Irish history , Irish politics - from today and yesterday : all 32 Counties !
Irish history , Irish politics - from today and yesterday : all 32 Counties !
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1169 and counting....
Saturday, March 22, 2008
"RIC Head Constable Peter Burke and his brother, Sgt Michael Burke are attacked by the IRA in public house(Mrs Smith's three miles outside Balbriggan, Co. Dublin). In retaliation, the Auxiliaries carry out reprisals in Balbriggan killing two suspected IRA men..." (From here.)
An RSF-organised Easter wreath-laying ceremony was held today (Saturday 22 March 2008) on the bridge in Balbriggan , County Dublin , in memory of Séamus Lawless and Séan Gibbons : about twenty-five republicans gathered on both sides of the bridge to take part in and watch the proceedings , which were chaired by Andy Connolly , Dublin RSF , who mentioned , amongst other things , that the men and women who decided to take on the might of the (then) 'British empire' did not do so in order that a British-sponsored Administration , staffed and maintained by Irish gombeens , should be established .
Six Special Branch men were present throughout the proceedings , and it was those same 'agents of the state' that later stopped a car belonging to one of the republicans as he and a few comrades were driving home following the wreath-laying ceremony and threatened to immediately impound the vehicle if two of his passengers "...did not get out of the vehicle NOW and stay out of it.." . Alternative arrangements were quickly made and the two passengers were looked after by supporters . This act of petty vindictiveness was condemned by RSF representatives present , who stated that such acts of harassment have not prevented republicans from remembering their dead in the past , and will not do so now either.
Getting sorted in Balbriggan , 2.15pm , Saturday March 22 , 2008 .
'Na Fianna Eireann' flag in Balbriggan , Saturday March 22 , 2008 .
Tricolour at the Republican Memorial on Balbriggan Bridge .
Wreath laid at the foot of the Memorial , Balbriggan Bridge .
A full report will be published in the April 2008 issue of 'Saoirse' , which will be published on the 9th of that month . Thanks! Sharon.
" The people were tired of the RIC and their overbearing , strutting tyranny . The 'Law' and the 'Force' . Yes , and the Crowbar and the Battering Ram . The Torch and the Buckshot . The Bayonet and the Bullet and the Baton . These tools had been always associated with the 'Law' . The 'Force' was the eyes and the ears and the power behind the 'Law' . This is how my mother taught me the English alphabet : A for the Army that covers the ground , B for the Buckshot we're getting all round . C for the Crowbar of cruel ill-fame , D for Davitt , a right glorious name...... "
It is in memory of , and to pay respectable homage to , the men and women of that era and , indeed , the men and women of today and of each generation over more than the last eight centuries , that the Republican Movement has organised , in Dublin , an Easter Monday Commemoration (24 March 2008) : those wishing to attend should assemble outside the Garden Of Remembrance in Parnell Square at 2pm , for a Parade to the GPO. All Welcome! (NOTE : Easter Saturday details here, Easter Sunday details here. )
ERNIE O'MALLEY : SOLDIER OF OGLAIGH na hEIREANN ....... Following the recent publication of O'Malley's third book 'Raids And Rallies', on the Tan War years 1920-1921 , Frances-Mary Blake , who edited the book and his earlier works , writes an appreciation of the man who wrote 'On Another Man's Wound' and 'The Singing Flame'. From 'IRIS' magazine , July 1983.
Ernie O' Malley was a fighter and a writer , scholar and farmer , involuntary Sinn Fein TD (elected for North Dublin while imprisoned in Mountjoy Jail in Dublin in 1923) , lover of literature and promoter of the arts : he kept two ideals throughout his life - the Irish Republic and personal development through the study of the many shades of beauty in the world .
His first volume of memoirs (to 1921) was published soon after his 1936 return to Ireland . The second book (1921-1924) made fresh historical reading as the first detailed and personal account of the Civil War years by a high-ranking republican , so 'The Singing Flame', only published in 1978 , is a rare new source for a poorly documented period in our history .
Released from the internment camp in July 1924 , he felt that in Cosgrave's Ireland - "...my name was enough to damn me.." and , until 1935 , he mostly travelled abroad , either aiding the Catalan separatists, or walking through Spain , France or Italy , to follow his love of art and architecture , music and mountains . In 1928 he had journeyed to America (with a false British passport) to help raise funds for a newspaper that he hoped would "...arouse the (Irish) nation's concern , that would give to the world outside Ireland the truth , aims and aspirations of the Irish people , instead of a misrepresentation that served the interests of the British." That project later ironically became 'The Irish Press' Group....... (MORE LATER).
BALLYMUN INTERVIEW....... From 'IRIS' magazine , July/August 1982.
Problems such as the high population turnover in Ballymun is affecting the local all-Irish school , Scoil an tSeachtar Laoch. This forces parents to take their children away from the school when they move and has hindered its further development , such as the ability to start a secondary school based on the present school's turnover . But a symbol of the school's permanence on the Ballymun landscape is the new school building which is expected to be finished later this year (1982) .
Different from other schools , which are run by a bureaucratic and inflexible board of governors , Scoil an tSeachtar Laoch is primarily run by a democratically elected and responsive parents' committee which meets fortnightly .
In addition to winning the All-Ireland schools' drama slogadh ('festival') six times out of seven , and winning for Ballymun three annual awards for the area that has done most to promote the use of Irish , the Ballymun school has provided the impetus for a growth in popularity of adult Irish classes , hurling and camogie throughout the housing estate . And , hopefully , further afield .
[END of 'BALLYMUN INTERVIEW'] (Next : 'Sixty Years Of Repression - An Outline History Of The RUC' ; From 1982)
OPERATIONAL COMMENTS OF A BRITISH ARMY OFFICER....... British Lieutenant-Colonel Michael Dewar of the Royal Green Jackets has served in Cyprus , Borneo and Malaya , as well as in the Occupied Six Irish Counties . He has written three previous books - 'Internal Security Weapons And Equipment Of The World' and 'Brushfire Wars'. The extracts reproduced here are from 'The British Army In Northern Ireland' , which was published by 'Arms and Armour Press' in 1985 . The underlined comments in this article are ours . This article reflects the operational thinking of a British military commander , more so than his political or ideological outlook. From 'IRIS' magazine , October 1987.
On the fourth day of the observation operation , the British Army Staff Sergeant in charge suspected that his 'Observation Post' close to the pub in Belleek had been spotted by a man entering the premises . Shortly afterwards a small boy came out of the pub , crossed the road and made straight for the derelict house where the 'Post' was located . The BA Staff Sergeant concluded that the security of the 'Post' had been compromised and evacuated the position promptly . Later , when the Staff Sergeant and his Lance-Corporal had temporarily left the radio-operator and the gunner in order to reconnoitre a new 'Observation Post' with a better view of the pub , they paused at a gap in a hedge which gave an excellent view of the surrounding countryside .
They noticed a dark-blue car pull up at House 'A' : four armed men wearing white hoods got out of the car . It was 9.40pm and the car had been hijacked earlier that evening from a car dealer's showroom . The two British Army men watched as the four armed men made their way carefully along the hedgerows to House 'B' . The men stopped outside the house , spoke to the occupants and then moved , two of them just south of the house and two a short distance to the east , where there were some concrete bunkers . The Staff Sergeant , who was caught off his balance , had to make some quick decisions . He was temporarily out of touch with his colleagues in both ' Observation Post' parties , had not got the extra fire-power of his two light machine-guns , and his communication equipment to contact his base was not to hand . The range - about 500 yards - was too great for the lance-corporal's rifle to be used to any real effect .
Without rapid reinforcement , the gunmen would probably make good their escape to the east if fired on . The British Army patrol commander resolved to report the situation to his Battalion Tactical HQ as quickly as possible and then to concentrate his men and their firepower in the excellent position overlooking the gunmen in order to pin them down . He left the lance-corporal to observe the four gunmen , instructing him to open fire only if they started moving away . The Staff Sergeant moved back through the bushes to his OP position 50 metres up the hill and , from there , he relayed the situation to his Battalion HQ through his supporting OP up the hill and ordered the latter to join him . Collecting all his men , he set out to rejoin the lance-corporal but , before he could reach him , the lance-corporal opened fire....... (MORE LATER).
Tony Blair's one-time sidekick , Jonathan Powell, is apparently claiming that Westminster practically 'wrote the script' for the so-called 'peace process' regarding the Six Occupied Counties in the north-east of this isle. Nothing new there -it seems that both the DUP and Westminster had more of an input to the PSF 'peace policy' than has been properly highlighted up until now.......
1169 And Counting....... An award-nominated Irish blog on Irish history and Irish politics - from today and yesterday : all 32 Counties ! Updated a number of times each week . (Mirror site here)
Included in the Archives of ' 1169 And Counting.....' is the following (use the ' GOOGLE SEARCHBOX ' , bottom of site , if ya really must read-up on these pieces! ) -* The British 'Military Service (No. 2) Bill 1918' - Irishmen to fight for England . * Dinny Lacey , 1890 - 1923 ; IRA Guerrilla . * ' Leo ' of 'The Nation' ; John Keegan Casey , 1846 - 1870 . * Dorothy Macardle - Irish Republican , Historian and Novelist : 1889 - 1958 . * Molly O'Reilly - GPO , 1916 . * Liam Lynch , IRA leader ; The Fermoy Attack , 1919 . * P.J. Smyth and the Tasmania Escape , 1853 . * Michael Scanlon - Poet and Fenian . * 1920 : Canon Magner , Cork , and the Black and Tans . * James Clarence Mangan : 1803 - 1849 . * James 'Skin-the-Goat' Fitzharris . * Fr. Luke Wadding , Author and Irish Republican . * Dr. William Walsh , Archbishop of Dublin - and Irish Republican . * Patrick O'Donoghue and 'The Irish Exile' Irish Republican newspaper , Australia . * Peter O'Neill Crowley ; Cork Fenian , killed by the British in Tipperary , 1867 . * Joseph Malone , Hunger-Striker , 1941 . * Richard Dalton Williams ; 'Shamrock' of 'The Nation' newspaper . * Tim Coughlan - IRA Volunteer , 1906 - 1928 : Shot Dead By IRA Informer , or Free State Agents ...? * Joseph Denieffe , 1833 - 1910 ; IRB Founder . * Jackie Griffith , 1921 - 1943 ; A Staunch Irish Republican . * Richie Goss , 1915 - 1941 ; A Revolutionary Irishman . * American Fenians - their plan to raid the Chester Castle Military Arsenal in England , 1867 . * Attempted Tunnel Escape From Cork Jail , 1940 . * The B-Specials , 1920 - 1970 . * 13 Hours In New Ross , Wexford - 5th June 1798 . * The First Irish Republican Newspaper - 'The Northern Star' , 1792 - 1797 . * Donegal 1861 ; Evictions under 'Deasy's Act'. * 1971 Prison Break ; 'Kangaroo's' in the Six Counties ! * Sunday , 26th July 1914 - On The Dublin Quays : British Soldiers Open Fire . * Stormont 'Talking-Shop' ; Not A New Failure : Belfast May 1998 - Dublin July 1917 . * A Rebel Priest - Fr. James O'Coigly ; 1762 - 1798 . * Irish Republican Law And Order ; The Court System , 1920 - 1922 . * British Propaganda , 1921 - Royal Irish Constabulary 'Newspaper' . * Patrick Egan - Founder of 'The Land League' , 1841 - 1919 . * Arthur O'Connor - United Irishman And General-Of-Division In Napoleon's Army , 1760 - 1852 . * Pat and Harry Loughnane , Galway - Tortured To Death By The Black And Tans , 1920 . * The Irish-American 'GROWL' : The 'AARIR' , 1920 - 1926 . * 'The Irish People' ; An Irish Rebel Newspaper , 1863 - 1865 . * William Putnam McCabe , 1775 - 1821 : A Determined Irish Rebel . * William Rooney , 1872 - 1901 : Poet And Journalist . * Joseph Brennan , 1828 - 1857 : 'Young Irelander' Leader . * John Sadleir and William Keogh - 19th Century Irish Turncoats . * July 15th , 1976 ; IRA Prisoners Escape From Dublin's 'Special Court' . * July - December 1921 : Revenge Attacks On Irish Republicans During The 'Truce' . * Philip Grey , 1827 - 1857 : An Irish Military Man . * Martin McDermott , 1823 - 1905 : Young Irelander . * Working Within British 'Law' With A Vow NOT To Use Force Against The British : Daniel O'Connell , 1843 - The Provisionals , 1994 To Date . * 'Tan War' Irish Republican Newspaper - 'An tOglach' , 1918 - 1921 . * July 29th , 1848 - RIC , Firearms , Pikes ; And Five Children . * Ireland , January 15th , 1920 - Elections . * 'The Press' Newspaper : October 1797-March 1798 ; Too Radical For The Radicals .... ? PLEASE NOTE -DO , by all means , feel free to copy or quote from ' 1169... ' if you want to : provided you credit the site ( other than that : do as the sign says! ) - Thanks , Sharon .
* The Boundary Commission , 1921 - 1925 : A British 'sleight-of-hand' which caused a mutiny within British forces in Ireland . * Murder Most Foul : Theobald Wolfe Tone - born June 20th , 1763 ~ died ....... ? * Five days in an IRA Training Camp....... * Censorship - Section 31 of The Broadcasting Act . * The RUC's 'paid perjurer' strategy . * To Westminster And Back - Gerry Fitt . * The GAA And The Hunger-Strikers. * The Long Kesh Escape - Sunday 25th September 1983 . * Fire And Brimstone : The DUP and Civil War ... (from 1985). * Politicos And Paramilitaries : Loyalists prepare for a strike ...(from 1986). * Preparing The Defence Of Ulster (sic) Loyalism - from 1984 . * Chaos In The Gardai - from 1986. * The Inevitability Of Sectarian Collison - George Seawright (DUP) interview , from May 1984 . * The IRA Has To Do What The IRA Has To Do - Danny Morrison (SF) interview , from September 1984 . * 17 Victims Of British Justice - from 1984. * The Interrogation Of Stephen Moore - from 1986. * A Gay View On Kincora - from 1984 . * Hunger-Striking Against Show-Trials -from 1986 . * The Sea Green Incorruptible - Seamus Mallon (SDLP) in Westminster : from 1986. * Na Fianna Eireann - from 'IRIS' magazine , 1981 . * Fianna Fail And The IRA Connection - from 'New Hibernia' magazine , Dec/Jan 1986/1987. * UDR's Rotten Apples - from 'The Phoenix' magazine , March 1984 . * 23 Days In Hell:The Story Of The O'Grady Kidnap - from 'Magill' magazine , May 1988 . * A History of Armagh Jail - from 'Women Behind The Wire' , 1984. * In The Shadow Of A Gunman : Sinn Fein The Workers Party - from 'Magill' magazine , 1982. * "Don't Let Them Break You , Love ... " : Strip-Searches in Armagh Jail - from 'Women Behind The Wire' magazine , 1984. * Where Sinn Fein Stands - Caretaker Executive statement , January 1970 . * Fr. Denis Faul : A Conniving , Treacherous Man... - from November 1981 . * The 1985 Anglo-Irish Agreement (Hillsborough Treaty) : The Shadow Of The Gunmen - from 'MAGILL' magazine , November 1985. * Entering Leinster House - A Veteran Speaks : statement from Comdt. General Thomas Maguire , 22nd October 1986 . * Informers : The RUC's Psychological War - from March 1983 . * Dublin Council of Trade Unions : Heroic Dublin! - from February 1986 . * Bloody Sunday - from 'Magill' magazine , February 1998 . * Butchers Dozen - Bloody Sunday poem . * The Unbroken Links In The Irish Republican Chain - By Martin Calligan . * 1913 : 75 Years After the Lock-Out ; from 1988. * Plus Ca Change : Haughey and Parnell - from 'MAGILL' magazine , 1998 . * Fianna Fail - The Mask Of De Valera : from 1989 . * The Simple Truth About The Irish Sugar Industry : from 1989 . * All At S.E.A. -A 'skit' on the 'Single European Act' - from 1987 . * Billy Wright , Loyalist Volunteer Force - from 1998 . * Liam Mellows And The Irish Civil War - from 1983 . * On The Take ! - Corrupt politics in the Free State . From 1988 . * The Extradition Sell-Out : from 1987 . * Sean O'Callaghan , Informer - from 1998 . * MacGiollas Guerrillas : The Workers Party and the OIRA - from 1987 . * Garda Gunfire : Who To Believe ? - from 1987. * Orange Judge Executed - from March 1983 . * The 26 Counties : A State But Not A Nation - from 1983. * Eoghan Harris : Out Of The Shadows - from 1997. * Eoghan Harris : Pillars of Society - from 1985. * "We Are All Part Of The Same Struggle" - by Margaret Ward : from 1983. * Republicans And Youth , by Jack Madden : from 'IRIS' magazine , 1983. * Shane Ross : Playing The Orange Card : from 'PHOENIX' magazine , 1984. * The Roman Reich : from 'In Dublin' magazine , October 1987. * The Right To Silence : from 'In Dublin' magazine , February 1987 . * The Rules Of Engagement - Inside The 'Peace' Talks : from 'Magill' magazine , 1997 . * Shoot-to-kill-The Unchanging Face Of Repression : from 'IRIS' magazine , 1983 . * Paddy Cooney's Army : from 'The Phoenix' magazine , 1984 . * The Kerry Garda Crisis : from 'The Phoenix' magazine , 1985. * The Quality of Justice is Strained : from 'New Hibernia' magazine , April 1987. * A Hard 'Oul Station - Life on the Streets : from 'New Hibernia' magazine , March 1987 . * More Questions Than Answers - Death In a Garda Station : from 'In Dublin' magazine , 1987. * Vincent Browne - Pillars Of Society : from 'The Phoenix' magazine , February 1985 . * The Wallace and Holroyd File : from 'New Hibernia' magazine , April 1987 . * The Strange State Killing of Maurice O'Neill : from 'Magill' magazine , 1999 . * The Heavy Hand of The Law : from 'Magill' magazine , 2003. * Lotteries And Other Hold-Ups : from 'New Hibernia' magazine , April 1987 . * The Younger Breed - Tony Gregory : from 'The Phoenix' magazine , February 1985 . * Passports , Please ! : from 'Magill' magazine , March 1999 . * Pillars Of Society - Michael O' Leary : from 'The Phoenix' magazine , April 1986. * Empires Of Dust - The British 'Empire' : from 'Magill' magazine , March 2003 . * Guns to Bread And Butter - The Officials : from 'Fortnight' magazine , October 1983 . * Disarming Martin - McGuinness Interview : from 'Magill' magazine , March 1999 . * The Seeds Of Another Bitter Harvest : from 'Fortnight' magazine , October 1983 . * Beyond Breakouts And Supergrasses : from 'Fortnight' magazine , October 1983 . * Veteran Irish Republican , Lily Moffatt , interviewed : from 'IRIS' magazine , 1982 . * The Provos At The Ballot Box : from 'Magill' magazine , June 1983 . * Sporting Nationalism - The Political Origins Of The GAA : from 'IRIS' magazine , November 1982 . * A People's Army - Women Volunteers In The IRA : from 'IRIS' magazine , November 1982 . * "Comrades , Brothers and Sisters" - Michael O' Riordan , Irish Communist : from 'MAGILL' magazine , June 1983 . * The Seeds Of A Police State : from 'Magill' magazine , September 1983 . * New Departures For Sinn Fein ? : from 'Gralton' magazine , Aug/Sept 1983 . * The World According To Gerry Adams : from 'In Dublin' magazine , August 1985 . * The Accusing Finger Of Raymond Gilmour : from 'Magill' magazine , August 1983 . * A Segregated Jail : from 'Iris' magazine , November 1982 . * Which Way Forward In The Free State ? : from 'Iris' magazine , November 1983 . * Troublesome Business - The British Labour Party And The 'Irish Question' : from 'Iris' magazine , November 1982 . * Glossary Of The Left In Ireland : from 'Gralton' magazine,August/September 1983 . * Young Bloods : Clare Daly - from 'Phoenix' magazine , September 2003 . * Derry : A City Besieged - from 'Fortnight' magazine , 1983 . * Death And Mystery ; John O'Shea , Kerry - from 'Magill' magazine , 2003 . * A Rough Beast ; Charles Haughey - from 'In Dublin' magazine , 1987 . * Out Of The Women's Ghetto - from 'Fortnight' magazine , October 1983 . * A Day At The Rent Court - from 'Gralton' magazine , 1983 . * 'The United Irishman' newspaper , January 1958 . * Sounding off : Comrades And Calculators - from 'Gralton' magazine, August/September 1983. * Crisis, What Crisis? - from 'IN DUBLIN' magazine, 'Election Special' , 1987. * The Prisons Of The Past - from 'MAGILL' magazine August 2003 . * Taking It Handy - from 'In Dublin' magazine Election Special, 1987. * Public Inquiry Into Our Greatest Scandal- from 'MAGILL' magazine, June 1998. * John Dunster At Windscale - from 'MAGILL' magazine , March 1986. * Nicky Kelly : High Court Judgement - from 'MAGILL' magazine , February 1986. * Henry Doherty Is 44 Days On Hunger Strike - from 'MAGILL' magazine , March 1986 . * Kerry Death Mystery - from 'The Phoenix' magazine ,January 2003. * Street Talk : Tony Gregory - from 'USI NEWS' magazine , February 1989. * A Question Of Liberation - from 'IRIS' magazine , November 1983 . * Republican Evictions - from 'MAGILL' magazine , June 1998 . * The Left Behind : The Labour Party - from 'In Dublin' magazine , 1987 . * Economy In Crisis : An Historical Perspective - from 'IRIS' magazine , 1982. * Divis Flats: Building Towards A Demolition Campaign - from 'IRIS' magazine , November 1983. * Prisoners Rights - The Mark Of A Civilised Society : from 'Fourthwrite' magazine, Autumn 2003. * Robert Emmet - The Darling Of Erin : from ''Fourthwrite' magazine, Autumn 2003. * A Portrait Of Ireland - from 'Republican Bulletin/Iris Na Poblachta' , November 1986. * The Eamonn Byrne Case - from 'Phoenix' magazine , 1983 . * King Of The Yuppie Heartland - from 'In Dublin' Election Special magazine,1987. * Toxic Waste In Kill , County Kildare - from 'The Phoenix' magazine , May 1983. * The Politics Of Repression - from 'IRIS' magazine, 1982. * The Catholic Hierarchy : Propping-Up The Orange State - from 'IRIS' magazine , 1983. * Ballymurphy Interview - from 'IRIS' magazine , July/August 1982. * Republican Mourners Defeat RUC - from 'IRIS' magazine , October 1987. * Operational Comments Of A British Army Officer - from 'IRIS' magazine , October 1987. * Ernie O'Malley : Soldier Of Oglaigh na hEireann - from 'IRIS' magazine , July 1983. * Sixty Years Of Repression : An Outline History Of The RUC - from 'IRIS' magazine , July/August 1982.
Getting sorted in Balbriggan , 2.15pm , Saturday March 22 , 2008 . 
'Na Fianna Eireann' flag in Balbriggan , Saturday March 22 , 2008 .
Tricolour at the Republican Memorial on Balbriggan Bridge .
Wreath laid at the foot of the Memorial , Balbriggan Bridge . 
EASTER COMMEMORATIONS , DUBLIN , 2008.
ERNIE O'MALLEY : SOLDIER OF OGLAIGH na hEIREANN .......
BALLYMUN INTERVIEW....... 
British Lieutenant-Colonel Michael Dewar of the Royal Green Jackets has served in Cyprus , Borneo and Malaya , as well as in the Occupied Six Irish Counties . He has written three previous books - 'Internal Security Weapons And Equipment Of The World' and 'Brushfire Wars' . The extracts reproduced here are from 'The British Army In Northern Ireland' , which was published by 'Arms and Armour Press' in 1985 . The underlined comments in this article are ours . This article reflects the operational thinking of a British military commander , more so than his political or ideological outlook. 
A 'NEW' VOICE REHASHES AN OLD STORY...
