Republique !
Castlebar was defended by a huge English army : the Kerry Militia ; the Galway Yeomanry ; the Sixth Foot Regiment ; the Frazer Fencibles ; Lord Roden's Dragoons (known as the 'Foxhunters') ; the Kilkenny Militia ; the Longford Militia ; the Fencible Cavalry ; the Prince of Wales Fencibles ; the Fencible and Royal Irish Artillery - in all an army of at least 4,000 men , of whom 600 were superbly mounted cavalry .
There was no shortage of 'top brass' , either - General Lake , 'the Butcher of Wexford' , Commander of His Majesty's forces in Ireland ; General Hutchinson , Commander of His Majesty's forces in Connacht ; Lord Ormond ; Lord Granard ; Lord Longford (Pakenham) . A later Pakenham in his book ' The Year Of Liberty' declares that they were all "...totally outclassed by Humbert . "
Captain Jobit , who kept a diary of the expedition , described Castlebar as "...a tough nut to crack , for a little army like ours .. " - between 800 and 900 French and about 700 or 800 untrained but determined pikemen from many parts of County Mayo .......
(MORE LATER).
THE UNBROKEN LINKS IN THE IRISH REPUBLICAN CHAIN ....... By Martin Calligan.
(No year of publication.)
On his way to the South of Ireland , Michael Collins called on Tom Malone - alias Sean Forde - to end the so-called Civil War , the last thing the British wanted , for they had supplied the guns and the ex-Black 'n Tans to put over the 26-county State .
Emmet Dalton joined the British Army and during an attack in France an Officer was killed ; Dalton took over and repelled the attackers , for which he was decorated and sent to join Sir Henry Wilson , a position of trust . Back in Dublin after the war , Emmet Dalton offered to help the IRA .
Sean McKeown was under sentence of death in Mountjoy Jail ; five British soldiers collected meat from the abettor each day under orders that the driver and sentry would not leave the armoured car , but they did not oblige , and Dalton drove to Mountjoy Jail , got past the two gates - but the alarm was raised . How did they get past the two gates and the sentry ? When State papers were released after 50 years , General McReidy had stated 'never any danger ...we know in advance' . It was a British move to endear Emmet Dalton to Michael Collins ; Dalton was a member of MI5 - he went away with an MI5 man's wife who had his papers .
Michael Cunningham in his book stated that it was seen in the papers in her possession where the British Government had paid a large sum of money for the killing of Michael Collins . Emmet Dalton was in charge of Collins' bodyguards at Beal Na Blath ; he took Collins' remains to a British Military hospital and stated that the bullet was fired from a distance , and had only sufficient strength to penetrate his skull ; but Nurse Gordon , who washed Collins' wounds , testifies to one entry and one exit wound , and that the bullet was fired so close that his hair was singed .......
(MORE LATER).
INFORMERS : The RUC's Psychological War ....... From 'IRIS' magazine , March 1983.
By Sean Delaney.
It also needs to be emphasised however , and re-emphasised , that the RUC's use of informers , and the manipulation of the Northern legal system to suit their ruthless and pragmatic ends , is not a new phenomenon but simply a new face on the unchanging nature of British repression in Ireland . Republican resistance - which despite the use of informers in a few cases to date against loyalists , is the primary target of the RUC - has shown itself well able to counter all those aspects of repression over the past twelve years and more : internment , Castlereagh , Diplock Courts , H-Blocks , assassinations , and to continue its war of revolutionary attrition . ('1169...' Comment - the Provisionals' 'war of revolutionary attrition' is now been 'fought' only from within the walls of three parliaments which were each established by the British . 'Revolutionary...' ?)
The Nationalist community as a whole , which has borne the brunt of British Army and RUC military and political repression over the same period , can and should mobilise now to counter this futher attack on the freedom struggle in Ireland and , as can almost certainly be done , make the British use of paid informers - with all of their sordid retinue of bribes , immunity and 'schooled' 'evidence' - too expensive a tactic , in terms of its political consequences , to be worth the effort .
[END of 'INFORMERS : The RUC's Psychological War' .]
(Tomorrow : 'BUTCHERS DOZEN' - from 1983.)
Monday, February 20, 2006
THE FRENCH REVOLUTION AND THE IRISH STRUGGLE .......This article is based on a lecture delivered by Sean O Bradaigh in Dublin on January 21 , 1989 , marking the 70th Anniversary of the founding of the First (All-Ireland) Dail Eireann in the Mansion House on January 21 , 1919 , and the links between Irish and French Republicans - 'Partners in Revolution' 200 years ago .
Published in 1989 by Sean Lynch , Cleenrath , Aughnacliffe , County Longford , on behalf of the County Longford Branch of the National Graves Association .
By Sean O Bradaigh .
Liberte ! Egalite ! Fraternite ! Ou La Mort ! ( (Freedom ! Equality ! Brotherhood ! or Death!).
Unite Indivisibilite De La Republique !
' Erin's sons be not faint-hearted
Welcome ! Sing then Ca ira
From Killala they are marching
To the tune of Viva La !
They come , they come , see myriads come
Of Frenchmen to relieve us ;
Seize , seize the pike , Beat , beat the drum
They come , my friends , to save us . '
The accounts written by the French Officers speak of their shock at the terrible conditions of the peasantry , and remark as well on the hospitality with which the poor people received them . Operations commenced immediately and the people of Mayo rallied in strength .
' Killala was ours ere the midnight
And high over Ballina town
Our banners in triumph were floating
Before the next sun had gone down .
We gathered to speed the good work then
The true men of near and afar
And history can tell how we routed
The Redcoats through old Castlebar . '
(MORE LATER).
THE UNBROKEN LINKS IN THE IRISH REPUBLICAN CHAIN ....... By Martin Calligan.
(No year of publication.)
Michael Collins was sending guns and men to the Six Counties : Collins is on record : " If we don't finish the war now , the money class that was never with us will take over . " Which they did .
Collins ordered the assassination of Sir Henry Wilson for exterminating Catholics in the Six Counties ; Tom Markham , a Clareman , was entrusted to go over the papers that the British left behind in Dublin Castle ; he discovered and left in writing the name of the leading British spy - Tim Healy .
Collins locked this information in a safe in Portobello Barracks , Dublin , and was to deal with Tim Healy on his return from the South of Ireland .......
(MORE LATER).
INFORMERS : The RUC's Psychological War ....... From 'IRIS' magazine , March 1983.
By Sean Delaney.
Even should the RUC and the Orange judiciary prove unable to consistently gain convictions against suspected Republicans , they may well continue to use the tactic both for its value in effectively interning large numbers of suspected Republicans on remand for lengthy periods , and for any 'value' they may try to squeeze out in terms of demoralising the Nationalist community .
It should also be viewed as significant that this co-ordinated 'psychological operations' campaign against Nationalist resistance - of which informers are a part - comes precisely at the time when Sinn Fein and the Republican struggle in general is mounting an intensified political challenge to the British administration in the North of Ireland and severely threatening the reformist approach of the SDLP . ('1169...' Comment - that "reformist approach" has since been copied by the Provisionals whom , like the SDLP , will make a well-paid career from the Struggle and , again like the SDLP , will be held accountable by future generations for becoming part of the problem , not part of its solution.)
The arrest of former Sinn Fein National Organiser Jim Gibney on the falsified 'evidence' of informer Kevin McGrady is only one aspect of that political attack by the British .......
(MORE LATER).
