IRELAND 1919 - "IRELAND TO WORK OUT HER OWN SALVATION".
On the 4th November, 1919, at a private meeting, Westminster's 'Irish Committee' presented its first report to its political bosses in the British Cabinet.
That committee was Chaired by a Mr Walter Hume Long (pictured, '1st Viscount Long, PC, JP, FRS, ETC ETC!) a British pro-Unionist politician, who also held positions as President of the Board of Agriculture, President of the Local Government Board, Chief Secretary for Ireland, Secretary of State for the Colonies and First Lord of the Admiralty ; a well-got jobsworth!
That first report formally recommended/proposed a policy of setting up two 'Home Rule parliaments', one in Dublin and one in Belfast, with a 'Council of Ireland' (composed of an equal number of members from North and South) which, it was claimed, would enable both 'parliaments' to deal with matters of common concern and eventually could - 'could', not would - provide a framework for possible unity (which, it was opined, would enable "Ireland to work out her own salvation" : the irony of Westminster offering to assist the Irish to decide our own future!).
However - because this was an internal government committee, these details were not yet introduced as a bill to the public so-called 'House of Commons' and, besides, the extent of territory which was to be 'under the jurisdictional control of the Belfast parliament' was left open ie 3 counties, 6 counties or the whole 9 counties of Ulster?
The Westminster-inspired 'Irish Committee' later admitted that its reason for advising that a 'Belfast Parliament' be established, rather than 'leaving the (snatched) territory under the Belfast Parliament as a fully integrated part of the UK'(sic) was because, they said, otherwise it would be impossible to "convince Irishmen themselves or Dominion or American opinion that Great Britain was sincere in its policy of Home Rule unless it withdraws its control from the domestic affairs of Ireland altogether..."
This blog favours the latter option.
Anyway ; on the 11th November (1919), the British Government accepted the 'two Home Rule' proposals and officially began discussing the size of the Irish terrority required to make it feasible (!) and just how much power and authority to 'grant' to this new pro-British administration in Ireland but, cute hoor politicians that they were, they threw that particular poisoned chalice back to their 'Irish Committee' (...incidentally, the 'IC' Chairman, Mr Walter Hume Long, was not a happy camper with doing that, as he favoured knocking the Irish - Catholic, Protestant or Dissenter - out of the equation altogether)!
An 'Irish Committee' member, a Mr 'The Right Honourable' (!) Herbert Albert Laurens Fisher ('President of the [British] Board of Education, Member of Parliament [MP] for the Combined English Universities and member of the [British] Privy Council') had a meeting with a Mr 'Sir' James Craig (the 'Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Pensions') at which Mr Craig stated that he and his Unionist colleagues wanted (!) only six of the nine counties of Ulster - they weren't fully sure that they could 'hold' Donegal, Cavan and Monaghan for the Crown.
Mr Craig stated -
"The six remaining Ulster counties were the largest area with a decisive Protestant majority in which Unionist power could be guaranteed in perpetuity..."
"Perpetuity" - the political word for 'until further notice' : nothing screams 'forever' quite like a legal clause waiting to be bought out!
The suits in Westminster mulled over the position they were now at for about two weeks or so and, acknowledging to themselves that they should appear to be neutral(ish) in how they presented themselves to the Irish, to the Americans and to other interested parties worldwide, issued a statement on the 3rd December (1919) that, after discussions at Cabinet level, it was agreed that "the ultimate aim of the Government's policy in Ireland was a united Ireland with a separate parliament of its own, bound by the closest ties to Great Britain, without offending the Protestants of Ulster..." - weasel words which, they believed/hoped, would appease all involved.
On the 15th December (1919), the British Cabinet announced that the 'Ulster Unionist' movement and supporters in the Six Counties were in agreement with them that Counties Donegal, Cavan and Monaghan 'should not fall under the writ' of the new 'Ulster' (sic) Parliament, to be based in Stormont and, on the 22nd December (1919), the 'Better Government of Ireland Bill' was introduced into the British 'House of Commons', proposing two parliaments, one for the six counties of north-east Ireland and one for the other twenty-six counties.
Also recommended was a 'Council of Ireland', consisting of twenty members of each administration with initially few powers but with the hope - the belief - that it would evolve into an all-Ireland Parliament ie a 'sweetner' to help 'sell' the notion to the Irish.
It's not referenced as much as it should be, in our opinion, but at that same 22nd December (1919) 'House of Commons' announcement, Mr David Lloyd George, the British Prime Minister (and the then 'First Lord of the Treasury' and Member of Parliament (MP) for Caernarvon Boroughs) stated :
"Any attempt at secession [by Ireland] will be fought with the same determination, with the same resources, with the same resolve as the Northern States of America put into the fight against the Southern States. It is important that that should be known, not merely throughout the world, but in Ireland itself..." - a counter-balance for the benefit of the pro-British in Ireland to help neutralise the above-mentioned 'sweetner'!
Don't know about ye lot out there, but we're getting motion sickness trying to keep up with those slíbhíns (sleeveens) - we just love how their political convictions completely depend on who is holding the microphone...
On the 4th November, 1920, at least four Volunteers (including Volunteers Ned O'Leary and Joseph Starr ; we have been asked not to name the other ASU members) attached to the Active Service Unit of the North Tipperary Brigade IRA established an ambush position at Casey's Cross, near the town of Nenagh, in the county of Tipperary.
They were acting on information that a British Army Intelligence Officer for the Northamptonshire Regiment (1st Battalion), a Lieutenant Henry James Hambleton (26, pictured) would be travelling through the crossroads on his motorbike.
When Mr Hambleton arrived at the crossroads the Volunteers shot him dead.
That night, dozens of young men and women temporarily left the town of Nenagh and surrounding areas and stayed for a few days in the countryside, living rough - they knew what was coming.
That same night and on the 5th, houses in the area were firebombed by British soldiers and their RIC colleagues, and Nenagh Creamery was set on fire.
But worse was to follow on the 5th - two IRA Volunteers, 21-year-old John O'Brien (who worked in his father's pub) and his 24-year-old cousin and close friend, Thomas O'Brien (24, a carpenter), who had both cycled ten miles to the town of Puckaun to avoid the revenge attacks by the British Army and RIC, were in the house of a Mr Rody Cleary, a Sinn Féin councillor, when it was raided by those enemy forces and the two young men were butchered by bayonet by them.
On the 24th November (1920), a Mr 'Sir' Hamar Greenwood, the British 'Chief Secretary for Ireland', when asked about the 'incidents', replied -
"As an example of the provocation to the Commanders of British officers, soldiers and police, I may instance the circumstances attending the murder (sic) of Lieutenant Hambleton.
This is only one instance out of many of the struggle of British officers in keeping discipline in the face of inhuman provocation..."
Such a shame they are slow learners in learning about "the struggle of British officers in keeping discipline" in our country, Ireland.
Anyway - Mr Hambleton was born in Ferozepore (/Ferosepore), in the Indian Subcontinent, and is buried in Saint Martin's Churchyard in Exminster, near Exeter, in England, the country he fought and died for.
RIP Volunteer John O'Brien and Volunteer Thomas O'Brien.
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On the 4th November, 1920, the then 'Inspector General of the RIC', a Mr 'Sir' Thomas James Smith (a hardline RIC supporter, who was double-jobbing - he had 'served' since 1909 as the 'Belfast City Commissioner', and still at that time held that position) 'retired' (!) and, 'officially', the position remained vacant.
But, 'unofficially', the 'Police Adviser' (later 'Chief of Police') a Mr ('Major General') Henry Hugh Tudor (pictured, known here in Ireland as 'the English General behind the Black and Tans') took over in that role (although not 'officially' confirmed until March 1920, even though he had de facto been in charge, 'behind the scenes', since late 1919!)
Mr Tudor's 'Irish assignment(s!)' ended in June 1922 as he was sent to Palestine as 'General Officer Commanding the Forces (GOCF)'/Inspector-General of Police and Prisons and Temporary Air Vice-Marshal.
Great to see that he improved on his double-jobbing skills!
In 1923, Mr Tudor was appointed as a 'Knight Commander of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath (KCB)' by his military and political superiors in Westminster and, at 54 years of age, retired (to 19 Churchill Square Apartments, Saint John's, Newfoundland) and, at 94 years of age, he died in Saint John's General Hospital in Saint John's, Newfoundland, in Canada.
Despite decades of living in hiding out of fear of assassination by the IRA for his role with the Black and Tans, he ultimately passed away peacefully, a grace denied to the estimated 300 to 500 Irish people killed by the Tans.
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On the same day that Mr TJ Smith handed in his retirement notification, a Mr 'Sir' Mark Sturgis (pictured) was doing his own paperwork in Dublin.
An entry in his diary for the 4th November, 1920, read -
"The RIC are getting a bit of their own back and morale is improving..."
In the weeks just before he wrote those words, the RIC had suffered about 24 losses but had killed an estimated 30 to 40 people themselves.
At the time, Mr Sturgis was a senior British civil servant, working from Dublin Castle, and operated as the effective 'Joint/Principal Assistant' to the British 'Joint Under-Secretary for Ireland', a Mr 'Sir' John Anderson.
In this position, Mr Sturgis was at the heart of the British administrative hierarchy who were attempting to manage British misrule in Ireland and, as such, should have known the difference between keeping a diary and a chat down the pub with the mates...
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As Mr Sturgis was recording his own bigotry in his diary, a Mr Joseph Devlin was asking questions in the British 'House of Commons' about RIC shootings in Ireland on the 26th September (1920).
On that date, an organised RIC hit squad led by RIC members 'County Inspector' Richard Dale Winnett Harrison and a 'Head Constable', a Mr Giff, who has remained as faceless as he was sinister, went out seeking revenge for the IRA shooting of one of their colleagues, a Mr Thomas Leonard.
Their first victim was Volunteer Edward Trodden, a barber, who owned his shop on the Falls Road (No. 58), in Belfast.
Volunteer Trodden had joined the IRB as a younger man and had followed his political convictions through into the 'Irish Volunteers' and the IRA.
He was asleep when Mr 'County Inspector' Richard Dale Winnett Harrison and his crew broke in, ran upstairs, dragged him downstairs by the hair, took him out to his yard and shot him dead.
Meanwhile, Mr 'Head Constable' Giff and his crew, unhindered by 'the forces of law and order', had made their way to house No. 236 on the Springfield Road, a distance of about 1.5 miles (2.60km), where the Gaynor family lived.
Two of the Gaynor's, Liam and Seán, were active Volunteers ; Seán had joined 'B' Company, 1st Battalion, Belfast Brigade in 1918, and was unfortunately in the house when the door was kicked in - his brother, Liam, had gone to Dublin on IRA business.
Mr Giff and his crew ran upstairs, found Seán in his bedroom and shot him but, before leaving the bedroom, Mr Giff ran the badly wounded Volunteer through with a bayonet.
Every room in the house was then shot up and, before leaving, the invaders threatened Mrs Gaynor with a rifle butt for refusing to disclose the whereabouts of her elder son, Liam.
On that same date (26th September 1920), the door of house number 54 on the Springfield Road was also kicked in and Volunteer Seán (John) McFadden (IRA Intelligence Department) was shot dead.
Mr Devlin's questions in the British 'House of Commons' were answered by a 'Member of Parliament' (MP) for Belfast East, a Mr Thompson Donald, who told him that there would be retaliation on Sinn Féin members if further Crown Force personnel were killed.
The anti-Irish newspaper (!), 'The Daily Express', supported Mr Donald in his comments.
But Irish republicans paid no heed to Mr Donald and didn't read those types of 'newspapers'...
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A Mr John McLean died in Belfast on the 4th November, 1920, "from injuries that he had received earlier..."
We couldn't find any more information on this incident.
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FAILING THE CHILDREN...
In every county in Ireland, children must put up with woefully inadequate school buildings.
The government says it is doing its best to improve the situation, but parents and teachers complain that the State's attitude is bureaucratic, secretive and uncaring.
Niall Stanage investigates.
From 'Magill Magazine', March 2002.
Ardkeeran National School principal Jim Higgins teaches 17 senior pupils in a room barely five metres from front to back.
He cannot use his desk because there is not enough room for him to squeeze behind it, and the children cannot write on the blackboard because so many things are stored in front of it.
Every inch of space is utilised ; books are stuffed into high cupboards and a globe rests precariously on a windowsill. There is no storeroom, no principal's office and no kitchen, and the school's fridge stands just outside the fetid toilets.
All the sports gear and cleaning equipment is stored in the room which Aisling Moroney uses to teach 35 third and fourth class pupils...
(MORE LATER.)
ON THIS DATE (4TH NOVEMBER) 52 YEARS AGO : JUDITH THERESA WARD WAS 'CONVICTED ON ALL COUNTS' IN AN 'UNPROFESSIONAL TRIAL'.
Judith Ward (pictured), an 'IRA activist', was arraigned on the 3rd October 1974 at Wakefield Crown Court, West Yorkshire, England, on an indictment containing 15 counts : Count 1: causing an explosion likely to endanger life or property on the 10th September 1973, at Euston Station, Count 2: a similar count relating to the explosion on the motorcoach on the M62 on the 4th February 1974, Counts 3-14: twelve counts of murder relating to each of the persons killed in the explosion on the motorcoach and Count 15: causing an explosion as before on February 12, 1974, at the National Defence College at Latimer.
She pleaded "not guilty" to all counts but, on the 4th November 1974 - 52 years ago on this date - she was convicted on all counts, by a majority of 10 to two on Count 1 and unanimously on all the others.
She was sentenced to five years' imprisonment on Count 1, 20 years' imprisonment concurrently on Count 2, life imprisonment for the murder Counts 3-14 and to 10 years on Count 15, to be served consecutively to the 20 years on Count 2, making a determinate sentence of 30 years.
It took eighteen years of campaigning to have her conviction quashed, which it was on the 11th May 1992, and it transpired that she had changed her 'confession' several times and that the police and the prosecution selected various parts of each 'confession' to assemble a version which they felt comfortable with!
One of the main pieces of forensic evidence against her was the alleged presence of traces of nitroglycerine on her hands, in her caravan and in her bag. Thin layer chromatography and the Griess test were used to establish the presence of nitroglycerine but later evidence showed that positive results using these methods could be obtained with materials innocently picked up from, for instance, shoe polish, and that several of the forensic scientists involved had either withheld evidence or exaggerated its importance.
Her book, 'Ambushed - My Story' makes for interesting reading and allows the reader to draw comparisons with the injustices suffered by the Maguire Seven, the Birmingham Six and the Guildford Four ; a total of 18 innocent people, including Judith Ward (13 men, 3 women and two children) who, between them, spent a total of 216 years in prison. Anne Maguire, a mother of 5 children, was menstruating heavily and denied all toiletries for a week, and was beaten senseless and Carol Richardson, who didn't even know she was pregnant, miscarried in Brixton Prison days after her arrest.
Pat O'Neill, who had minutes before entered the Maguires house to arrange for a baby-sitter when the police arrived, was told by a cop to swear that he saw a big cardboard box on Maguires table or else he would be done, but he refused to lie - he served eleven years.
On his release, he found his marriage was broken beyond repair and that his six children had left the family home.
How many more Irish children will have to 'leave the family home' before the British eventually give a date for their political and military withdrawal from Ireland, because the situation as it now (and still) exists here is that their very presence continues to be objected to by Irish republicans and continues to give rise to unrest.
And, if our history is to be used as a yardstick, that will always be the case.
On the 4th November, 1921, during the 'Treaty of Surrender' negotiations (!?), one of the Irish plenipotentiaries (there were five altogether - Messrs. Robert Barton [pictured], Edmund Duggan, George Gavan Duffy, Arthur Griffith and Michael Collins), Mr Robert Barton, and a Mr Erskine Childers (the 'Principal Secretary to the Irish Delegation'), asked one of the other five 'negotiators' (?!), a Mr Seoirse Ghabháin Uí Dhubhthaigh (George Gavan Duffy) to go Dublin to lodge a complaint with a Mr Éamon de Valera, the President of Dáil Éireann.
The complaint was that Mr Griffith and Mr Collins were negotiating with the British on their own, behind closed doors - Mr Duffy lodged the complaint with Mr de Valera, who listened to the complaint but firmly declined to intervene.
And because he took no action to halt the so-called 'sub-conferences', Mr Griffith and Mr Collins continued to meet privately with British leaders, which fractured the Irish delegation's internal trust, culminating in the dramatic and divided final hours before the 'Treaty of Surrender' was signed on the 6th December 1921.
Mr Duffy was the last man to sign the 'Treaty', and done so reluctantly (as did Mr Barton, who later regretted it to the point that he campaigned and fought against it) ; he (Mr Duffy) attempted to explain/excuse himself on the 21st of December that year (1921) -
"I do not love this Treaty now any more than I loved it when I signed it, but I do not think that that is an adequate motive for rejection to point out that some of us signed the Treaty under duress, nor to say that this Treaty will not lead to permanent peace.
It is necessary before you reject the Treaty to go further than that and to produce to the people of Ireland a rational alternative.
My heart is with those who are against the Treaty, but my reason is against them, because I can see no rational alternative..."
The "rational alternative" to accepting a highly damaging arrangement, which 'legitimised' an unfair solution (!) which carried a higher long-term cost than rejecting it, was to maintain the guerrilla activity as best as possible, coupled with civil non-cooperation and to highlight British agression in Ireland as being an internationally unpopular bloody war against a democratic population.
Anyway - Mr Duffy was later to be appointed as the (3rd) 'President of the (Free State) High Court'.
In our opinion, Mr Duffy should have gone with his heart...
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ON THIS DATE (4TH NOVEMBER) 25 YEARS AGO : BRITISH PARAMILITARIES CHANGE NAME AND UNIFORM.
On the 10th October, 1969, 'The Hunt Report' recommended that the RUC (which had been formed on the 5th April 1922) should be changed into an unarmed force, that the 'B Specials' (the 'Ulster Special Constabulary') should be disbanded and a new reserve force be established, to be known as the 'Ulster Defence Regiment'.
The RUC name was given to the then-existing RIC force on the 1st June 1922 in an attempted sleight-of-hand manoeuvre to present an existing pro-British paramilitary force as a 'new entity' and that 'new entity' - the RUC - was, in turn, amalgamated into the 'new' PSNI on the 4th November 2001 - 25 years ago on this date.
This was another tweaking of the name and uniform of a paramilitary outfit (and they've done it again!), as the 'police force' in that part of Ireland are still administered by Westminster and are as anti-republican as they were when they bore the 'RIC' name, and maintain the same structure and objective as when they were known by that latter name.
The more gullible in Leinster House and elsewhere among us (although they are well salaried to be so or, at least, to give the impression that they are that gullible) profess themselves convinced that a new day has dawned, ignoring the fact that the shadow in the room is caused by an elephant that they themselves have welcomed in.
THE MONTH UNSPUN...
The stories that hit the headlines.
From Magill magazine, August 2002.
Kildare county secretary Richie Whelan was asked by 'The Irish Independent' if Kildare would take the case to the GAC, and replied -
"We will probably discuss it here all right but there doesn't seem to be much point in asking for a clarification of rules when different rules obviously apply to different counties," he said.
So he's obviously still quite annoyed, then.
Assuming that at some point in the future another team will accidentally or otherwise repeat the mistake that Cork and Kildare made, it will be interesting to see what the ruling is.
Perhaps everything will be cleared up before then - although, knowing the GAA, perhaps not.
(END of 'The Month Unspun' : NEXT - 'ATTITUDES', from the same source.)
4TH NOVEMBER 1922 : IRISH REBEL CAPTURED BY THE STATERS.
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Ernie O'Malley, pictured during his arrest in Dublin Castle in 1921 . He was using the alias 'Bernard Stewart' .
Then, as now, Irish republican prisoners fought against criminalisation and for prisoner-of-war status : Ernie O' Malley wrote -
"Free men cannot be kept in jail , for their spirits are free. In our code, it is the duty of prisoners to prove that they cannot be influenced by their surroundings. Make the enemy feel a jailer but be free yourself."
An appendix of prison letters records that spirit of defiance ; not surprisingly, Volunteer O'Malley was the last republican leader to be released from the Curragh Internment Camp in July 1924, although he had been confined to bed with his many wounds for most of his imprisonment.
Despite medical operations, he carried in his body five bullets to the grave.
When 'The Singing Flame' was published in 1978, twenty-one years after his death, the chief political book reviewer of 'The Irish Times' newspaper saw Ernie O' Malley as "...the unrepentant Fenian and perhaps even as the very first Provisional.." ('1169...' Comment : we disagree - O'Malley fought against Westminster, he didn't administer political or military 'control' on their behalf.)
Ernie O'Malley was one of the bravest, most idealistic, most dedicated and determined of republican fighters, ruthless against imperialism, but chivalrous in war.
On 30th June 1922, Volunteer O'Malley, as Officer Commanding of his IRA Garrison, most unwillingly surrendered the destroyed Four Courts in Dublin : when Free State officers accused him of deliberately causing the fire and the great explosion that had wrecked the building, he denied that republicans had set off a mine -
"It was the spirit of freedom lighting a torch. I'm glad she played her part."
Two years before he died he wrote -
"The spirit of freedom is immeasurable and its strength can suddenly increase in unexpected ways..."
On the 4th November, 1922, Volunteer O'Malley was staying with the Humphrys family at 36 Ailesbury Road, Donnybrook, Dublin (the house was constructed in 1920 by M/s Nell Humphreys, sister of Michael Joseph 'The O'Rahilly', who died in the 1916 Easter Rising), when the Staters raided the house and went straight to the secret room (which had been built for Volunteer O'Malley by a builder and republican activist, a Mr Batt O'Connor) where he was staying ; the Volunteer opened fire and, for the next hour or so, gunfire was exchanged between the rebel and the Staters.
Volunteer O'Malley sustained severe bullet wounds before being subdued by the Staters and taken into 'custody' by them.
He lived to fight another day but, on the 25th March, 1957, at 59 years of age, at 9.20am, in the home in Howth, Dublin, of his sister, Kathleen(/Kaye), his heart gave out on him ; he had had a long history of illness and heart conditions related to injuries from his revolutionary days and his body couldn't take any more.
But his mind was said to be as sharp as ever...
RIP Volunteer Ernie O'Malley.
On the 4th November, 1922, a Free State Army patrol was ambushed by the IRA in the townland of Carraig an Mharascalaigh ('Rockmarshall'), on the Cooley Peninsula in the county of Louth.
Two Staters - a 'Captain' James Boyle (24) and a 'Sergeant' Peter Treanor(/Trainor, mid-30's) were killed during the gunfight.
Mr Boyle was from Muchgrange, in Greenore, in the county of Louth and, before joining the Stater Army ('5th Northern Division'), he worked as a bookkeeper for the Greenore Railway Company.
He is buried in Cill Mhuire (Kilwirra) Cemetery in County Louth.
Mr Treanor(/Trainor), a widower (his wife, Margaret, died in January 1921 - they had three daughters [Mary Alice, Ellen, and Margaret] who were raised by his brother, Francis) had a prior 'military service history' that included a British Army pension.
The Volunteers returned safely to base.
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At the same time as the Staters were under gunfire in Carraig an Mharascalaigh, their colleagues in Ballineen, in the county of Cork (about 260 miles/420 km down the country) were also duckin' and divin'!
An IRA Unit, consisting of around 200 armed fighters and with Volunteer Tom Barry in command, opened fire on a Free State Army patrol, wounding some of them during the five/six hours that the attack lasted for.
A Stater medic, a Mr Thomas Gallagher (18), ran into the line of fire to rescue one of his colleagues, an FSA soldier named Fox, but was hit himself.
The wounded young man was brought to the near-by home of a Mrs Sullivan, where he died.
Volunteer Tadhg O'Leary, 26, from Macroom in Cork, an IRA Section Commander, was killed in that fight, as was Volunteer Jack Howell, 31, from Doneraile in Cork.
RIP Volunteer Tadhg O'Leary and Volunteer Jack Howell.
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AND...as those Staters in Cork were under fire from the rebels, so, too, were their colleagues about 80km (50 miles, as the crow flies) across the country in the county of Kerry.
Three Stater soldiers were guarding the drawbridge at Blennerville, in the county of Kerry, when they came under attack from the IRA.
One of them, a Mr Patrick Conroy (23) who, before expressing loyalty to the half-crown, worked as a labourer for Clonmel Corporation in the county of Tipperary, was severly wounded and died from those injuries shortly afterwards.
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'THE TUAM HERALD', 4TH NOVEMBER 1922 : RIC 'SERGEANT RODDY'.
'November 4th, 1922.
The Civic Guards arrived in town last Friday and took possession of the old R.I.C. Barracks, now in a dilapidated condition.
Certain elements in our midst not actually criminals, will be none the worse for the restraining influence of the policeman.
The street brawler needs to be more careful, Saturday evening's pitch and toss school under the Cross in the Square will have to seek a more secluded venue and the all night pubs may be tempted to close a little earlier for their own sake if not for the customers'.
One member of the force was heartily welcomed. He was Sergeant Roddy.
One can't forget his action in July 1920 when as a member of the R.I.C. he refused to take part in the burning of the town.
He then resigned the force and was appointed Cramer* by the Commissioners, a position he held for a short time.
He was visited one night at his residence and beaten up by masked men** who threatened his life if he did not leave the town which he had to do for the sake of his family.
Now he is back in charge of the new force.'
(NOTE - * 'Cramer' : a typo - should read 'craner', an early 20th century job description, sometimes spelled 'crayner', an 'official civic position' ie weighbridge operator, appointed directly by the Town Commissioners [the local municipal government body]. It was a recognised position, operating and collecting tolls at a weighing crane used for goods brought to market.
** - that would have been his own [ex-] RIC colleagues who beat him up and evicted him from the town, for being 'sympathetic to the rabble'.)
A pity Mr Roddy only changed uniforms...
DEATH IN THE MEDITERRANEAN...
Desmond Boomer, a Belfast engineer working in the Libyan oil-fields, disappeared seven years ago.
Officially, the plane on which he was a passenger crashed as a result of mechanical failure and pilot error.
But is that the real story?
Or were the Irishman and his fellow passengers unwitting victims of the shady war between Islamic fundamentalism and Mossad, Israel's intelligence network?
A special 'Magill' investigation by Don Mullan, author of 'Eyewitness Bloody Sunday'.
From 'Magill' magazine, January 2003.
The Boomer family have made ten visits to Malta to attend various sittings of the Board of Inquiry :
"If the Irish government supports us," Cormac Boomer said, "we would gladly challenge Malta's handling of our son's disappearance in the Maltese courts."
He also feels a sense of profound disappointment towards former political colleagues in the North ; he was involved with the SDLP for 20 years, 16 of which he spent as a Belfast City councillor.
Despite this, he has received absolutely no assistance from any northern politicians.
"I have written to MEP's and MP's," he says, "and sent them documentation and information files. To date, only Gerry Adams MP and Jim Nicholson MEP did me the courtesy of a reply...
(MORE LATER.)
4TH NOVEMBER ; 1650, 1779, 1843 AND 1920.
SNIPPETS...
• 1650 - 'The Cromwellian Squeeze' ; English 'King' William III ('William of Orange') was born in the Hague ('Dutch Republic')on the 4th November that year ('old style calendar', or 14th November, 'new style calendar'), and the Cromwellian 'authorities' in Ireland issued strict, sweeping orders, in Dublin, enforcing the exclusion of the native Irish from within the city walls, part of the systematic clearance and urbanisation control that defined the 'Commonwealth' era.
His birthday later evolved into one of the most prominent and intensely controversial 'civic celebrations' (!) in Dublin's history,
becoming a major public holiday in Dublin for the Protestant ruling class.
Every year, the city's authorities and militias would parade in uniform around the city...
• 1779 - 'The Volunteers and Free Trade' ; On the 4th November, 1779, a massive and heavily armed parade of the 'Irish Volunteers' took place at College Green in Dublin, where they famously draped 'King' William III's statue with banners reading "Free Trade or This!", forcing the British government to back down on crippling commercial restrictions on Ireland.
On that date in that year, roughly 1,000 members of the 'Irish Volunteers' assembled on College Green in Dublin to celebrate the 129th birthday of 'King' William III - armed Volunteer troops formed-up and fired muskets around Grinling Gibbons's bronze statue of 'the king' to demonstrate political strength and to pressure the British government for legislative independence and free trade for the Irish Parliament...
• 1843 - 'The Silencing of O'Connell' ; In the fallout of the banned 'Monster Meeting' at Clontarf, Daniel O'Connell and his associates were formally processed through the Crown Courts on charges of "conspiracy to alter the constitution by illegal means," showcasing the 19th-century legal machinery used to halt mass mobilisation, and the (ab)use of the then media to do so.
On the 4th November in 1843, the British 'satirical' magazine, 'Punch', published a famous and hostile cartoon titled 'The Irish Frankenstein', which depicted Mr O'Connell conjuring up a giant, menacing monster, representing the Repeal movement as a massive brute he had created which he could no longer control after backing down at Clontarf.
Also, on that same date, 'The Nation' newspaper, the official newspaper of the 'Young Ireland' wing of the movement, published an extensive, historically significant issue in which writers like Thomas Davis debated the future of the Repeal Association, deeply analysing what Mr O'Connell's capitulation at Clontarf meant for the movement and how they should pivot toward a more aggressive strategy...
• 1920 - 'The Kevin Barry Aftermath' ; Just days after 18-year-old Volunteer Kevin Barry was hanged at Mountjoy (1st November), the 4th November 1920 saw an intense escalation in the intelligence war, with the IRA executing several British intelligence agents and the Crown Forces intensifying localised curfews and raids across Dublin and Belfast.
The political and military crisis in Ireland intensified sharply.
Parliamentary debates in Westminster and the 'House of Commons' took place during which the escalating "policy of frightfulness" and 'police/military reprisals' in Ireland were raised, specifically addressing allegations that Volunteer Kevin Barry had been subjected to torture while in custody before his trial...
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We'll be back on Wednesday, 18th November 2026 and, between this and then, I'll still be voicing me opinion on 'X' and 'Facebook' as well, if yer missing me that much!
Sharon and the team.
Slán go fóill anois!
21ST / 28TH OCTOBER 1921 AND THE IRA / FASCIST / COMMUNIST LINK.
In October 1921, a British Army intelligence officer in Berlin, Germany, a 'Sir' John Arnold Wallinger (KBE, DSO, CIE, KPM ETC ETC!) reported to his army superiors about IRA gunrunning activities in Germany, and they, in turn, tipped off the German police ('Hamburger Polizei'), who, on the 21st October (1921) searched a ship called 'The Anita', in the port of Hamburg.
On board, they found a large quantity of arms due to be shipped to Ireland (and crewed by German Communists) and IRA Volunteer Charlie McGuinness was arrested but eventually got off with a light fine.
In his (accurate) report, Mr 'Sir' John Arnold Wallinger provided scripture and verse on how a 'Mr Thompson' (Charles John McGuinness, aka 'Charles T. Hennessey', 'Nomad', 'Charlie', 'Night-Hawk') and another IRA Volunteer, William Beaumont (a 'Crossover' ie an ex-British Army man) had been sent to Germany by IRA GHQ with two million German Marks to make further contact with the far-right, fascist 'Orgesch' organisation, to purchase weapons from them, which they succeeded in doing.
IRA conduits in Germany, Robert Emmet Briscoe and John T. Ryan, assisted in putting the deal together.
Mr Wallinger, somewhat exasperated, we imagine (!), also reported that the IRA Unit was also dealing with the German Communist Party to secure boats to transport the purchased weapons to Ireland!
So there ya have it - in short, in 1921, Irish republicans worked hand-in-glove with fascists and communists when the need and the opportunity to do so presented itself, for the objective of fighting for an Ireland for the Irish.
'Any port in a storm', as the saying goes, if the end result means the removal of the foreigners...
Incidentally, Volunteer Charles McGuinness, who was arrested by the 'Hamburger Polizei', was eventually fined a sum of money and then released ; the ship was by all accounts rather worn but was up to the task, the weapons had been purchased by IRA GHQ from the fascist Orgesch organisation (also mentioned here) and, at his trial, the judge privately wished Volunteer McGuinness better luck next time!
Also - incidentally again! - in a related incident, Volunteers Robert Briscoe and Charles McGuinness left the port of Hamburg, again, in a small tug called 'The Frieda' on the 28th October that same year (1921) with a German crew supplied, this time, by the Orgesch organisation.
The tug was carrying about 300 guns and 80,000 rounds of ammunition for those weapons (some reports state 200 rifles and 10,000 rounds of ammunition), destined for the IRA.
Just before they set sail, Volunteer Briscoe sent a pre-arranged 'Thumbs Up!' telegram to Volunteer Liam Mellows, in Ireland, who was the IRA's Director of Purchases, and then Volunteer Pax Whelan, Officer Commanding of the Waterford Brigade IRA, was notified to prepare for 'The Frieda' landing on the shores of Helvick Head, in Waterford.
The tug got delayed by rough weather at sea and even worse weather made them take shelter behind a small island near Helvick Head, so Volunteer McGuinness and a few crew members decided to row a lifeboat ashore, and they then made to way to the house of a local Sinn Féin member, a Dr Vincent White (a republican-gamekeeper-turned-Free State-poacher).
Between Mr White and Volunteer Whelan, transport was arranged, the cargo was safely unloaded from 'The Frieda' and taken to Keatings of Kilrossanty in the Comeragh Mountains, on the Waterford/Tipperary border, a republican owned and operated business and, from there, the goods were distributed between the Southern and Midlands Divisions of the IRA.
That gunrunning operation was successfully completed because of cooperation between Irish republicans, fascists and communists, an unlikely combination, but one that was deemed necessary by Irish republicans to help free Ireland from the foreigners.
But here we are, 105 years later, and still troubled by foreigners...
"Sixty-one persons have been convicted since 1st January last for complicity in attacks on military or police (sic), or on
police barracks (sic).
In 21 cases, sentences of penal servitude for periods exceeding two years have been inflicted, and there have been 20 cases of sentences of imprisonment with hard labour for periods of two years.
In the remaining 20 cases, sentences ranging from 18 months to one months imprisonment with or without hard labour were imposed.
There has been no case in which capital punishment has been inflicted..." (*)
(* Not 'officially', anyway.)
- the words of the British 'Chief Secretary for Ireland', a Mr 'Sir' Thomas Hamar Greenwood (pictured), 1st Viscount Greenwood, PC, KC ETC ETC in the British 'House of Commons', on the 21st October, 1920.
Mr Greenwood also stated that, between the months of January 1919 and the 21st of October 1919, about 127 (political) meetings had been prohibited, 22 newspapers suppressed, 16 creameries had been totally destroyed and 11 creameries had been partially destroyed or damaged.
So - a perfectly normal ten month period in British-occupied Ireland, then...
==========================
A Mr Patrick Moylett (pictured), from Crossmolina, in the county of Mayo, was a successful farmer and grocery store owner with business interests in Mayo, Galway, Dublin and London and, in those locations (and others) was equally as active in his work for the Republican Movement.
He used his businesses and his work travels to quitely transport equipment for the IRB and, later, the IRA, and gathered information for the Cause.
He was a recognised conduit by Westminster to the Irish rebels, politically, and that role brought him into contact with, among others at the British military/political 'Top Table', a British Army Brigadier General and MP (politician), a Mr 'Sir' George Kynaston Cockerill.
In October, 1920, Mr Cockerill had a letter published in 'The London Times' newspaper suggesting a meeting of plenipotentiaries from Britain and Ireland to discuss a settlement, to be preceded by a truce and amnesty, with any resulting agreement to be submitted to both Dublin and London for acceptance or rejection (but not amendment).
Also, Mr Moylett had at that same time met with a Mr Herbert Albert Laurens Fisher (pictured), the British Minister for Education (that meeting had been arranged by an American journalist, a Mr John Steele, the London Correspondent of 'The Chicago Tribune' newspaper) and he left that meeting with the conclusion that, between Mr Cockerill and Mr Fisher, the British were putting out feelers for a settlement with the Irish rebels.
Mr Moylett brought 'The London Times' letter-to-the-editor and his own conversation with Mr Fisher to the attention of the republican leadership in Dublin and Mr Moylett was then authorised to contact Mr 'Sir' Cockerill and request him to contact his political (and military) boss, a Mr David Lloyd George (the then British 'Prime Minister of the United Kingdom' [the future 'Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor'!]) and let him know that the Irish rebels felt that they could do business with him and his leadership on the basis of that letter and, on the 21st October (1920), Mr Moylett did that.
In short, Mr George was told that he could have peace whenever he wished ("a truce and direct negotiations with no preconditions") on the basis of Mr Cockerill's letter.
The 'peace whenever you wished' offer from the rebels was in the form of a letter from Mr Arthur Griffith, the then Acting President of Dáil Éireann, Minister for Home Affairs and Vice President of Sinn Féin (Mr Griffith at the time occupied the second-highest leadership role within the Irish republican leadership ; Éamon de Valera was 'Top Dog' but was in America, on a fundraising and promotional mission).
Mr George is said to have let Mr Moylett know of his thoughts on some British agents who had recently been shot dead in Dublin - "...they got what they deserved - beaten by counter-jumpers..."!
Those discussions came or were brought to the attention of other interested parties and the then American consul in Dublin, a Mr Frederick Dumont, a British Army officer, a Mr John Edward Spencer Brind and a British 'Sir', a Mr John Anderson (the '1st Viscount Waverley' and the British 'Joint Under-Secretary for Ireland', based in Dublin Castle) arranged for Mr Moylett (with the acquiescence of Mr de Valera and a Mr William Thomas Cosgrave [elected representative in the 32-County Dáil Éireann, Minister for Local Government and Dublin Corporation Alderman]) to meet with a British 'Sir', a Mr Alfred 'Andy' Cope, who operated from Dublin Castle as the British 'Assistant Under-Secretary for Ireland'.
Mr Moylett said later that Mr Cope stated that the British were willing to admit defeat in Ireland, telling him -
"There is nothing else for us to do but to draft into this country four hundred thousand men and exterminate the whole population of the country, and we are not willing to do that..."
According to himself, Mr Moylett replied -
"You would do it if you thought the world would stand for it. What proposition have you to make...?"
...to which Mr Cope declared -
"We are willing to withdraw our whole establishment, from the lowest policeman to the highest judge."
Mr Moylett then stated...
"...Mr Cope told me that he had superseded both the Lord Lieutenant and the Chief Secretary. They were the direct representatives of Lloyd George in this country, and he said that although he was only an ordinary civil servant he was here to make peace..."
Mr Cope's comments soon became known to his own military and intelligence officers and networks and they were none to happy, to put it mildly ; indeed, British Major Hervey Guy Francis Edward de Montmorency (! - pictured, a 'Class II Special Appointment' to Dublin, by Westminster), a British intelligence officer attached to the staff of a Mr Ormonde Winter (the 'Chief of [British] Intelligence' at Dublin Castle) publicly declared that Mr Cope... "..was universally detested by everyone in the Castle, it being generally supposed that he was going to sell us to the rebels..".
Also, British Army General 'Sir' Nevil Macready, the 'General Officer Commander-in-Chief of the British Forces in Ireland', demanded that Mr Winston Churchill, the British 'Secretary of State for War and Air', sack Mr Cope because... "..he is out of place and a danger to Ireland at the present moment..." (he thought Mr Cope couldn't cope...I'll get me coat and let meself out..!)
Mr Cope was apparently of the opinion that, if the Irish rebels stayed united, they could win the conflict, whereas Mr Macready (who had military experience from his 'adventures' in Egypt/North Africa, India, Ceylon/South Asia, South Africa, and in World War I) knew that the rebels, when split, could be turned on each other, which is exactly what happened in Ireland.
Incidentally, Mr Churchill rejected Mr Macready's 'request' to sack Mr Cope and nothing came of the 1920 'letters/meetings' initiative (except the sowing of discord in British ranks - a win of sorts!).
==========================
On the same day that Mr Moylett contacted Mr George (21st October 1920) in London, England, about 630km (390 miles) away, across the Irish Sea, in the townland of Gurran(/'Garraun/Gurraun') in the village of Oranmore in the county of Galway, in Ireland, a Mr Roger Furey and two of his sons were in their house, preparing to have supper.
Without warning, the front door was kicked off its hinges and armed British soldiers rushed in.
The armed intruders pushed the man of the house, Mr Roger Furey, out of their way and forced his two sons outside "for questioning".
The foreign gunmen shot one of the young men, Michael, in the leg, then regrouped and left the scene.
But they didn't go far - they went straight to where Mr Roger Furey's brother, Thomas, lived, forced their way in, took three of his sons out of the house "for questioning", beat them unconscious and left the area.
But, again, they didn't go far - they raided the near-by home of a Mr Martin King, forced entry, smashed all the house windows, dragged two of his sons out of the wrecked house and beat them unconscious.
The raids were carried out by thugs from 'D Company Auxiliary Division (ADRIC)', assisted by their Black and Tan colleagues, who were stationed at Lenaboy Castle in Salthill, County Galway ; unfortunately, that particular thug Company didn't suffer too many casualties during their time in Ireland, but gained a reputation for inflicting violence.
(Note : the historian, Mr William Henry, in his book 'An Ordinary Irish Boy' [2012], dates the above-mentioned outrages as having happened on the 21st October, 1920, while another historian, Mr David Matthew Leeson, gives the date as the 14th. Our information suggests the raids happened on the 21st.)
==========================
At the same time as the foreign thugs from 'D Company Auxiliary Division (ADRIC)' were shouting and shooting at Irishmen in Galway, about 90km (55 miles) down the road in the townland of Breffa North (/'Breaffy North'), in the county of Clare, two British soldiers, attached to the '2nd Battalion Royal Scots Lothian Regiment', a (Lance-Corporal) by the name of Alexander McPearson and a (Corporal) called Norman Buchanan, left one of the pubs they had been drinking in all day.
They were drunk and wanted more money so, as ya do if you're a well-practiced oxygen thief, versed in running a highly aggressive, uniform-clad import-export business (of stolen goods, mostly), the two wasters went on a looting and burglary spree in houses in the Breffa North area, under the false pretence of searching for rebel weapons.
At about 5pm on the 21st, the two drunkards hammered on the front door of the house where IRA Volunteer Edward Lynch lived ('G Company', 4th Battalion, Mid-Clare Brigade) and, when the door was unlocked from the inside, they attempted to force their way in.
Volunteer Lynch's father, Charles, stood in their way.
They went to push past him, and Lance-Corporal McPearson told him to stand aside, they were searching for weapons...and Mr Charles Lynch punched him, knocking the revolver out of his hand.
The 'revolver' fell to the ground, landing on the doorstep - and it shattered to pieces.
It was made of glass, painted black - it was a toy gun, known in the pub it was housed in as a 'shot of malt' : the Scots thug had robbed it from a display case in Blake's Pub, in Milltown, earlier on that day.
Before either party could react to that incident, a neighbour arrived on the scene, shouting that the two BA soldiers had just raided his house and had robbed him of £10 ; the men put the Lance-Corporal on the ground, held him down and emptied his pockets - trinkets from other houses were recovered, but not the tenner.
The two Irishmen then turned their attention to Corporal Norman Buchanan, who was disgruntled about being searched but didn't physically resist and, following the search, he turned on his heels and ran off!
Lance-Corporal McPearson was still on the ground, dizzy from the punching and the drinking, when Corporal Norman Buchanan returned with a few other BA soldiers ; Mr McPearson got a gun from one of them and shot Mr Charles Lynch (75) point-blank in the heart, killing him instantly.
They then set the haystacks in the Lynch family field on fire, before returning to their barracks.
A chladhaire gun mhisneach!
Gu tuit an t-eagal ort nuair as motha a bhios feum agad air misneach.
'I curse them going and I curse them riding ; I curse them standing and I curse them sitting. May the earth open, split and cleave, and swallow them straight to hell.'
Scottish couchers.
==========================
A rare breed - a British journalist in Ireland who worked for a British newspaper who was respected by the Irish people but disliked by the British press and their politicians.
On the 21st October (1920), a Mr Hugh Martin, who wrote for 'The Daily News' newspaper, had an article published in which he highlighted "the British Auxiliaries habit of whipping, kicking and otherwise instructing [young Irish men] in the elements of British citizenship..."
Employed as a 'special correspondent' for 'The (London-based) Daily News', he was one of the few British reporters who courageously exposed the violent atrocities committed by British forces in Ireland, specifically the Black and Tans and the Auxiliaries.
From practically even before the 1803 Uprising to the present day (and more so in the mid-to-late 1900's to the early 1920's), Westminster and its journalistic goons were actively covering up its policy of official and unofficial reprisals against nationalists and republicans in Ireland, Mr Martin traveled across Ireland, often under an assumed name, to investigate the burning of towns, the destruction of local creameries, and the extrajudicial killing of civilians by British and pro-British forces.
He was knowingly marking himself out as 'an enemy of the (British) State' but his principles and moral standards guided his pen and typewriter and he reported the facts of the political and military situation in Ireland and, even as the Westminster-promoted whispers that he was 'anti-British and pro-rebel' grew, he was undeterred in his reporting.
In November, 1920, while reporting with other journalists from the county of Kerry, about the 'Siege of Tralee', armed and uniformed members of the Black and Tans approached them looking for "that bastard Martin", demanding to know "...is there a Hugh Martin among you..?", but Mr Martin had 'signed in' to the press corps under an assumed name, and survived the encounter.
The threats against him were so severe and constant that they sparked fierce debates in the British 'House of Commons', with the 'Chief Secretary for Ireland' a Mr 'Sir' Hamar Greenwood, downplaying the danger and mockingly accusing Mr Martin of trying to "become a hero," but a few of the representatives in that institution defended 'the honor of the press and the exposing of the truth' (...rather than speak-up for Mr Martin himself).
In 1921, Mr Martin compiled his powerful eyewitness dispatches into a seminal book entitled 'Ireland in Insurrection : An Englishman's Record of Fact', which heavily influenced British public opinion against the British military and political presence in Ireland.
He was in his late 20's/early 30's during his time in Ireland and, in the late 1920's, he transferred to East Asia to cover other troubled countries, reporting on the ground during conflict eras from Shanghai, China etc.
Mr Hugh Martin lived out his final years as a widower before passing away in Edinburgh, in Scotland, on the 6th January, 1970, at 81 years of age.
RIP Mr Hugh Martin.
==========================
On the same day that Mr Hugh Martin's piece was published in 'The Daily News' newspaper, three RIC members left their barracks in the village of Leap, in the townland of Kilmacabea, in the county of Cork, to 'arrest' an Irishman in the village of Glandore, West County Cork, a distance of about two km (a little over one mile).
But the house they called to was empty, so they turned around and began the short journey back to their barracks.
As they were passing through Glandore, an IRA ASU opened fire on them ; they returned fire but were outnumbered and outgunned and the three of them fell to the ground, wounded.
One of the RIC members, a Mr Bert Rippingale, an Englishman, died from his wounds the following day, and one of his colleagues, a Mr Albert Edward Rundle (26), also an Englishmen, died from his wounds on the 4th November (1920).
The third RIC member survived.
Both of the dead men had only joined the RIC three months earlier.
==========================
At the same time as the lads in Glandore were explaining the lay of the land to a few Englishmen (!), a 39-year-old Irishman, a Mr Michael Dwyer, was driving his motorbike and sidecar, with a passenger in it, a priest - the Reverend John M. (Marshall/Moore) Clarke, from the townland of Kilbride - in the Saggart, Dublin, area, about 315km (195 miles) up the country and over on yer right!
Mr Dwyer worked as a grocer in Brittas, Dublin, and had recently purchased a 109-acre farm named Newton Park just outside Wicklow, and had talked about his excitement about soon being able to grow his own produce and sell it.
As he and Reverend Clarke were travelling down the road, a British Army lorry slammed into them from behind.
Mr Dwyer died soon afterwards from his injuries, Reverend Clarke recovered from his broken bones and bruising.
A Coroner's Court later officially returned a verdict of 'reckless driving' against the British military.
Following a funeral mass in Stillorgan, Mr Dwyer was buried at Deansgrange Cemetery, Dublin.
RIP Mr Michael Dwyer.
==========================
FAILING THE CHILDREN...
In every county in Ireland, children must put up with woefully inadequate school buildings.
The government says it is doing its best to improve the situation, but parents and teachers complain that the State's attitude is bureaucratic, secretive and uncaring.
Niall Stanage investigates.
From 'Magill Magazine', March 2002.
While the national political debate continues, the situation on the ground remains grim.
'Magill' magazine recently visited three primary schools across the country, and all three faced major problems and are dissatisfied with the way they have been treated.
A patch of green slime dominates one wall of the boys' toilets in Ardkeeran National School, County Sligo, the lavatories smell foul, and one of the two tiny sinks is blocked.
A bright poster attached to a cubicle door encourages the children to 'Wash Your Hands!', but the message seems pointless and forlorn in the midst of the feculent surroundings.
Ardkeeran National School was built in 1900 as a two-classroom school, and a small third classroom was created decades ago by the use of partitioning, and a fourth by the addition of a prefab hut in September 2000.
The co-ed school currently has 93 pupils, and Jim Higgins has been principal since 1977 -
"We break all health and safety regulations left, right and centre.." he says with forced bravado, "..but if I worried about that, I'd never come in."
Ardkeeran National School is badly overcrowded...
(MORE LATER.)
ON THIS DATE (21ST OCTOBER) 147 YEARS AGO : 'FAIR RENT, FIXITY OF TENURE, FREEDOM OF SALE'.
On the 21st October 1879 - 147 years ago on this date - a meeting of concerned individuals was held in the Imperial Hotel in Castlebar, County Mayo, to discuss issues in relation to 'landlordism' and the manner in which that subject impacted on those who worked on small land holdings on which they paid 'rent', an issue which other groups, such as tenants' rights organisations and groups who, confined by a small membership, agitated on land issues in their own locality, had voiced concern about.
Those present agreed to announce themselves as the 'Irish National Land League' (which, at its peak, had 200,000 active members) and Charles Stewart Parnell (who, at 33 years of age, had been an elected member of parliament for the previous four years) was elected president of the new group, with Andrew Kettle, Michael Davitt, and Thomas Brennan being appointed as honorary secretaries.
The leadership had 'form' in that each had made a name for themselves as campaigners on social issues of the day and were, as such, 'known' to the British authorities ; for instance, Michael Davitt, who was born into poverty in Straide, in the county of Mayo, on the 25th of March, 1846 - at the time of the attempted genocide - was the second of five children, and was only four years of age when his family were evicted from their home over rent owed and his father, Martin, was left with no choice but to travel to England to look for a job.
Martin's wife, Sabina, and their five children, were given temporary accommodation by the local priest in Straide.
The family were eventually reunited, in England, where young Michael attended school for a few years. His family were struggling, financially, so he obtained work, aged 9, as a labourer (he told his boss he was 13 years old and got the job - working from 6am to 6pm, with a ninty-minute break and a wage of 2s.6d a week) but within weeks he had secured a 'better' job, operating a spinning machine but, at only 11 years of age, his right arm got entangled in the machinery and had to be amputated.
There was no compensation offered, and no more work, either, for a one-armed machine operator, but he eventually managed to get a job helping the local postmaster. He was sixteen years young at that time, and was curious about his Irish roots and wanted to know more - he learned all he could about Irish history and, at 19 years young, joined the Fenian movement in England.
Two years afterwards he became the organising secretary for northern England and Scotland for that organisation and, at 25 years of age, he was arrested in Paddington Station in London after the British had uncovered an IRB operation to import arms. He was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment, on a 'hard labour' ticket, and served seven years in Dartmoor Prison in horrific conditions before being released in 1877, at the age of 31, on December 19th.
Almost immediately, he took on the position as a member of the Supreme Council of the IRB and returned to Ireland in January 1878, to a hero's welcome.
At the Castlebar meeting he spoke about the need "...to bring out a reduction of rack-rents..to facilitate the obtaining of the ownership of the soil by the occupiers...the object of the League can be best attained by promoting organisation among the tenant-farmers; by defending those who may be threatened with eviction for refusing to pay unjust rents; by facilitating the working of the Bright clauses of the Irish Land Act during the winter; and by obtaining such reforms in the laws relating to land as will enable every tenant to become owner of his holding by paying a fair rent for a limited number of years..."
The new organisation realised that they would be well advised to seek support from outside of Ireland and, under the slogan 'The Land for the People' , Michael Davitt toured America, being introduced in his activities there by John Devoy and, although he did not have official support from the Fenian leadership (some of whom were neutral towards him while others were suspicious and/or hostile of and to him) he obtained constant media attention and secured good support for the objectives of the Land League.
At a meeting in Ennis, County Clare, on the 19th September 1880, Charles Stewart Parnell (whom the British described as "..combining in his person all the unlovable qualities of an Irish member with the absolute absence of their attractiveness...something really must be done about him...he is always at a white heat or rage and makes with savage earnestness fancifully ridiculous statements..") but who was also looked at in a wary fashion by some of his own people as he was a Protestant 'Landlord' who 'owned' about 5,000 acres of land in County Wicklow and his parents were friends of and, indeed, in some cases, related to, the local Protestant 'gentry', stated -
"Now what are you to do with a tenant who bids for a farm from which his neighbour has been evicted? Now I think I heard somebody say 'Shoot him!' , but I wish to point out a very much better way, a more Christian and more charitable way...when a man takes a farm from which another had been evicted you must shun him on the roadside when you meet him, you must shun him in the streets of the town, you must shun him in the shop, you must shun him in the fairgreen and in the marketplace, and even in the place of worship, by leaving him alone, by putting him in a moral Coventry, by isolating him from the rest of his country as if he were the leper of old, you must show your detestation of the crime he has committed.."
Another man in the leadership of the 'League', John Blake Dillon (who was also a member of 'The Young Irelanders' War Council) will forever be associated with introducing the word 'boycott' into the English language as it was Dillon who was the most active in organising such campaigns.
Two years after the 'Irish National Land League' was founded (by "men of no consequence", according to the catholic church, which opposed the League with all its might) Charles Stewart Parnell's sisters, Anna and Fanny (pictured), established a 'Ladies Land League' (on the 31st January 1881) which, at its full strength, consisted of about five hundred branches and didn't always see eye-to-eye with its 'parent' organisation but, in its short existence, it provided assistance to about 3,000 people who had been evicted from their rented land holdings.
It seemed certain that the 'parent' body was going to be outlawed by the British and, sure enough, the British Prime Minister, William Ewart Gladstone, introduced and enforced a 'Crimes Act' that same year, 1881, (better known as the 'Coercion/Protection of Person and Property Act') which made it illegal to assemble in relation to certain issues and an offence to conspire against the payment of rents 'owed' which, ironically, was a piece of legislation condemned by the same catholic church which condemned the 'Irish National Land League' because that Act introduced permanent legislation and did not have to be renewed on each political term.
And that same church also condemned the 'Ladies Land League' to the extent that Archbishop McCabe of Dublin instructed priests loyal to him "..not to tolerate in your societies (diocese) the woman who so far disavows her birthright of modesty as to parade herself before the public gaze in a character so unworthy of a Child of Mary..." - the best that can be said about that is that that church's 'consistency' hasn't changed much over the years!
The 'Ladies Land League' was acrimoniously dissolved on the 10th August 1882, 19 months after it was formed.
It should be noted that the anti-republican State parliament in Dublin, which was created by a British act of parliament, is still involved in the business of landlordism...
(Incidentally, Davitt died at 60 years of age in Elphis Hospital in Dublin on the 30th of May 1906, from blood poisoning - he had a tooth extracted and contracted septicaemia from the operation. His body was taken to the Carmelite Friary in Clarendon Street, Dublin, then by train to Foxford in Mayo and he is buried in Straide Abbey, near where he was born.)
On the 21st October, 1921, at 12 Noon, the '6th Plenary Session' to discuss political and military issues, including 'The Treaty of Surrender', took place in Number 10 Downing Street in London between British and (then) republican representatives from Ireland.
Breaches of the so-called 'truce' was the first issue on the agenda, with the British announcing their displeasure at having 'found a bomb factory' on the 13th October in Cardiff, Wales, at which an ISDL operative (a Mr Joseph Patrick Connolly) was arrested - a "substantial cache" of gelignite, blasting cartridges, and detonators were discovered in the premises (a lodging house on Smith Street in Cardiff), as were 25 revolvers, 5 automatic pistols and ammunition and diagrams of bombs, along with operational instructions for their assembly and use.
Westminster considered the 'ISDL' to be a support network for the IRA.
Mr Arthur Griffith replied for the Irish side -
"My conception is that the Truce does not mean that your military should prepare during the Truce, and that we should not. We have done nothing since the Truce which was not being done before the Truce..." but Mr Lloyd George, speaking for the British side, to all intent and purpose cut him off, telling Mr Griffith that the British would not accept that interpretation of the 'Truce' (in our opinion, demonstrating how vague the terms of the 'Truce' document were and how it was open to widely different interpretations as, indeed, it had to be, to ensure that it was 'bought' by both sides - much like the 1998 Treaty).
Mr George then quickly referenced the Hamburg, Germany, 'gunship' incidents (which we have mentioned elsewhere in this post), and referred to a letter which (the then half-in, half-out Irishman) Mr Éamon de Valera had sent to Pope Benedict XV (aka Mr Giacomo della Chiesa) in which Mr de Valera had stated that the Irish people owed no allegiance to Britain's 'king'...to which Mr Griffith declared -
"Mr de Valera only stated public facts. I should say that the message was called for by the phrase in King George's letter in which he refers to troubles in Ireland. This could be taken to mean a fight between Irishmen. The trouble is not a trouble in Ireland, but is one between Ireland and Great Britain..."
That didn't go down too well with the British side of the 'Truce Table', but Mr Michael Collins stood up and insisted the meeting discuss his paper on Irish neutrality to which a Mr Churchill stated that Britain could not be sure that Ireland would remain neutral and that, even if it did, it would pose great problems for Britain in wartime and Mr Collins replied that a friendly and neutral Ireland would be better for Britain than a hostile one...
...to which a Mr 'Sir' Austen Chamberlain (the British 'Lord Privy Seal' and Leader of the Conservative Party) stated that neutrality would put Ireland outside the 'Empire' but Mr Collins contended that that 'Empire' was developing into a nation of free and independent states without centralised control, and Mr Lloyd George admitted this but said that Britain could still not be sure of Irish neutrality - that, in the future, Ireland might move towards full Dominion Status but that he would consider it irresponsible for Britain to give Ireland the neutrality option at this stage...!
The groups then took a break for a cup of tea (or whatever!) and, when they came back to continue the meeting, Mr Lloyd George said that their next meeting would be held on Monday, 24th, and that he looked forward to reading whatever new documents the Irish presented to him, adding that it was essential that the documents should define the Irish position on allegiance to the Crown, entry into the Empire "freely and of her own accord" and concessions of the necessary facilities to secure the "immunity of [British] shores from attack by sea..."!
In other words - 'Listen up, Paddy, we're calling the shots here...'
(Incidentally - as that very meeting was taking place [21st October 1921], the British Military Command issued a new codeword to their command structure in Ireland which, when signalled to their military leadership groupings in Ireland, meant "prepare for an imminent resumption of hostilities..." : the snake head was talking, but it's rattle was poised...)
==========================
At the same time as those lads were in Downing Street discussing (with...!) snake heads and rattles, 'The Derry Journal' newspaper carried a report on the destruction of about forty poitín stills (pictured) over the previous two weeks by the IRA, mostly in the Inishowen Penninsula of the county of Donegal.
Other areas of Ulster were also paid a visit, as were 'mountain brew' operations in Galway, Mayo and Kerry.
When the IRA discovered a 'brew house', they did not just dump the 'wash' (ie water with fermentable starches and sugars — most historically malted barley, potatoes, sugar beets, or molasses which, with added yeast, converts those sugars into alcohol and flavour compounds over several days) the capture was used as a public spectacle ; offenders (!) were brought before Republican Courts, heavily fined, and made to stand outside the church gates during Sunday Mass while their confiscated copper stills were publicly smashed to pieces in front of the congregation.
Those deeds were carried out to enforce republican law and order and, t'is said, to help ensure its own fighters didn't present to the enemy worse for wear...!
==========================
THE MONTH UNSPUN...
The stories that hit the headlines.
From Magill magazine, August 2002.
Kildare county secretary Richie Whelan was baffled by the decision, saying in 'The Irish Times' newspaper that...
"..we are mystified now as to how the same rules can be interpreted for different counties.
We would like to know why there wasn't a consistent ruling on it, whichever way it's going to be."
He added that Kildare had been told the rules were clearcut on this issue, but..."...if you want to find a way around these things then you find a way around them."
'The Irish Independent' newspaper explained the decision by saying Cork had "crucially convinced the Munster Athletic Committee that there is actually no stated punishment for this breach in the GAA's own rule book...", effectively saying that Cork had been let off on a technicality...
(MORE LATER.)
A young Dublin man, a Mr John Joseph Corcoran (24), from the North Circular Road in Dublin, worked for the 'Midland Great Western Railway Company' as a labourer, but yearned for a more exciting job, and life, as young men do.
On the 17th July, 1922, he joined the Free State Army and, within months, had been promoted to the rank of Corporal in the 'Dublin Guards' of that entity ('A Company, 3rd Battalion' - this Unit was 'unofficially formed' in May 1921 by amalgamating the IRA's Dublin Brigade's Active Service Unit (ASU) and 'The Squad', under the command of a Mr Paddy Daly and, in January 1922, that Unit joined the then newly-established FSA).
On the 21st October, 1922, Mr John Joseph Corcoran was 'on duty' in the Killarney area of the county of Kerry when the lorry he and his FSA colleagues were travelling in came under fire from an IRA Unit at Lawlor's (/Tower's) Cross, in the townland of Rockfield.
Three of the occupants of the lorry were hit - two of them recovered from their wounds, the third - Mr John Joseph Corcoran - didn't. He died from his wounds later that same day.
==========================
In one of the many encounters between the IRA and the Free State Army in 1922, a Sergeant in the Stater army, a Mr James Marum (age 36, from Moneycleare, near Ballinakill, 'Queen's County' [County Laois], 'Service/Reference Number VR2917'), was wounded on the 21st October, 1922, in Charleville, County Cork.
Mr Marum died from his wounds ('fracture of femure, internal haemorrhage, cardiac failure') in the Mercy Hospital in Cork City two days later (23rd October 1922), and was buried in Glasnevin Cemetery, in Dublin, on the 27th October.
He had been a Sergeant in the 'Machine Gun Corps' of the British Army, after 'serving' in that grouping for eleven-and-a-half years, following which he worked as an agricultural labourer/gardener in Ireland (employed by a Mr Harman, in Blackrock, County Dublin) before joining the then newly-minted FSA in May 1922.
After his death, his wife, Isabella, and children, moved to Wicklow and lived in Number 12 Prince of Wales Terrace in Bray, from where she applied for a military pension/allowance, as her late husband was the main bread-winner and, between the 24th December 1922 and the 3rd April 1923, she received £1 18 shillings and 6 pence a week then, from the 4th April 1923 to the 31st March 1924, she received £1 and 8 shillings a week.
Apparently, from that date on - as long as she didn't re-marry - she received 17 shillings and 6 pence a week.
Mr Marum's mother, Ellen, also applied for a financial 'stipend' from the Free Staters and, on the 17th June, 1925, she was awarded "a gratuity of £40".
Cheap at the price, no doubt...
==========================
DEATH IN THE MEDITERRANEAN...
Desmond Boomer, a Belfast engineer working in the Libyan oil-fields, disappeared seven years ago.
Officially, the plane on which he was a passenger crashed as a result of mechanical failure and pilot error.
But is that the real story?
Or were the Irishman and his fellow passengers unwitting victims of the shady war between Islamic fundamentalism and Mossad, Israel's intelligence network?
A special 'Magill' investigation by Don Mullan, author of 'Eyewitness Bloody Sunday'.
From 'Magill' magazine, January 2003.
The Private Secretary, however, concluded his letter with a suggestion from Mr Brian Cowen, the State Minister for Foreign Affairs, that -
"You consider taking legal advice as to the possibility of challenging in the Maltese courts what you see as omissions from the matters investigated by the Board of Inquiry or shortcomings in its procedures or its report."
It's a good suggestion but, without official funding, an insensitive one.
To date, the financial cost of Cormac Boomer's search for his son has been considerable - it is a search that he and his wife Alice have carried out at their own expense.
The Boomers would be quite prepared to respond positively to the Minister's suggestion but, as senior citizens in their mid-70's, they have all but exhausted their resources...
(MORE LATER.)
In October, 1923, between 400 and 500 IRA prisoners were held in Mountjoy Prison in Dublin by the Staters, and they wanted out!
Hundreds of those Mountjoy POW's went on hunger-strike (actually, between 7,000 and 8,000 IRA POW's country-wide joined the hunger-strike) and, at the same time, others among them in the 'Joy carried-on working on a five-month old escape tunnel which, unfortunately, became flooded, drawing the screws attention to it.
The prison 'authorities', worried about the protest and the tunnel, decided to remove the prison IRA leadership and thereby, they believed, weaken the protest, so they placed three Volunteers (the 'ringleaders', according to the Staters) - Seán MacBride, Michael Price and Daithí (Darragh) O'Donnoghue - into the back of a FSA military lorry on the 20th October (1923) with an armed guard and instructed the driver to take them to St Bricin's Hospital (a distance of about only 1.5 miles/2 km) under cover of a so-called 'mercy mission'.
But didn't the bleedin' driver only get lost along the way!
Yep! Hadn't a notion where he was, pulled in by the side of the road, the armed guard got out of the back of the lorry to see if he could get his bearings...and the three Volunteers stepped down from the back of the lorry and legged it!
There was severe embarrassment (and uproar!) among the Staters on the 21st when the newspapers reported on the escape and, true to form, Leinster House attempted to minimise the negligence of their own troops and also played down the prominent IRA positions held by the three escapees!
They framed the transfer of the three men as some type of 'medical humanitarianism' on their part, and the FSA military lorry was presented by them as some type of an 'ambulance'!
Scarlet for them...
Anyway - once away from the lorry ('/ambulance'!), the three men split up and each of them made their way to a safehouse and, from their, to other safehouses, and each of them, between the duckin' and the divin', remained free men for years!
==========================
ON THIS DATE (21ST OCTOBER) 223 YEARS AGO : HANGED AND BEHEADED BY THE BRITISH.
'By Downpatrick goal I was bound to fare
on a day I'll remember, feth;
for when I came to the prison square
the people were waitin' in hundreds there
an' you wouldn't hear stir nor breath!
For the sodgers were standing, grim an' tall,
round a scaffold built there foment the wall,
an' a man stepped out for death!' (from here.)
Thomas Paliser Russell (pictured) was born in Cork, to an Anglican family (his father was a British Army Officer), on the 21st of November, 1767 and, at just 16 years of age, he joined the British Army and fought under the Butchers Apron in India for about five years, but resigned because of '...the disgust and indignation which filled him on witnessing the extortions, the cruelties, the usurpations and brutalities which were carried out and sanctioned by the government under which he served..' and he returned to Ireland. In the late 1780's he schooled himself in science, philosophy and politics.
In 1791, at 24 years of age, Thomas Russell and a group of like-minded individuals - Protestants, Anglicans and Presbyterians - held a public meeting in Belfast, out of which was formed 'The Belfast Society of United Irishmen' (the organisation became a secret society three years later), and one of his colleagues, Sam McTier, was elected as 'President of the Society'.
Also present were Theobald Wolfe Tone (who gave Robert Simms his nickname, 'Tanner'), William Sinclair, Henry Joy McCracken, Samuel Neilson, Henry Haslett, Gilbert McIlveen, William Simms (Robert's brother), Thomas McCabe, Thomas Pearce and Samuel McTier, among others.
He and his comrades set about organising a militant resistance to the English political and military presence in Ireland and his actions brought him to the attention of Westminster and, in 1796, at 29 years of age, he was 'arrested' and imprisoned in Dublin before being transported to Fort George, near Inverness, in Scotland, where he was held until 1802 (forcing him to miss the 1798 Rising).
He took a leadership role in the 1803 Rising and was again imprisoned by the English for same, this time in Downpatrick Jail ; he was 'tried for High Treason', found 'guilty', hanged and then beheaded at the gate of that prison on the 21st October, 1803 - 223 years ago on this date. He was 36 years of age.
His last words were "I forgive my persecutors. I die in peace with all mankind, and I hope for mercy through the merits of my Redeemer Jesus Christ."
His body lies in Downpatrick Churchyard.
'Into our townlan' on a night of snow,
rode a man from God knows where...'
Thanks for the visit, and for reading our 'lil offering - appreciated!
We'll be back on Wednesday, 4th November 2026 and, between this and then, I'll still be voicing me opinion on 'X' and 'Facebook' as well, if yer missing me that much!
Sharon and the team.
Slán go fóill anois!
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